Notes from our last trip to Paris

 Oh Paris, the romantic city of lights! What is not to love about this beautiful place?  Whether is the elegant architecture, their famous monuments, the food, the people, the art, the bon-vivant lifestyle, there are many good reasons to visit France. Not everything is tres bon, these are my notes of lessons learned during this trip. 

I recommend:

Cooking classes by La Cuisine Paris

We learned how to make croissants and baguettes thanks to Eline our experienced, charismatic and opinionated French chef. The classes are 3 hours long but totally worth it. I got inspired to start making bread at home again. Making croissants is a lot of work, but making baguettes is not. I have a vial of poolish fermenting as we speak. 

Getting out of the city for the day

We took a day trip to Normandy to see the history Omaha Beach, the landing zone for the Allied forces on D-day. We had a British ex-soldier as our guide. I learned a lot that day and Normandy is quite picturesque. The weather was wonderful and the local Cider was tasty and refreshing. 

We also went to Monet's gardens in Giverny.  This is a must for gardeners and art lovers alike. The trip was pleasant and we had great company and a very nice guide. 

I loved:

The hidden Paris cycling tour 

I must admit that I wasn't too thrilled at first, the thought of cycling through Paris traffic (more on that in a bit) on a hot day or worse in the rain was not high on my list to do's. I kept an open mind and went with it and oh my god I am so glad I did. There is not one thing in particular that I can say did it for me, it was a combination of all the things, our tour guide Hanna was funny and informative, the sights and the locations were hidden gems that I wouldn't not have noticed or visited unless someone says something about it. I don't know if this is something I'd recommend to everyone though, you can get seriously hurt biking in Paris. However, I totally loved getting around the city on a bike. I would bike everywhere if I lived here. 

link to tour

The upgraded suite at the Hotel Lancaster

Airbnb is my experience is always hit-or-miss. The price point is better compared to staying at a hotel, we stayed at an Airbnb but we had some issues, the place smelled weird, like a musty-sour smell, the owners really tried to make it right but we never figured out where the smell came from. I was not comfortable for other reasons the layout of the place was weird and the closet space was limited in our bedroom, I was forced to live out of my suitcase so I wasn't too happy, we felt we were not getting our money's worth. My wife (the real MVP) found us a good room at this hotel and damn, it was nice! we loved the room, the service, the ambiance, it doesn't hurt that we got a nice upgrade because of Expedia. 

link to Hotel Lancaster's website

Tired:

Too many (other) tourist

Yes, I'm aware. One tourist going to a touristy place annoyed that there are other tourists there. It usually doesn't bother me because I know what to expect. There are some things worth seeing regardless of how many other tourists are there. Other times too many people there will take away from the experience. For example, what's the point of going to a "peaceful quiet park" if there are ten thousand other visitors on the trail? That said I was annoyed by other people's BO. I don't want to smell stranger's body odors or cigarette smoke when I'm trying to eat.  The Louvre and the Orsay museums were crowded but that's to be expected. The sidewalks at Champs-Elysee is what makes shopping there especial IMO, so it's not always bad. 

Driving there

I'm married to a hard-core badass woman. She does not fear driving in foreign lands, it must be the New Yorker in her. So we rented a car the first week we were here. This made it easy to get around outside the city, we were able to go to the airport and pick up and drop off my mom (she spent a few days with us) however, driving here is not for the faint of heart. Making a left turn is a Hobessian struggle where it's every man for themselves, there are no rules, just survival of the fittest ( and quickest) cutting someone off is not rude, it's essential to getting around as no-one will help you. One time we made the mistake of parking at the Louvre and expecting to drive back to the Airbnb in the 6th district during rush hour at 5 PM. A 1.5 mile trip took 90 minutes and that's by me aggressively driving and weaving through traffic. Since it was just my mom and I in the car, I took off my rule-following model driver "hat" off and instead put on my "driving a Hummer in Iraq" mode. I drove like my life depended on it. We made it, but, at what cost? 

Dirty Subway Stations

 I mean, we've been to subways in New York, so what was I expecting? The problem is that our trip to Tokyo showed me that we don't have to live in dirty cities, but maybe I should calibrate my expectations, right? Anyway, it is what it is, the subway stations smell like urine. But at least the trains run often, the most you'd wait is 3 minutes at a station. 

Surprised:

WWII History of France. 

I was a bit dissapointed hearing the details of the Vichy regime in WWII.  The French people over-emphasize the role of the French Resistance and Charle's de Gaulle's role in it. The French Government's collaboration with the Nazis is a complex topic and it's not discussed with the same frankness as the German Gov. It could be worse, there are some places where they erect statues and monuments to racist, losing traitors and call it "heritage" 

Underated

- French bread

- French coffee

- French Comics (according to my oldest daughter)

- French bookstores. (Shakespeare Co is an exception,  I love that place but it's now too popular, too many other English-Speaking book lovers in a small place is not cozy, it's claustrophobic) 

Overrated

French Restaurants

Maybe it was bad luck, or the price of ignorance, but we ate a lot of overpriced mediocre food with bad service. Maybe we had unrealistic expectations. I mean, we had really good meals, but overall I think that the cost to quality ration was low compared to other places. (Copenhagen, Buenos Aires, Tokyo) 

Other note-worthy things to mention

Disneyland

We love Disney, so we go to the park. I liked it and had a good time, but if you've been to other Disney World parks in Orlando or Anaheim you are not missing out a lot. Some spots are exact replicas of Disney World. That said, we went and had a grand time. 

Photo Shoot

For me, this was a special treat. We had a session with a professional photographer to take family portraits. My youngest and my wife packed these gorgeous dresses. We took photos at the Eiffel Tower, Luxemborg Gardens and the Louvre. We were turning a lot of heads, specially my 17 year old daughter. People were asking her and us what was the occasion. We had lots of people saying "brava" and "tres belle" to her. It was a lovely moment. I'm glad we've taken these photos. This is a once in a lifetime thing. 

Photographer: Rachel Calvo

My mom

My wife suggested we invite my mom to come with us. I called my mom and invited her literally 3 weeks before the trip. This was a dream come true to her. I am glad we were able to do that for her. 

My family

This was a good time for all four of us to do a trip like this. I know that pretty soon we are going to have an empty nest. We are making an effort to create good memories for the girls. 

My wife.

My lovely wife turned 40. This was a special trip for us. This was good. I'm glad we did this. I'm very grateful and lucky for this trip