Angelina | 1er

There are some reliable chains that you can count on when traveling through Paris. Paul was my favorite place to grab a quick bite and of course the above, Angelina. We went to the one next to the Tuileries. Between the two of us we just had the breakfast which included four croissants and two pieces of bread with an assortment of jams to share between two people. Andrew tried their famous hot chocolate--which was delicious but a bit too heavy after the first few minutes. I had orange juice and coffee. All in all, a comparable experience to brunch at Ladurée and surprisingly filling too! The macarons were really good but I'm still ever faithful to Chantal Guillon macarons in Hayes Valley!

Angelina

226 rue de Rivoli

75001 Paris

France

Concorde/Madeleine, 1er

Les Cocottes | 7ème

Our first dinner in Paris was in the 7ème arrondisement at Les Cocottes. We wanted to eat nearby the Eiffel Tower so that we could walk over afterwards to see the lights turn on and sparkle.

This was a really modern establishment compared to all of the other places we had eaten in France at that point. It's run by Christian Constant, who is something like the head judge of the French version of Top Chef. There was swag from his cookbooks behind the bar of the restaurant which made me a little weary. But, all in all it was a wonderful experience--and a really American one at that.

We didn't have to ask for une carafe d'eau; it came automatically. That was the most common mistake I made while traveling--failing to specify what kind of water I wanted. We ended up paying for bottled water needlessly on several occasions. The waiters also come back to check on you and ask how you're doing which is basically unheard of in most French restaurants.

We shared the foie gras to start with. I had the beef bavette for my main dish (pictured above) and it was delicious! Very tender...although it wasn't hot enough in my opinion. For dessert we shared the creme brulee, pretty conventional but it was really well done.

This was a really easy dinner night--no waiting for a table or dealing with grumpy waiters muttering putains under their breath. We walked in around 6 PM (which is extremely early for dinner in France) and were seated immediately at the bar. I'd easily recommend it to another friend.

Les Cocottes

135 rue Saint Dominique

75007 Paris

France

Tour Eiffel/Champ de Mars, 7ème

Paris, at last.

We left Lyon and its oppressive heat and escaped to Paris via the TGV. I visited Paris for the first time back in March for a weekend when I was in London for work. But here's the thing--I didn't love it the first time.

Paris might not be for everyone, but for nearly half of my life I was a staunch Francophile. I took French language classes for 8 years, read Le Clézio, studied French culture, became deeply fixated by its immigration problems, their penchant for les gréves and complaining for the sake of complaining. I loved all things French yet had never gone until this past year.

Perhaps it was too much of my idealization of France clashing with the realities of arriving for the first time as an American. Heck, it was my first time out of the country back in March as an adult. Needless to say, I felt like an outsider. Despite all its charms, Paris greeted me with indifference in the end. This time around, I ended my two week vacation in Paris. There's always a comfort in returning to a place even if it spit you out the first time around. We were elated to just have been out of Lyon. We were beginning to go a little stir crazy, especially because of the heat wave.

This time around, Paris revealed herself to me for the first time ever. I fell in love with how beautiful it was. The light truly is different. But I had amazing experiences as well. The food this time around was far better than the first. The people were not quite as friendly as the Spanish, but welcoming still.

When we got off the train, it was pouring. We checked into our hotel looking like wet dogs, but were elated nonetheless. Promptly after cleaning ourselves up, the sun came out and we went outside for a stroll. We walked from our hotel near Sacré Coeur over to the Tuileries and just walked and walked. We stopped by the Eiffel Tower and snapped photos before heading over to Les Cocottes for an early dinner. After dinner we just kept...walking and talking. Walking and talking.

Revenir.

"...I fell in love with Paris. Paris--and this is the tricky thing--though it is always and indubitably itself, is also in its nature a difficult city to love for itself alone. What truly makes Paris beautiful is the intermingling of the monumental and the personal, the abstract and the footsore particular, it and you. A city of vast and impersonal set piece architecture, it is also a city of the small and intricate, improvised experience." ~ Adam Gopnik, Paris to the Moon

2 Days in Paris.

I've never truly experienced something quite so surreal as arriving in Paris for the first time--especially after having studied French for almost 10 years. I kept telling Andrew that nothing felt real. And it's such a shame, because the reality that I was in the City of Light for two days didn't hit me until I returned to San Francisco!

I went to the UK for business recently, and had the opportunity to spend the weekend out of town. And what a wonderful weekend it was. Absolutely gorgeous weather for two days spent marveling at how beautiful a city could be.

It was interesting observing Parisians carrying on with their day to day lives. I just have to believe that there is so much more appreciation for art and design when you live in it! There is beauty to be found everywhere in the city. It's no wonder that there are so many more European-based websites and design publications than there are stateside.

So we took the Eurostar from St Pancras International in London into Gare du Nord Friday night. After checking into our hotel in Montparnasse, we walked around in search for a very late night dinner and ended up at a somewhat mediocre place called Au pied de cochon. They open 24 hours. In California, that conjures up images of poorly lit and dingy diners. But the restaurant was still really something else. Quite lively in fact considering it was nearly 2 AM when we left.

The following day was spent in pursuit of the perfect croissant, which is pretty much available anywhere. Bread in Paris is incomparable to what we have back home. I fear what might happen to me if I had access to such great breads all year round!

We started at the Eiffel Tower and made our way down the Seine on one of those hop on hop off boats over to Notre Dame. But most importantly, we made a pit stop at Shakespeare & Company! I am a total Before Sunrise/Before Sunset devotee and naturally an indie bookstore nutcase, so this was at the top of my list for this weekend. What a privilege to have a bookstore like this one at your disposal for studying in! I saw someone quietly working at a table on the top floor in one of the reading rooms. I am sighing to myself right now just thinking of it.

The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring Montmartre. Sacre Coeur was predictably overrun with tourists, so we didn't spend too much time there. We ventured into Le Pigalle by accident and ran into an active protest. I kind of chuckled to myself thinking how very French that was.

The rest of the weekend was a bit of a whirwind. We were totally beat by the end of each day after all of the walking. Sunday was spent mostly relaxing in various courtyards and gardens after visiting the Bastille Sunday Market. Needless to say, I am aching to return. But until my next visit, I'll leave you with more photos of my weekend.