Saori's high school friend Tojo invited us to to her wedding in Paris this weekend, so we both took friday off of work to go. I'm really happy we did, because it ended up being a really fun small slice of Paris.
We left Saori's place shortly after five AM to catch the metro to the Haupbahnhof (main station), which was nice since the S-Bahn runs directly to the station and it's less than ten minutes. We were actually running a bit late since we needed to get some coffee for Saori and pull some cash so we weren't using the foreign bank ATMs in Paris. We ended up jumping on the TGV about ten minutes before it pulled out of the station, just as the sun was rising over Stuttgart.
Saori slept like a log the whole trip and I dozed lightly. I was a bit sleep deprived, Saori was nearly dead. The trip was quick- three and a half hours and we were pulling into the Paris Gare du l'Est station. Actually, we crossed the Rhine into French Strausbourg about an hour out of Stuttgart- I'd love to spend some more time there.
I'd booked us a hotel close to the train station since it was a great location and relatively cheap. The location was very good- two minutes walk to the metro and five from the station. The name of the place "Le Grand Hotel du Paris" should have been a red flag in contrast to the price. The only thing Grand about it was its location and the room rates. The "Grand" hotel occupied a building about five meters wide, sandwiched in between the other super-cheap travelers hotels and mediocre cafes and convenience stores lining the street to the train station.
Our rooms were not ready since we arrived early in the day, so we dropped our bags and took a stroll over to the nearby Canal Saint-Martin neighborhood, a relatively trendy neighborhood along the tree-lined canal, filled with boutiques, hip cafes and bars, and new restaurants, coffee places, bakeries, and upscale international stores. While I was waiting for Saori to return from Lausanne, I'd feverishly looked up the recommendations in a variety of "36 hours in Paris" articles, and decided to focus my attention in particular on the Canal St.-Martin neighborhood.
Our first stop was, of course, a cafe for cappuchinos to wake up and plan for the rest of the day. Chez Prune is a small bar/coffeeshop/restaurant which was quite good. I wished I'd photographed the bartended because he was a dead ringer for Tay- tall and lanky, striking features, a bit lean especially in the face, big hair, and mutton chops facial hair. Tay, you could totally pull that off if you wanted. Not sure how they would take it at the PD office though. He actually looked a bit like an extra from Les Mis.
From Chez Prune we went to Du Pain et des Idees, a bakery. I can safely say that it is the best bakery I have ever been to. We ordered a pistachio escargot (a flaky pastry wheel with chocolate and pistachio filling between), a baked apple pastry thing, and a croissant. They were the best I'd ever had of any of those categories. The baked apple thing was a flaky pastry built around a halved apple which had baked into a sweet, nearly applesauce consistency at the heart of this thing. It was fantastic. Saori and I were both in heaven munching on these pastries as we sat along the banks of the canal, watching the few ducks. Characteristically Parisian, they snubbed the American tourists, breadcrumbs notwithstanding. What is it about the ducks of Paris, anyway? They have that je ne se quack, you know?
We walked along the banks of the canal to Republique, a plaza which had been completely changed since I'd been in the area last. Actually, that was the area which I stayed in when I first came to Paris on my own back in 2005, with my hostel nearby. The new plaza covered the old roundabout with the statue in the center and tied the two parks on either side together with a new pop-up cafe on the side. It was filled with people enjoying the friday, tourists, homeless, locals, buskars, everyone who plays a part in the city.
We went back to the hotel to check in. We squeezed into the smallest elevator I've ever seen to ride up to the top floor. The elevator's maximum capacity was listed at three people. Saori and I are not large people, but the two of us barely fit, and we only made it with our bags because we both were carrying small soft travel bags. The room was of the attic variety- the roof pitch sloped half of the ceiling into head bumping territory. The floor sloped- dramatically. You had to be careful that things didn't slide down the small desk, and the bottom of the bed was about a foot lower than the head. However, it did have a very tiny balcony which opened out to a nice view of the train station and the roofs of the city.
We took the metro to Palais du Tokio, a run down but beautiful building on the Seine across from the tour Eiffel, which was so named because for many years it was a bohemian artists workshop of mostly asian artists. It is actually a pair of buildings with a stepping plaza between: a musuem of modern art, and a modern art special exhibitions hall. We went to the special exhibitions hall which had been stripped down to the most basic construction, finished as per required by the installations. Very conceptual art, for the most part, but the building was really cool. Someone was building an installation out of several thousand tires, and downstairs in the dimly lit basement, a gentleman was embarking on the performance of the entire works of Phillip Glass and homages to Glass, a continuous performance of 7 hours. There was also a really interesting video installation with a hall filled with massive video projections onto the floor where people walked around.
We crossed the Seine, snapped some obligatory selfies of the two of us with the river and the Eiffel tower in the background, and caught a metro to the Luxembourg gardens. It was a lovely, warm spring afternoon, and the gardens were full of people lounging, napping, conversing, and reading. Everywhere, there are the ancient green steel chairs, worn but comfortable and perfect for propping up one's feet on a second. Tired, we sat and simply enjoyed the late afternoon sun and pleasant ambiance.
Paris also means Muji, so we hit the nearby Muji store and picked up some pens, paper, notebooks, and I also got a button down shirt on sale.
By then it was time for dinner, so we rushed back over to Canal St.-Martin for our 8pm reservations at Le Verre Vole, a boho wine bar/restaurant. It's one of the places popular both with the locals and with Americans who read the New York Times "36 hours in Paris" articles. It's a small place with small tables and worn metal chairs. The food was phenomenal. Really phenomenal. Saori started with a beef tataki and I got to work on a small cheese platter. Actually I was a bit disapointed when I first saw the plate of cheese, there was a small wedge of Camembert, a small wedge of Brie, a cheese I couldn't identify with a very nutty character, and a pat of butter. They were all phenomenal. Paired with the fresh baked bread, it was a meal in itself. Even the butter was the best butter I've ever had.
We decided to go easy on the wine so we just asked for wine by the glass. We said "something white? Maybe something to go with the fish?" and the waiter said, "Ok" and he brought us out some pretty good crisp white wine. When the mains came out, he brought us some red for a change, a Shiraz with a bit of spiciness to it.
For the main course, we ordered the daily specials. Saori got roasted pigeon with asparagus, peas, and potatoes, and I got a monkfish with a carrot purree, butter sauce, and small purple potatoes. It was all fantastic although my monkfish beat Saori's pigeon. The pigeon was surprisingly meaty and rich, although I understand it was the farmed variety rather than than freshly-caught city flying rats. One more animal for the comestible list! For desert we split a small chocolate pot, which was actually more like a white-chocolate key lime pie topped with small pieces of grapefruit.
What a meal! What a spoiler as well! Coming to Germany from the US, the bread and the cheese are fantastic, and then you go to Paris, where they make Germany look American in comparison.
We left Saori's place shortly after five AM to catch the metro to the Haupbahnhof (main station), which was nice since the S-Bahn runs directly to the station and it's less than ten minutes. We were actually running a bit late since we needed to get some coffee for Saori and pull some cash so we weren't using the foreign bank ATMs in Paris. We ended up jumping on the TGV about ten minutes before it pulled out of the station, just as the sun was rising over Stuttgart.
Saori slept like a log the whole trip and I dozed lightly. I was a bit sleep deprived, Saori was nearly dead. The trip was quick- three and a half hours and we were pulling into the Paris Gare du l'Est station. Actually, we crossed the Rhine into French Strausbourg about an hour out of Stuttgart- I'd love to spend some more time there.
I'd booked us a hotel close to the train station since it was a great location and relatively cheap. The location was very good- two minutes walk to the metro and five from the station. The name of the place "Le Grand Hotel du Paris" should have been a red flag in contrast to the price. The only thing Grand about it was its location and the room rates. The "Grand" hotel occupied a building about five meters wide, sandwiched in between the other super-cheap travelers hotels and mediocre cafes and convenience stores lining the street to the train station.
Our rooms were not ready since we arrived early in the day, so we dropped our bags and took a stroll over to the nearby Canal Saint-Martin neighborhood, a relatively trendy neighborhood along the tree-lined canal, filled with boutiques, hip cafes and bars, and new restaurants, coffee places, bakeries, and upscale international stores. While I was waiting for Saori to return from Lausanne, I'd feverishly looked up the recommendations in a variety of "36 hours in Paris" articles, and decided to focus my attention in particular on the Canal St.-Martin neighborhood.
Our first stop was, of course, a cafe for cappuchinos to wake up and plan for the rest of the day. Chez Prune is a small bar/coffeeshop/restaurant which was quite good. I wished I'd photographed the bartended because he was a dead ringer for Tay- tall and lanky, striking features, a bit lean especially in the face, big hair, and mutton chops facial hair. Tay, you could totally pull that off if you wanted. Not sure how they would take it at the PD office though. He actually looked a bit like an extra from Les Mis.
From Chez Prune we went to Du Pain et des Idees, a bakery. I can safely say that it is the best bakery I have ever been to. We ordered a pistachio escargot (a flaky pastry wheel with chocolate and pistachio filling between), a baked apple pastry thing, and a croissant. They were the best I'd ever had of any of those categories. The baked apple thing was a flaky pastry built around a halved apple which had baked into a sweet, nearly applesauce consistency at the heart of this thing. It was fantastic. Saori and I were both in heaven munching on these pastries as we sat along the banks of the canal, watching the few ducks. Characteristically Parisian, they snubbed the American tourists, breadcrumbs notwithstanding. What is it about the ducks of Paris, anyway? They have that je ne se quack, you know?
We walked along the banks of the canal to Republique, a plaza which had been completely changed since I'd been in the area last. Actually, that was the area which I stayed in when I first came to Paris on my own back in 2005, with my hostel nearby. The new plaza covered the old roundabout with the statue in the center and tied the two parks on either side together with a new pop-up cafe on the side. It was filled with people enjoying the friday, tourists, homeless, locals, buskars, everyone who plays a part in the city.
We went back to the hotel to check in. We squeezed into the smallest elevator I've ever seen to ride up to the top floor. The elevator's maximum capacity was listed at three people. Saori and I are not large people, but the two of us barely fit, and we only made it with our bags because we both were carrying small soft travel bags. The room was of the attic variety- the roof pitch sloped half of the ceiling into head bumping territory. The floor sloped- dramatically. You had to be careful that things didn't slide down the small desk, and the bottom of the bed was about a foot lower than the head. However, it did have a very tiny balcony which opened out to a nice view of the train station and the roofs of the city.
We took the metro to Palais du Tokio, a run down but beautiful building on the Seine across from the tour Eiffel, which was so named because for many years it was a bohemian artists workshop of mostly asian artists. It is actually a pair of buildings with a stepping plaza between: a musuem of modern art, and a modern art special exhibitions hall. We went to the special exhibitions hall which had been stripped down to the most basic construction, finished as per required by the installations. Very conceptual art, for the most part, but the building was really cool. Someone was building an installation out of several thousand tires, and downstairs in the dimly lit basement, a gentleman was embarking on the performance of the entire works of Phillip Glass and homages to Glass, a continuous performance of 7 hours. There was also a really interesting video installation with a hall filled with massive video projections onto the floor where people walked around.
We crossed the Seine, snapped some obligatory selfies of the two of us with the river and the Eiffel tower in the background, and caught a metro to the Luxembourg gardens. It was a lovely, warm spring afternoon, and the gardens were full of people lounging, napping, conversing, and reading. Everywhere, there are the ancient green steel chairs, worn but comfortable and perfect for propping up one's feet on a second. Tired, we sat and simply enjoyed the late afternoon sun and pleasant ambiance.
Paris also means Muji, so we hit the nearby Muji store and picked up some pens, paper, notebooks, and I also got a button down shirt on sale.
By then it was time for dinner, so we rushed back over to Canal St.-Martin for our 8pm reservations at Le Verre Vole, a boho wine bar/restaurant. It's one of the places popular both with the locals and with Americans who read the New York Times "36 hours in Paris" articles. It's a small place with small tables and worn metal chairs. The food was phenomenal. Really phenomenal. Saori started with a beef tataki and I got to work on a small cheese platter. Actually I was a bit disapointed when I first saw the plate of cheese, there was a small wedge of Camembert, a small wedge of Brie, a cheese I couldn't identify with a very nutty character, and a pat of butter. They were all phenomenal. Paired with the fresh baked bread, it was a meal in itself. Even the butter was the best butter I've ever had.
We decided to go easy on the wine so we just asked for wine by the glass. We said "something white? Maybe something to go with the fish?" and the waiter said, "Ok" and he brought us out some pretty good crisp white wine. When the mains came out, he brought us some red for a change, a Shiraz with a bit of spiciness to it.
For the main course, we ordered the daily specials. Saori got roasted pigeon with asparagus, peas, and potatoes, and I got a monkfish with a carrot purree, butter sauce, and small purple potatoes. It was all fantastic although my monkfish beat Saori's pigeon. The pigeon was surprisingly meaty and rich, although I understand it was the farmed variety rather than than freshly-caught city flying rats. One more animal for the comestible list! For desert we split a small chocolate pot, which was actually more like a white-chocolate key lime pie topped with small pieces of grapefruit.
What a meal! What a spoiler as well! Coming to Germany from the US, the bread and the cheese are fantastic, and then you go to Paris, where they make Germany look American in comparison.
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