Erika and Mark Arrive in Paris

(Katherine) After having said goodbye to the May family just the day prior, we were fortunate to be greeting yet another set of visitors today!  One of my college girlfriends, Erika, was arriving with her husband, Mark, and they would be staying close to us in Pigalle.  We met up at a café in Montmartre called Lete en Pente Douce and spent some time just catching up on the past year.  We then walked around Sacré Coeur and Place de Terte until they needed to head home for a nap - they had been up nearly all night in preparation for their trip to Paris.  We parted ways and Robert and I found a cute neighborhood bar for a glass of wine called Proibido which appeared to specialize in really cool Batman art all over the walls.

Later that evening, Erika and Mark stopped by the apartment and we all walked together to a neighborhood about 45 minutes east to an area where Mark had lived many years ago.  He took us to one of his favorite restaurants, Chez Papa, which specializes in Southern French cuisine.  I had an amazing salad loaded with potatoes, bacon, and topped with a fried egg while Robert dined on duck.  Mark also introduced us to a couple of new French beverages, one of which included caramelizing a sugar cube.  The meal was absolutely delicious, but so heavy that it pretty much put us to sleep by the end - we definitely snoozed soundly that night.

Night Tour of Paris

On the final day of our visit with the May’s, we decided that boys and girls should divide up for a while.  We first joined up at Crêperie Beaubourg which is right by Stravinsky Fountain outside the Pompidou Museum, and then went our separate ways.  The boys (Robert, Richard and Mike) decided to check out a photography exhibit at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (photography museum) while the girls (Barbara, Jenny and I) went shopping in Les Halles and La Maries.  I have to admit, it was REALLY nice to shop with them because women appreciate the joy and social aspects of shopping, even when it’s just window shopping (I have no room in my suitcase!)  Shopping is probably one of Robert’s least favorite activities, so I normally try to curb my desires as much as possible - very difficult to do in Paris.

We ran home to change and met back up with the family at another restaurant close to the Louvre, Normad’s.  We had a delicious but rather expedited dinner because we had a tour booked for later that evening.  Barbara wanted everyone to be able to see the city lights on their last night, so we had a driver take us around to three of the major sites, the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and Notre Dame.  The Eiffel Tower was my favorite part of the tour since we arrived just as it started to twinkle, which it does for 5 minutes at the top of every hour between 9pm-1am.  We snapped some lovely photos, and marveled at it’s height while standing beneath it’s base.

After the tour we said our goodbyes, knowing we would not see them again until January.  We were so happy that they came to visit, and now have wonderful memories to last us through the rest of our journey! 

Versailles

Robert’s step mom, Barbara, had a wonderful suggestion for a Paris side trip - a journey to Versailles.  We took an RER train, which was only about a 40 minute ride.  I didn’t really know what to expect from this place - I knew there were several King Louie’s who had resided there, but I thought “Versailles” was several different locations spread throughout the countryside.  I was very wrong.

Upon exiting the train station, you walk a few blocks and turn the corner to approach one of the most magnificent looking palaces I have ever seen.  The front is protected by golden gates, and upon entering the courtyard, you are presented with another set of gates - this is where you pay your admission.  You are given a headset and begin walking through the various rooms along the two main floors of the palace.  Most of the emphasis was on the paintings and artwork that was placed throughout the palace, and the headset guided you through the pieces before you.  It also explained the ways in which the various rooms were used - the king’s bedroom, his boardroom, the room for his thrown, etc.  We also spent quite some time in an extraordinary hall called The Hall of Mirrors.  It was literally a hall that was covered in mirrors on one side, and wall to ceiling windows on the other.  Apparently at night time, there was a glorious lighting effect with the chandeliers, glass and mirrors - how regal it just have felt to walk down the hall!

Barbara had also cleverly decided that we should get a private tour which would take us through several sections that were unavailable to the general public.  We had an excellent guide who showed us many original pieces of furniture, Marie Antoine’s bedroom, and a grand theater.  The royal family would dine on the stage in the evenings, and the royal court would have to sit or stand around and watch them eat (very strange.)  They also used the theater for grand performance from entertainers like Mozart, although they could only last 4 hours because that was the lifespan of their candles.  It must have been an uncomfortable 4 hours through because the theater seating was just felt covered benches with no backs.  This was considered “proper” seating because it emulated the benches that the ladies in waiting sat upon while the queen dressed (they were forced to watch this 3-hour process.)

After the tour we wandered out into the gardens, which is an impressive display of well manicured lawns, fountains and a large pool.  This was the perfect definition of a “French Garden” where everything is manicured into specific shapes and meticulously well placed.  We had a lovely lunch by the pool, and then continued towards the back right corner of the property which represented a controversial plot of land.  King Louis XIV had given his bride, Marie Antoinette, a corner of the gardens to make her own, including her own cottage.  She decided to turn this area into a lovely “free-form” English Garden with wildflowers, which was reminiscent of the home she had left in Austria.  Apparently this upset the French citizens because they felt the palace should be reserved for only the needs of the King.  The best way I can describe this area is to liken it to a Disney cartoon land - like the cottage where Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) lived to avoid the wicked queen.  There was even a petting zoo on the property with pigs, geese and goats, and I half expected them to break out into song at any given moment!

Overall, I would say that this palace is the most blatant display of excess and wealth that I had ever seen.  I can’t say I’m surprised that there was a French Revolution after hearing the conditions in which most people were living, and then walking around these grounds.  However, it is still a magnificent structure and beautiful grounds (especially Marie Antoinette’s area) and I’m glad that today it can be enjoyed by all.  You can actually just go out onto the grounds without paying admission and just have a lovely picnic - something we would like to do another time.

Upon our return home, we decided to have a family dinner together at a restaurant around the corner from the May’s hotel, Flottes, where we took over a quiet corner.  The food was amazing, but after such a long day we all quickly slipped into a post-dinner food coma.  We left for Montmartre, destined to dream about what it would be live to live in a grand palace!

The May Family Goes to Montmartre

We had invited the May’s to our neighborhood for the day, and we had carefully mapped out all of the day’s activities to ensure a relaxing day of visitation.  They met us at the Abysses Metro stop and we all ducked into a café for some coffee.  With our caffeine kick, we headed down the hill to the foot of Sacré Coeur for some photos, and then loaded up the family on the funicular so we could ascend the hill while avoiding the steps.  Everyone took a walk through the church, and then we caught the Montmartrain to take us all around the neighborhood with a pre-recorded message listing out the history and sights of Montmartre.  Robert and I learned many new interesting things about our temporary home.

After the 45 minute ride, we took everyone up to Place de Tertre to browse the gift shops and artists galleries, and then walked down to an adorable restaurant called le Moulin de la Galette.  The establishment takes it’s name from the windmill that sits just above the building, one of the last remaining windmills in Paris.  We also purposefully requested to sit outside on the patio because it was the inspiration for Renoirs’ painting which bares the same name as the restaurant.

After dinner Robert’s parent’s decided to head home, and we took Mike and Jenny out to the wine cave we had discovered for a jazz session, Autour de Midi.  After watching the classic trio for a bit, we decided to venture to one more place along Abysses called Le Vrais Paris.  The American rap music playing in the background was quite a sharp contract to the wine cave, but it still made for a fun atmosphere to laugh and catch up with family.

May Family Arrives in Paris

Much to our delight, Robert’s family had decided to alter their summer vacation to include a trip through Paris to visit us!  They had been in Italy for several days prior, and flew over to France for the conclusion of their journey.  We met them at the Hotel Brighton, just across the street from the Louvre.  We had a lovely stroll down along to the Champs-Élysées while chatting and catching up on the past 3 months since we left the states.  We brought them to a place that had come highly recommended by some locals - le Relais de l’Entrecôte.  The menu is essentially just steak and fries which are served en mass to the patrons.  Apparently it’s a rather famous establishment, and although they were offered $30M to sell their space, they refused much to the delight of many Parisians.

After dinner we took a stroll along the Seine River towards the hotel to help work off our delicious dinner.  We said goodnight to Robert’s father and stepmother, Richard and Barbara, and ventured out to the Latin Quarter with his younger half-siblings, Mike and Jenny.  We first stopped in at the piano bar we had visited on our first night in town, Le Relais de la Hachette.  But given there was no piano player that night we moved on to another venue that was just beyond the touristy section, Aux Trois Mailletz.  We sat outside and enjoyed some wine while catching up, but then put the siblings in a cab once it got a little late.  Robert and I decided to go back for a nightcap, and quickly learned that the atmosphere inside the bar was a TRUE piano bar.  A dozen people were gathered around the piano all singing away to classic American tunes.  One woman in particular really dominated the “stage” and made for some great entertainment.  We agreed that we would definitely return to this venue soon!

Metro Cards

(Katherine) This evening marked a milestone in our Parisian transportation experience.  After carefully researching our Metro options, Robert finally figured out exactly what Metro card to request at the station (they do not offer up this information voluntarily.)  Once finding a station which offered such cards (and the nicest station employee we had ever encountered), we had our photos taken, filled out a form, and were given a permanent rechargeable card for $8.35 euros.  This would grant us a week of transport via Metro - no more tickets!  We celebrated by heading to La Maris and dining at a Chinese restaurant called Tsou, and relished using our cards on the return trip home, just like the locals!

Tour de France

(Katherine) Today was another landmark day on France’s calendar - the final day of Tour de France! We aren’t normally avid biker fans, but I felt like we should take advantage of the fact we were in Paris as the bikers rolled in off their journey. We didn’t really know many details about exactly when they would arrive or where the finish line was located, but we knew to head towards the Champs-Élysées. We took the Metro and decided to get off at the Concord stop, and police had barricaded the area to force every one out into one exit. As it turned out, just after we popped out of the station, the bikers were approaching our corner! We scrambled to get out our cameras but missed this first pass. We overheard that they would be making another, so we stood ready and managed to catch the second one on video. Some people had been there since 7am, and we had been there for 7 minutes!

We thought that was the end of the excitement so we left our corner and kept heading towards the Champs-Élysées. I noticed another crowd forming down another street ,so we headed down to what turned out to be the resting point for many of the teams RVs and support cars, including Lance Armstrong’s team sponsored by The Shack (Radio Shack.) It turns out that the bikers were still riding around the Place de la Concorde, so we captured even more photos and footage, and I’m pretty sure we saw Andy Schleck walking around the area.  See below for footage we took at the event which Robert turned into a movie montage.

We continued our quest to Champs-Élysées and decided to stop for a beer at a cute outdoor café we had spotted on our last trip down this street, Unisex which is part of the Madrigal hotel (very similar to the Standard in LA.) We noticed there was still a huge crowd formed along the street, so upon finishing our beer we wandered up and realized that all of the teams were taking a victory lap down the Champs-Élysées! We snapped several photos including one of the winning team, but of course we were mainly waiting for The Shack and Lance Armstrong. They finally appeared and we snapped away, but I wasn’t sure if we had seen him. We moved to another location right by the finish line and caught them again going the opposite direction - this time I definitely saw Lance.

Robert then had a great suggestion - that we head up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe so could look down on the aftermath of the event, as well the rest of the city. Getting to the top is an adventure in and of itself - you have to walk about 280 steps up a narrow set of stairs that winds up one side of the Arc. Once at the top, there is a small museum and another small set of stairs to lead you to the observation deck. We took many photos, including several of the Eiffel Tower, and enjoyed our unique view of the Champs-Élysées, still decorated in it’s post-Tour de France glory. At one point, we even noticed the winning team ride back through the street, go past the barrier, and then take a renegade ride around Paris! The tourists below were all so shocked to see them that it took a few minutes for them to realize what was going on and grab their cameras.

It was finally time to leave the area because we had one more activity planned for the day. Robert had researched a free movie series that was playing at the Parc de la Villette. The park had put up a 100 foot screen and was playing movies every night for the next few weeks. We gathered up a make-shift picnic and enjoyed a classic, The Graduate, with French subtitles. I had actually never seen the movie, and marveled at how young Dustin Hoffman was, and how the Simon & Garfunkle soundtrack matched up with the storyline. Overall, this truly was a day to remember!

Footage of Tour de France

La Bellevilloise

We put our new workout clothes to use for the first time today by tackling our neighborhood hill in Montmartre. All it took was a couple of trips up and down the steps to Sacré Coeur and the neighborhood hills to work up a good sweat! We finally learned a little more about the lay of our land, including the location of the Montmartre cemetery and our proximity to the Pigalle neighborhood (red light district.) We are actually only about a 25 minute walk to the famous Moulin Rouge, which we plan to visit in the next couple of weeks.


After a Picard frozen dinner at home, we prepped for our journey to a placed called La Bellevilloise out in the 19th arrondissement. We weren’t exactly sure what to expect at this place because it seemed to have multiple venues within the venue. What we discovered upon our visit is that there is a restaurant on the main level, a terrace café on an upper level, and an exhibition hall/art gallery at the very top. There is a section for live performances in the back/center area, and then there is a club downstairs. Basically, you can have several different events happening simultaneously at the same time and evening, which explains why their web site is so confusing!

We arrived too late to justify seeing the live band, so we decided to wait in the restaurant for the club to open up. I began to see a HUGE line forming outside of the club, so I strategically waited until they had started letting people in to have Robert show the security people our receipt and ask to cut in line since we were already patrons. It worked!

Once inside, I was able to again secure a table right by the stage where a DJ was playing top 40 dance music. There was a bachelorette party right next to us, and series of guys would take turns trying to dance with the girls. We finally had to get up and do a little dancing ourselves as the music continued to pick and the people rolled in. In general, everyone was having a good time and despite the large crowd, it never got too packed or too difficult to get a drink. We had a great time but had to pull ourselves away early again to catch the Metro. This was definitely a fascinating venue though and we hope to return for another show!

Fontaine Stravinsky

(Katherine) Today we took the Metro to Les Halles, which is a shopping center in the middle of the city. Today it is kind of like a huge underground mall, but I was more interested in finding the old thrift shops up above. After looking through the small handful of shops that we were able to find, we decided to enjoy some wine while looking out onto the fountain just outside the Pompidou Museum, Fontaine Stravinsky. This adorable fountain has colorful hydro-powered characters that look like something out of a Tim Burton movie, and is a great location for people watching.

We had plans to visit a dinner boat that evening, but the dark clouds prompted us to stay indoors. We headed back towards Le Marais, our favorite new little neighborhood, and found an amazing happy hour venue: Curieux Spaghetti Bar. For only $3 euros you could get a glass of wine plus help yourself to a self-service pizza station. The décor was delightful, the male servers were all very friendly, and the music was fun. This was definitely a great discovery! As happy hour came to a close, we made our way down a cute side street to a sushi restaurant called Kiccho which offered a wonderful dish. It was basically a bowl of sashimi on sticky rice, kind of like a make-your-own nigiri but for a fraction of the price. We will definitely be looking for a similar type of option on menus when we return home to SF!

Paris Plage

(Katherine) Today marked an exciting day for Paris - the opening of the Paris Plage on the Seine River! Normally, Parisian take off at the end of July for vacation which lasts all through August. But for those who cannot get away and take time off, the city has decided to bring a vacation to them! They import thousands of tons of sand into a makeshift beach along the right bank and add beach chairs, umbrellas, and kiosks which sell ice cream. You can also find misters (since you can’t swing in the water) and temporary playgrounds for children.


We packed up a picnic and headed to the river. It was a hot day and we were anxious to enjoy the sun, so we stretched out on a section of grass without really looking for the sandy section. We enjoyed sandwiches, water and wine, and also a street performer who had decided that our stretch of the Seine was the perfect place for his act. While he was quite good at his juggling routine, by the 6th time he had done his act I’m pretty sure I could have told the audience what was going to happen, play by play.

We finally decided to head home and make some dinner, but when we decided to go back out for the evening, I suggested that we return to the river since it was still opening day. After just walking a bit further down from where we had spent the day we found the sand! It was very fine and soft, and it felt great to take off our shoes and enjoy the feel of the “beach.” We sat for a while and people watched until Paris Plage closed at 11:30. We then headed across to the other side of the river and found a bench where we could sit an enjoy part of a bottle of wine we had brought along. A random saxophone player performing under the nearby bridge made us both sit back and say, “this is why we love Paris!”

The Louvre

(Katherine) Today was our big museum adventure - we were going to concur the Louvre! It was drizzling that day, so it seemed like the perfect day to stay inside and look at amazing works of art. Unfortunately, it appeared that several thousand other people had the same idea as well! Luckily, with the recon we had done before, we figured out the fastest way to get into the Louvre - Paris travelers, read my notes at the bottom of this post.

We tackled the bottom floor first, and then made our way up to the second floor. Our new strategy was to complete the top levels first and work our way down. I think this was a sound plan since not all of the areas were air-conditioned, and the heat was rising up the building throughout the day. We saw amazing paintings, sculptures, and a portion of Napoleon’s apartment (which really looks more like a mansion). I personally enjoyed the Ancient Egyptian section while Robert revisited some of his favorite French paintings.

I supposed the highlight of the visit is supposed to be the Mona Lisa, but it’s not quite what I envisioned. First of all, you can’t get very close to her because there is a red rope maintaining about a 20 foot distance from the crowd, and second the crowd itself is completely overwhelming. Third, she now has a huge UV-coated glass shield over her to protect her from the constant stream of flashbulbs, which also takes away from the intimacy of viewing this work of art. Although flash photography is not allowed in ANY part of the museum, we saw hundreds of offenders and reached the point where we wanted to smash the cameras of these disrespectful tourists.

Believe it or not, we actually covered every floor and every portion of the Louvre in just under 8 hours! We only stopped for one 20 minute break, and we obviously whizzed by some sections (after a while, some sculptures all start to look alike!) but I’m proud to say we “did” the Louvre. Though at times I was tempted to linger in some sections, I had the movie “European Vacation” playing in the back of my head with the scenes of their expedited Louvre visit. I’m pretty sure that Robert felt like I had channeled Clark Griswold himself while we were in the museum due to my desire to keep pressing forward!

After departing the museum around 8:00, we literally dragged our weary feet down to Saint Germain street and sat down for a caipiroska while we decided what we wanted to eat. We had built up quite an appetite, so we wandered a bit further into the Latin Quarter and found an amazing crepe house called Le Petite Tour where we found the perfect table perched on a balcony overlooking the tiny street. We were also able to rest our aching feet on the balcony as we dined on savory crepes for dinner, and then Nutella crepes for dessert - a well deserved meal!

After dinner we headed to a jazz club in a wine cave called Caveau de la Huchette.  Robert had been here years ago with his sister, Joanna, and was anxious to return. That night they had a Dixie Jazz group, a delightful ensemble of older gentlemen who gave a lively and fine tuned show. There is also a dance floor just in front of the stage where people are encouraged to dance. Similar to the tango hall we visited in Buenos Aires, anyone who is seated around the dance floor and actively dancing is considered “fare game” to be asked to dance. Everyone was engaging in swing dancing, which looked to also include the Charleston and the Lindy Hop. The dancing combined with the upbeat jazz made for a lovely conclusion to the evening, and us both taking a vow to sign up for swing classes when we return to SF!
 
 
Louvre Entry Advice

Go to The Carousel (Louvre shopping mall) entrance just off Rivoli Street and head to the ticket kiosks. Purchase your tickets there for $9.50 euros each - I don’t recommend paying extra for the temporary exhibits since we walked right into them without showing our tickets again (I don’t think they care).
Take the escalator down, and you will see there are 2 lines to get in. Get in the line to the left which says something like “Guests Without Tickets” - it should be a much shorter line than the one to the right which is for people with Museum Passes. It doesn’t matter that you have your tickets already - once everyone goes through the queue, you all just end up in the lobby of the Louvre. Select a building to tackle and head straight to the ticket checker.
It is interesting to note that they don’t scan your tickets or anything, so if you wanted to go with your group in the morning you could hand off your tickets to another group in the afternoon. Just a little money saving advice!

Exploring Montmartre

(Katherine) Today was a scorcher; to the point where it would be unpleasant to be outside. We stayed inside all day with the blinds drawn and fan on, trying to conserve the cool air. We also needed to clean up the apartment to meet with our landlord for the first time, Michael. During our conversation we learned that he is a San Francisco native, and works for a French architecture firm. He moved here with his partner five years ago and they have slowly been buying and renting out small properties in anticipation of their eventual retirement. Michael was such a delight that we went out to enjoy a beer with him and he gave us the low-down on the neighborhood of Montmartre and Paris in general.

Once we parted ways, Robert and I headed down a street that Michael had recommended and searched for a place to eat. We found a cute restaurant called Le Paris Café which appeared to have a good mix of locals and foreigners (you can always tell by just listening to people’s conversations!) We had a wonderful meal, and headed back to the Autour de Midi to check out the jazz in their wine cave. There was a jam session that evening, and it appeared that musicians were able get up on stage and take turns performing as the lead instrument - a great way to discover new talent!

Our walk back home took us past our beautiful neighborhood landmark of Sacré Coeur, and of course I had to snap a photo to document how lovely it looks in the moonlight. We are thoroughly enjoying our new home!

Walking the Louvre to Champ-Élysées

(Katherine) Back in Rio, Robert received an unexpected offer from his former employer, TiVo, to do some contract work while we were traveling, which seems it might be the perfect excuse to purchase the MacBookPro he has been eying. Google indicated that there was an Apple Store near the Louvre, but it turns out it is actually inside a section of the Louvre called The Carousel, kind of like an attached shopping mall. Once Robert had a chance to chat with their employees, I got a chance to check out the outside of this famous museum for the first time.

The building is overwhelming - standing in the courtyard by the landmark glass pyramid, you get a sense for how much ground it really covers. Our plan is to visit on Wednesday, so I need to get my feet prepared for a LOT of walking! After doing a little more recon for our Louvre visit, we took off towards the Arc de Tromph du Carrousel and on to the Jardin du Carrousel, presumably where the mall took it’s name. This connected right on to the Jardins des Tulieries, which is a series of meticulously manicured trees, paths and fountains. It was terribly hot today, so we made several stops including one at a water fountain which has provided free water to the people of Paris for centuries. Unlike the other counties we have been to so far, the tap water is very safe to drink, so we no longer need to constantly buy bottled water.

We continued on through the Place de la Concorde, which is a circular road which travels around an oblique. It then connects on to the Champ-Élysées, probably the most famous and exclusive street in all of Paris. All of the major fashion labels have their flagship stores on this street or on one of the side streets. I would assume that this area is literally considered the capital of Parisian fashion, but given our constrained budgets we only shopped the sale rack at The Gap and sale section of Adidas for some workout clothes. Not exactly a five-star shopping trip, but it was very practical!

Although it was tempting to have dinner on this glamorous street, we opted to head back to our neighborhood and stock up on frozen meals at a wonderful chain called, Picard - kind of like a Parisian Trader Joes. While it’s certainly not fancy, the meals are quite tasty and allow us to stretch our dollars a little further. We rewarded ourselves after our thrifty dinner by having drinks at an adorable café called Le Village just by our house. If we can just maintain these kinds of compromises we might just be able to keep our budget in balance!

Parc Floral + Jardíín du Luxembourg

(Katherine) In keeping with our quest for jazz, we had researched an event in the Parc Floral de Paris - a botanical garden located in the 5th arrondissement. They are holding a series called the Plein Tarif Concerts; you pay the $5 euro entry fee for the park and then you get to enjoy a free concert performance. We had packed a hearty picnic, so we sought out a shady piece of real estate to spread out our blanket and enjoy the music. It was a very soft contemporary jazz performance, and Robert spent some time exploring the area (and PA system) while I did some writing. After the act was over, we wandered through the gardens and took some photos of our beautiful surroundings.

We decided that we wanted to continue our garden experience, so we headed to one of the most famous ones in all of Paris, the Jardíín & Palais du Luxembourg. A huge palace overlooks a series of sculptures, an English garden, and the Medici Fountain; all of which contribute to the area being known as the city’s most romantic park. Photos simply don’t do it justice, although I had to try!

The extended daylight hours caused us to be caught by surprise when we realized the park was about to close (it stays light until about 10:30.) We headed to Boulevard Saint Germain and grabbed a great table at Le Danton overlooking the busy street. We enjoyed a carafe of wine (the most economical way to drink wine here) and went through the series of pamphlets we had collected, discussing ideas for upcoming adventures. There is so much to do here! We made a quick trip to the Latin Quarter for a simple meal from a Greek food kiosk and headed home with ideas racing through our head about what to do in the upcoming week.

Batofar

(Katherine) We spent another day exploring our area, including a leisurely late lunch at a café right by the Abbesses Metro station and a carousel. This area in particular is overrun by cute babies - there are strollers everywhere! Robert and I would be on “cute baby alert” and let each other know when a new one had come onto the scene. Something about French children is just quite adorable!

We then went on adventure to find picnic supplies - there are so many great parks in the area, and picnicking is a great way to save money over constantly dining out. With our new supplies in hand, we packed up a meal and headed to a small park just behind Sacré Coeur. It was quite relaxing to lay on the grass, drink wine, stare at a beautiful church…and appreciate not being stuck in a cube at work. These are the moments that remind me why we’re doing this trip!

 

Once the park closed, we got ready for our next adventure which was all the way across town. Years ago, Robert had been to a venue with his sister, Joanna, which was actually a boat repurposed as a floating nightclub, Batofar.  He spoke very highly of his experience and wanted to share it with me on this trip. We took a very complex series of Metro lines to finally reach the 13th arrondissement and walked along the Seine River before we finally came to Batofar. It looked different than what Robert remembered, and what we learned is that the upstairs was now just a huge bar area, the middle was now a restaurant, and the club with the DJs was located downstairs inside the boat. I think Robert was a bit disappointed that there was no longer an open-air club concept since the music was now hidden away in the hull of a ship. The other issue was that the headliner did not appear to be getting on the decks until at least 3am since the second DJ didn’t start until after 1:30am. Since the Metro shuts down at 2am, we had to leave and run (literally) to the nearest station and still missed the train. The taxi home was $15 euros, not as bad as I had suspected, but the Metro shutdown will definitely ensure that we select our late nights carefully!

Montmartre + Pigalle

(Katherine) While I spend most of the day making blog updates, Robert went out and explored our neighbor to become more familiar with the area. He came back to retrieve me and I ventured out with him through the area of Montmartre just below Sacré Coeur. We climbed up a huge hill along an ally and found a cute bar at the top called Autour du Moulin, which is located just in front of Moulin de La Gillette (I learned that “moulin” means windmill.) We had a great view of the street below and were amused by the cars that would drive up the narrow street, only to have to roll back down again to exit.

We kept moving up the hill to an area called Place de Terte where Robert had identified a few dining options. We chose a tiny restaurant called Le Poulsbo, Le dernier de Montmartre. Although we were in a very touristy area, this place had a great deal of genuine charm and appeared to have many years of history on the top of this hill. After dinner, we walked back down towards our original ally to a movie theater where we purchased tickets for the Doors documentary entitled “When You’re Strange.” Jim Morrison had died in Paris, so they have a particular fascination with him. Johnny Depp narrates the movie, which gave me a whole new perspective of the band and how their lead singer was both a musical genius and the original definition of “hot mess”.

After the movie, we worked our way further down the hill and came upon a restaurant with a jazz cave downstairs, Autour de Midi. Downstairs we discovered a live band called Arthur playing upbeat French songs mixed with Spanish music. The lead singer even did a dead on impression of Johnny Cash’s “Walk the Line.” We will definitely add this venue to our list of neighborhood bars!

We kept making our way down to Pigalle, which is the red light district. Moulin Rouge is also located along the main street and we stopped in for a drink at their outdoor bar. They also appear to have a nightclub in the back which requires a cover, but you can drink at the bar for free. We kept making our way down the street and found a type of bar that I haven’t been to in quite a while - karaoke! Although there was no stage at L’Epoque Pub (you sing from your table, which I find weird) I still decided to belt out some Joan Jett amongst the sappy French love songs and other random 80‘s music. I think next time I’ll need to come armed with some tunes from Grease, since that movie seems to be a Parisian favorite.

Le Marais

(Katherine) We started off the day with the daunting task of purchasing an international SIM card through Orange for my phone, mainly for “emergency” needs (or last minute social plans!) We rewarded ourselves with a Croc Madame at Café de la Palace, and then began to make our way to the 11th arrondissement to meet up with Venetia at Liz and Vincent’s house. We hung out with Venetia and Liz until we needed to get Venetia into a cab for the airport. Then we hung out with Liz some more until Vincent got home from work. Liz is a native of Mexico, but fell in love and married Vincent, a Parisian, over 10 years ago. She has been in Paris for about 5 years and provided very interesting insight about our new city, having arrived as a foreigner. We all made plans to get together for dinner another time, and Robert and I took off to discover a new neighborhood.

We ended up off Saint-Germain, one of the main streets, but found an adorable tapas place called Casa San Pablo for a bite to eat. We then went on an adventure that took us over the Seine River into an area called La Marais which traditionally known as the center of the Jewish community. We decided it was time for a drink, so we popped into a bar that had a lively greeter upon entry, the Oka Music Bar: Le Midi L’Okawa. Once inside, I looked around and noticed Greece playing on the TV and rainbow flags behind the counter and realized that we had found the other community that lived in this arrondissement - “gay” Paris! As a long-time San Francisco and friend of many gay men, I was quite excited at this discovery since it reminded me of the Castro district back in SF.

We left the bar and made our way through the neighborhood checking out the other venues; some of which were a mix of men and women, some were overflowing with only men. But overall the vibe was upbeat, good spirits, and very safe. We kept wandering until we were nearly blinded by a series of blinky lights covering the entire ceiling of a small venue called 4pat. We were mesmerized by the pink and purple sparkly décor and decided to go in for a nightcap. As the crowd all chimed in to belt out the lyrics to “Summer Nights” I knew we would probably be spending a few more evenings in this fun neighborhood!

Bastille Day

(Katherine) Today was the big day, the day we had purposefully used to anchor our Paris travel plans - Bastille Day! We woke up with excitement, talking about heading down to the Champs-Élysées to possibly watch the parade or a myriad of other patriotic activities. Then we opened the blinds….it was POURING rain. Rain like a Midwest storm, comprised of thunder and lightening and buckets of water. It was the most rain we’ve seen on our entire trip - ironic, since it was the only day of the entire 9 months of travel which absolutely required a dry climate for the event (fireworks!)

However, by 4:30 it finally began to clear and the parade started up on TV. We took our time getting ready, enjoyed some sushi around the corner at Sushi Montmartre, and confirmed plans with Venetia to meet up with her and another couple who are hosts (have a listed apartment) on AirBnb. I didn’t realize that our meeting location was actually at the Eiffel Tower until we followed the direction to the park and I looked up to see the famous structure for the first time. It truly is an amazing site to behold! We found Venetia and the couple, Liz and Vincent, who were joined by some of their other friends. We were still at least 2 hours away from the fireworks show, but we decided to claim some real estate on a dry patch of ground and wait.

The Eiffel Tower had been lit up all evening and then right around 11:00 it went dark - time for the show to begin! We all stood up and watched the most amazing 30-minute fireworks spectacle I have ever seen. Music pumped through a PA system which included many French classics, an Indian Bollywood song, and many songs related to Africa and specifically South Africa. We assumed this was mainly due to the recent World Cup, but we later learned it was also a nod to the many immigrants here in Paris including those from the French islands in the Caribbean. The fireworks were perfectly timed to build with the music, and shot off just behind the Eiffel Tower which remained dark throughout most of the performance. Suddenly at the end, it lit up in thousands of blinky lights for a dramatic effect against the fireworks display. Truly stupendous!

Just as the performance came to a close, the rain moved back in and it started to drizzle. We all made our way through the chaos to find a metro station - we later learned that we were making our way through a crowd of over 1 million people who had turned out for the show! We said our goodbyes to the group and made plans to get together again soon. This truly would be a night to remember!

Sacré Coeur + Paris Rooftop

(Katherine) Today we slept in quite late to make up for no sleep during our Rio to Paris transit. Once we finally got up and got out of the house, we decided to head to one of Paris’s biggest tourists attractions, which also happened to be on our backyard - Sacré Coeur. Just behind our apartment is a series of steps that take you up the side of the hill to Sacré Coeur. Let’s just say that if we were to take these steps every day I might just work off all of the weight I put on in Argentina from eating steaks!

There were thousands of tourists all around, put we still managed to snap a few photos and then make our way through the church. They take you on a path which goes around the center of the church where the public at large is welcomed to sit in prayer any time of the day. They also employ a couple of professional “shushers" who tell tourists to quiet down when they are being too loud. I’m proud to say that most of the people who got shushed were not Americans. We enjoyed a few moments of reflection in one of the pews at the back of the church and took in the beauty of the building - it truly is a sight to behold.

We continued to explore our neighborhood and finally stopped for a bite to eat at Café de la Palace. We then hurried home to change since we had another date arranged with our new friends at AirBnb.  They had selected a place called Favlea Chic, a Brazilian place where the literal translation of the name means “Slums Chic” (ironic, since we had just been in Rio). We met up with Venetia and Lisa and enjoyed some cocktails, wine and appetizers. We also met a Parisian client, Clement, who manages a dozen apartments in the city, all of which are listed on Airbnb.  After dinner, Robert, myself and Clement went across the street to the apartment where Venetia and Lisa were staying where they tried calling some other Airbnb clients to coheres them to come out with us. During this process, they received a Skype call from Joe, one of the founders of the company. After a few minutes, all of the Airbnb founders were in the office, and Venetia introduced us to them via her computer - we are known as “The Honeymooners” for our unique Airbnb story. They all seemed very cool and enthusiastic about our Airbnb experience.

After the conference call, we ventured out to find a new venue. Clement and Lisa decided upon a nightclub called Andy Wah-loo, a hipster venue that can be tricky to get into without knowing the right people. Fortunately for us, Lisa and Clement were the right people that night, and we enjoyed a mojito at the bar while a DJ spun disco and r&b.  Afterwards, Clement invited us to enjoy an extremely exclusive view of Paris from from his rooftop. The 360 degree view is a rare sight for most tourists. We could see a number of landmarks including Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower.  I tried to take some photos of our surroundings but the camera didn’t do it justice

After soaking in the view, Clement introduced us to his 5th floor neighbors who were very gracious to invite the five of us inside. Robert got to test out his French speaking skills while I talked with Venetia for quite a while - we shared a lot of similarities beyond just our Hoosier background. It finally started to get quite late and we all went our separate ways. Robert and I took a leisurely stroll home while reflecting on our new friends and our amazing view of our new city.

On to Paris + Airbnb Interview

(Katherine) Our journey in Paris began last night when a cab picked us up at our Ipanema apartment at 4:00 in the afternoon. We were worried that we wouldn’t be able to even get a cab since it was during the middle of the World Cup, but luckily the Brazilians didn’t really care much about the Holland/Spain match up and we didn’t have an issue. It was an overnight flight which was pretty brutal because the TAP airline seats were extremely cramped and we didn’t sleep at all. Upon landing, we had to complete a complex series of tasks: pull some Euros from an ATM, get on a train, transfer on a Metro, find a ticket booth to purchase Metro tickets (our American credit cards didn’t work) get off at the right stop, find a café which had our apartment keys, find the apartment building, and then figure out the right codes to get into the apartment - all with no sleep. We managed to pull off all feats without too much drama - a great test of a relationship!

We were also in a bit of a hurry to check into our Paris apartment (thank you May Family for the Honeyfund gift!) located in Montmartre because we had an appointment lined up for that evening. The San Francisco based company that we are using to book most of our lodging, Airbnb, had contacted us to see if we would like to give a testimonial about our experience as customers. We had just missed a social event for their Parisian clients the night before, so we had arranged our own personal appointment for our arrival date. Thus prompted the final stage of complexity to our travel schedule - trying to figure out how to navigate from our new home to our meeting point via Metro with no sleep. I have never been to Paris before, so I had no baring for any directions yet (I’m normally a human compass). The fact that Robert and I didn’t exchange too many heated words during the frustrating 45 minutes we walked in circles to get to our destination was also another test of the relationship!

We showed up late, but we finally made it to Hotel du Nord, located in the 10th arrondissement (neighborhood). We met with three Airbnb employees - Venetia, who is the host of Airbnb TV on their website, Lisa, who focuses on client development, and Dillon, who is contracting with them to do their video work. We chat for quite a while over a glass of rosé and learned that Venetia is originally a Hoosier who went to my alma mater IU and currently lives in LA but is moving to SF for work. Lisa is a native of France who currently lives in Vancouver but is also moving to SF for Airbnb. They came out to Europe and met Dillion to film footage of various European apartments and hosts within their network. In case you’re not familiar with their company (and you should be!) it’s a listing service that partners people who want to travel with people who own rooms or entire apartments that can be rented out on a temporary basis. The cool thing is that then you have a local resident that you can rely on for references and information, and you enjoy a much more “homey” feel to your stay verses staying in an apartment. It’s also MUCH more cost effective than hotels, especially for a long term stay.

After finishing our glass of wine, they asked us to walk over to a bridge overlooking a canal to shoot video footage of our interview. They asked about our overall experience on Airbnb, why we were using it, etc., and we tried to look as awake and perky as possible for the taping. We have had an extremely positive experience using their service and hopefully that came across in our video despite our droopy eyelids!  Once we wrapped up, we all exchanged info, and then Robert and I started to wander through Paris.

We made our way down towards the Seine River and then towards an area called the Latin Quarter. This place is incredibly adorable. There is definitely a touristy aspect to some of the streets, but there is a also a genuine charm because it is actually the oldest part of the city. We settled on a place called Le Latin for dinner and enjoyed a prefix meal (set price for starter, main + dessert).  We later wandered to a piano bar called Le Relais de la Hachette where the pianist was playing American classics from the 60’s and 70’s. After a while we finally decided it was time to call it quits and get some sleep, but I had already decided that I was going to love the next 30 days of living in this city.

Brazilian dinner at Porcão

(Katherine) Our last full day in Rio started with a final trip to the beach. We packed up a picnic and found a great spot of the border of Ipanema and Leblon beach, quite isolated from the chaos about 5 blocks down in the center of Ipanema. I snapped some final photos of the surrounding area and a local kite boarder, and we finally bit adieu to the beach and headed back to the apartment to prep for our major event of the day - dinner!

I’ve only had an elaborate Brazilian dinner experience one before in Dallas, which is ironic considering they are equally known for being a land of “meat eaters.” The place we had selected was called Porcão, which is apparently a famous chain of restaurants but their Ipanema venue had been there for only about a year. When you first walk inside you are greeted with a wall of celebrities that have dined at the establishment - the main people we recognized were Tom Cruise and Gisele. We checked in for our reservation and were ushered to our seats, right next to the salad bar. Here’s how these things works - it’s a fixed price which includes every thing you want to take off the salad bar, and then all the meat you can eat. They present you with a button which has a green side and a red side. When you have it flipped to green, servers come by and offer you meat from a skewer - it could be chicken, lamb, seafood, or various cuts of beef. When you flip it to red, they stop and give you a break.

As soon as we sat down, they kept encouraging us to visit the salad bar - we decided that this was their means of us filling up on as much “fluff” food as possible so we wouldn’t be hungry enough to eat an abundance of meet. Little did they know we had a strategy! We went for a few grilled vegetables (again, avoiding fresh items which had been rinsed in running water) but then hit the sushi bar. We loaded up on sashimi and several rolls. We also strategically nibbled on the free sides they offered because we noticed they were all starch (rice, potatoes, etc.) which were again designed to fill you up.

We finally flipped our buttons to green and the race was on - who could serve us the most delectable meats the quickest? We samples various cuts of poultry and pork, but we finally started to decline the multiple cuts of beef because Robert was anxiously awaiting his favorite. One of the nicer servers who came by asked him what he wanted, and Robert laid it out for him - prime rib. The server smiled and walked off. A few minutes later, he showed up with the elusive skewer of prime rib, fresh off the grill. We each received a slice, and I watched Robert’s face light up as he took a bite - I could tell this was the highlight of the meal!

We probably stayed for at least 2 hours, making as much room in our bellies as possible. A bottle of Malbac had helped to top off the evening, but also put us into a comatose state once we had stuffed ourselves beyond belief. Although we had high hopes of going on our last night in Rio, we decided instead to just relish the yummy food in our bellies, and roll ourselves home. It was a very fulfilling (figuratively and literally) way to end our experience in Rio!