Saturday, May 25
I didn't actually sleep much on the night train, I'm not sure why. The bed was long enough for me and pretty comfortable but I just didn't manage to drift off to Dreamland. Still, we arrived in Paris on time and I disembarked to a warm, sunny morning in the city of lights.
I was the last one to rouse and leave the cabin. Overall, not a terrible experience considering just how smelly and noisy a cabin with 5 other random guys could be.
The sun is waaaay too bright to have not yet had coffee. The Austerlitz station seemed pretty nice, a very open air concept. But I was too drowsy to really develop much of an opinion on it, so I'll leave it at that.
To ensure I was awake, I did a quick walk around the park next to the Austerlitz station. After stretching my legs, I stretched them some more and I made my way to the 3rd Arrondissem*nt to meet up with my friend. I took the metro to the area but lost about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to buy and use tickets on my phone. Turns out that system is as easy as installing three apps, making and linking an account across the three, and then pulling up the right app to output the ticket signal: simple as un, deux, √(8^2-1+27*2/3)/3!
I wasn't the only person taking a walk through gardens; from the sound of it, the zoo was also waking up.
The bees certainly weren't sleeping in today. Gotta make hay while the sun shines.
I caught up with my friend at a café near la Place de la République. There we chitchatted over an espresso ("café" wasn't listed on the menu, instead espresso and double espresso were offered 🤷♂️) . She was taking an extended layover in Paris coming back from a wedding in Italy, partly to follow up on the leads/recommendations she'd received from her previous visit to Paris. Apparently the wedding in Italy was quite the spectacle, including des feus artifices!
From coffee, we walked along the Saint Martin Canal before doubling back and looking for lunch near the Seine. While walking, I couldn't shake the feeling that the atmosphere felt very much like the boroughs of New York, fortunately this canal smelled waaaaay better than any canal in the New York area. We didn't really have a destination in mind and thus were able to wander upon some interesting finds.
A little bit of coffee and a couple hours to rouse work miracles 🤣
I'm not sure the floats were for swimming but there was definitely a water-sporty section of the canal.
Some parts of the canal were just a simple park while other areas had buildings dedicated to the canal or even restaurants on the water.
Back in la Place de la République, we found some musical activity related to an ecological movement / anti-Monsanto group. We even had the option to draw a poppy (un coquelicot) to add to the dozens drawn by others to add our voice to the movement.
From there, we encountered by chance a large street market of ...stuff. It seems like everything but food was being sold: music, clothes, antiques, furniture, street signs, you name it.
And it was a big thing, spanning multiple intersections and blocks.
One little off-shoot brought us into a covered food market but this one was more oriented towards serving food than groceries. So we settled in for un verre de vin and some croquettes.
Tchin-tchin! The place was bustling but a good spot to rest a moment. My rosé from Spain was funky like a cider and I thoroughly enjoyed. There was a lot of English happening around the area, like the guys from the UK just next to us but all the servers in Paris seem to have a very good grasp of the language. I was a little sticker shocked at the price of a verre here but I guess that's the difference between les Landes and the big city 😂
This building was built out beyond its base; basically overhanging right to the street. The sign said the design was banned because building kept toppling over the years; this one's been renovated (and hopefully reinforced) to model as an example of some former Parisian architecture.
At lunch, I convinced her to try out some frog legs! Who wore it better 🦵?
From lunch, we followed the Seine into some more notable landmarks whilst also admiring the quieter streets. Paris is bustling with Olympic prep: the city hall was decked out in posters and the souvenir stores were packed with Phryges mascot plushies. In time, we worked our way to the Pompidou Center to check out it's modern art museum. I'd suggested the Pompidou because I recall seeing it during my visit to Paris high school and our tour guide making a little jingle with name but I don't think I'd seen the museum inside.
Tout le monde was relaxing along the Seine today; I thought it interesting that people were laying out on the dirt
L'hotel de ville is ready for the games! There were people milling about here but it wasn't too crowded at all
There goes a fly boat (bateau mouche)!
Taking one of the quieter streets around Notre Dame, we still admired the mix of old and new buildings. Like, go figure, there's this quaint little brick house just hanging out.
Repair work on
our lady is on going. Around the construction zone were signs explaining the repair work being done and trades involved.
This fly boat is at rest instead of flitting up and down the river for the moment. A quick google search indicates the name fly boat comes from one of the first of these boats being called the Vieux-Mouche and Wikipedia suggests the original boats being made in the Mouche area of Lyon.
No need to request sanctuary today; conditions are pretty ideal out here
The lunch place had a quaint terrace, ample shade, and a cave next to the toilets in the basem*nt. In this cave, refers to the wine cellar but I didn't check behind the door so maybe they've got some neanderthals stashed away...
My friend was telling me that with the upcoming Olympic ceremonies (the Olympic Games / Jeux Olympiques / JO), there was some public discourse regarding how the ceremonies were affecting the Seine's famous bouquinistes. Today, it seemed all the book sellers were still in place but they might be forced to close or remove the stalls for the ceremonies on the river. Not all the stalls had only books, some had posters, art, and various fairly flat paraphernalia.
Bouquiniste? More like "boo! Can he cease?"
Fly away, fly boat! Just kidding, I'm sure it's a lovely view of the city but potentially hot with today's sun beating down.
If you get lost, just remember to make your way to the Pompidou-🎶ou-ou-🎶ou-ou
The place is more than just a museum but also a cultural center. The industrial look is color coded: yellow is electrical, blue is HVAC, green is water, and red for people. And at first I thought the place was under a ton of scaffolding and renovation because of the cherry-lift outside 😅
Modern arts require modern solutions; that's why we're taking the escalator through a people pipe to the permanent modern art exhibit.
Hmm, I'm not so sure I'm seeing the peasant harvest scene here...
Excerpts from a graphic novel inspired by the wacky surrealistic art of André Breton; there were a ton of panels, I'll have to see about finding the book.
The top of the Pompidou gives a pretty good view of many Parisian landmarks. This deck had a view onto the plaza with some artsy pieces in a pool.
We got into a discussion here about what sort of apartment would be best around here. I personally didn't care for the hyper-shallow balconies but her attention was grabbed by the section of a building clad with shiny, copper; at least that's got some real character 😆
Out on the other side of the Pompidou's deck: some sculptures and a view of Montmartre. At this point, our energy was lulling after passing through many galleries and processing a lot of strange sights. She'd headed down to the café for a café and some water while I finished up the last of the main exhibit floor. Turns out there's a whole 4th floor of stuff that we didn't have the energy for!
From the Pompidou, we went to dinner near Montmartre at a restaurant recommended to her by a friend. The host gave us the choice of "getting crazy with David, the bar keep" or "a plain old table" 😆 So we got crazy with David, who we think is a part owner of the restaurant; he made us drinks based on basic questions and more or less picked the food for us too. The food and drink were really good, the atmosphere super lively (both David and a sous-chef, Sofia, were chatting with us a lot). It was a very different dining experience than any other I've had in France thus far; probably a bit more of a hip joint than I'd have picked by myself so I'm glad my friend suggested it and made reservations 😁 It's good to see what else is out there and get a flavor for the livelier side. And I think my friend has a point about the service industry in Paris: it seems like millenials are running many of places (or at least are handling the client facing roles).
It's a fun, lively crowd at Adroba and everyone appeared to speak at least English, French, and Hebrew.
A coffee dispenser on the metro platform? The machine reminds me of that the Zen Blen smoothie machine I tried in Chicago!
After dinner, we made our way to a speak easy she'd been recommended called Little Red Door. I didn't see the door but I'm sure it was both petite and red; however, the line outside the place was purported to be over an hour long. While waiting, we struck up conversation with the people around us in the queue: her with the American behind us waiting for her boyfriend to find his way there and me with the French woman ahead of us who's friend kept popping out of line to check with the security/hosts. It was the Frenchman checking with the head of the line that brought the news about the estimated wait time; at this point, les francais suggested to me that there were several other great bars around (they wouldn't have the same ambiance as Little Red Door but...) and asked if we wanted to join them. Faced with a long wait and a couple of natives offering an alternative, we bade farewell to the door and the line and made our way to a place called Bisou Bar.
We ended up waiting about 15 minutes at Bisou for a table but once we were seated it became clear why a table was necessary. At Bisou, you don't order a co*cktail: you server will ask about which flavors you like or want to try and then a concoction will be delivered to you. It was fun to say "I'm feeling something floral but not bitter using rum" and then having a wacky glass (sometimes featuring rubber ducky) placed in front of you.
While my friend speaks very little French and our Parisian friends spoke bits of English, it was fascinating to see/hear that the table spoke music (or at last artist/band names). After a couple rounds, space cleared up at the bar inside so we moved indoors to be closer to the action of drink mixing and to soak up the music. As the bar closed at 1AM, we bade our new friends une bonne nuit as they prepped for going to a night club to dance.
Bisous!
Sunday, May 26
Since we both had return travel planned for Sunday afternoon, we had fairly conservative plans for the day; first thing agenda was brunch at a place in the 3rd Arrondisem*nt. Brunch involved just a couple of decisions from the fixed menu but had coffee à volonté, which was much needed after all of last night's co*cktails.
The brunch of champions; there weren't too many other champions when we arrived but the place was bustling when we left. Along with our coffee, we had brioche topped with various sweet and savory toppings, a mocktail of citrus, and a bit of granola with fromage blanc.
From brunch, we made our way to Montmartre to get a view of the city from Sacre Coeur. I remember visiting this place during my high school trip and it seems to have remained very crowded since then. All the stairwells (we opted not to take the funicular) and the lines of people reminded me of visiting Park Guell in Barcelona but without a mosaic salamander. But the hill offered a great afternoon view out across Paris.
Working our way up the street to the slope, we spotted all sorts of souvenir shops and even someone playing a shell game on the street.
The stairs wound their way up the hill; we took the more scenic route rather than the daunting flights taken in John Wick 4.
Taking a moment at the fountain to relax; plenty of hawkers were also on the slope. Their blankets had little Tour Eiffel key chains, locks, and some were even just selling bottles of Heineken.
We didn't go inside the basilica but instead enjoyed the view along the fence on the outside. I was surprised to see that there was a little train operating right in front of the basilica, but given how it's a tourist attraction I shouldn't have been all that surprised.
The fences around Montmartre are EXTRA secure
Time had flown by with our fun and I had to hustle to Gare de Lyon to grab my TGV train back to Biarritz. Taking the metro, I stopped by the hotel to grab my bag and then we parted ways. I made it to my train car with just a couple minutes to spare; but I suppose I could have boarded on any car and made my way forward rather than speed walk for 4 minutes on the platform 😅
The TGV seats were very comfortable; they're more spacious than plane seats with more generous tray tables and much less turbulence.
As we ripped out of Paris, I was treated to the spectacle of a lot of farmland.
Moving at a decent clip (300 km/hr), it was a smooth ride. I even took a break from my seat to grab a snack from the snack bar on the 2nd floor.
Back in Biarritz, the bus back to my apartment had left just minutes before I arrived so I opted to walk the 30 minutes back to the apartment. It was a good walk taking me through a few more parts of Biarritz I haven't really seen before.
It was a low energy night for me; I ordered a quick pizza from a place down the street and started the process of tidying up my suitcases.
Overall, I think Paris has its own vibe but that runs very in sync with New York's. As someone living next to New York but not in it, I appreciate Paris as a place to visit. There's too much to see and do in Paris for just a weekend so I enjoyed this laid back approach of a narrow scope. Maybe this is reads too much into my sample bias (months vs a weekend) but I think I prefer the south of France to Paris; though I certainly wouldn't be opposed to returning to Paris.
On the other hand, I think my friend (who had lived in Manhattan's Village for quite some time) seemed like a natural fit for Paris, ça lui va bien. She may not yet speak French fluently but she was certainly speaking big-city energy and spirit. Hopefully she enjoyed her long layover experience in the city of lights, I know that I enjoyed my Parisian soirée. 🥂
