Paris, March 2017 (Part 1 - Arrival to Paris & Sightseeing)
Day 1
Since Oktoberfest in 2016 was my partner’s birthday gift to me, I wanted to do something really special for her 23rd birthday, so in March of 2017 we went to Paris in what will undoubtedly be the beginning of a serious contest of one upmanship as to who can give the other a better birthday present.
We waited in the United Club lounge for six hours in Washington DC before our long flight across the Atlantic, finally landing in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport just as the sun was beginning to rise on March 2nd.
We ate a quick breakfast in the airport and hopped onto the Réseau Express Régional, also known as the RER, Paris’ regional commuter rail and got into town in roughly an hour.
We checked into our hotel and once we dropped off our bags we headed towards the heart of the city to catch some of the sights. After getting off of the subway near Le Notre Dame, we decided to go on a boat tour of the Seine, the famous river that runs through the middle of Paris.
Although a bit slow, this is definitely a unique way to see the city and offers beautiful views of all of the famous Parisian landmarks like Le Notre Dame and La Tour Eiffel.
When we completed the circuit around the Seine in a few hours, we decided to get off at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and get a bite to eat. As a chef in a French restaurant, I was very excited to get to try some French cuisine in it’s native home. To say I was disappointed would not be an exaggeration as my first real meal in one of the culinary hubs of the world was pretty lackluster.
My partner’s beef tartar was decent, however my beef entrecote was really tough, a problem I’m told after the fact is quite common with European beef.
Once we finished our lunch lunch, my partner and I were spent for the day as I found myself falling asleep at our table as we ate. The time change and the hours of traveling finally caught up to me. We took a cab to our hotel and napped/slept for the rest of the day. The only exception to this was when I woke up really hungry at 1 AM.
The only nearby place open at that hour was a McDonald’s, so, being the movie aficionado that I am, I had to make Quentin Tarantino proud by getting my hands on a quarter pounder with cheese, or as it’s known to the French, a Royal with cheese.
You may think it’s crap, but so far it was the best thing I had eaten in France.
Day 2
On the second day of our trip, we decided to hit the big landmarks around the city. First on our tour was the famous iron lady: the Eiffel Tower.
After waiting in line to get our €17 tickets to get to the top, we got onto the first elevator that takes you to the second floor of the tower, 377 feet above ground.
The Eiffel Tower is truly something to be seen to be believed. Sure you can get an idea of its grandeur from pictures but nothing will ever come close to the feeling of awe and wonder that you’ll get from actually being next to the iron lady.
The view from the second floor is gorgeous, but in order see the city of light in all its splendor, you have to go to the very top. There is a champagne bar at the top of the tower, however we were there about an hour before it opened, and, although the view from up there is beautiful, there definitely wasn’t enough to see to kill an hour even if we wanted to.
After spending some time admiring the view from the tallest publicly accessible observation deck in the European Union, we went down to the first floor to have a lunch at one of the two restaurants located at the Eiffel Tower: 58 Tour Eiffel.
The next stop on our tour was Le Notre-Dame de Paris, the cathedral made famous by Victor Hugo’s book “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” as well as by the Disney animated movie of the same name.
The first thing that stands out to me is the elaborate architecture. Intricate carvings cover the entire facade of the building demonstrating the decadence of the Catholic church at the height of it’s power.
At the time we went in, Mass was about to begin inside the cathedral which to me, as a former Catholic, seemed very surreal to be witnessing; a real Catholic service inside one of the most famous Cathedrals in the world.
