Life is made of little moments of happiness. And sometimes big ones. I am making a little trip to Paris next month!
For any newcomers to the blog, I travel twice a year to see relatives: one trip to Toronto, and another to southeast England. To add some variety, we want to add a couple of days to our UK trips and visit some other cities. Paris is first! It will be short but sweet, 48 hours. We have booked a place to stay and we’re trying to orient ourselves with maps and travel guides. Weather-permitting, I would like to walk and shop and eat pastries and just get a feel for it. I will not be spending our one full day in the Louvre or the Notre Dame, but I would like to do some of the usual things like stroll along Les Berges and the Champs Elysees, visit the Centre Pompidou and the Tour Eiffel, see the flea markets, and buy something overpriced so I can sit at Les Deux Magots!
I am hoping we will do OK food-wise with veggie stuff, bread and cheese, North African and food from other cultures. I am fine with rich sweets and pastries, but (gulp!) I don’t like French food – not just the meat focus, but any main course with butter or cream sauces. Wish me luck!
We are compiling ideas for our 3 days in London; the rest of our time will be happily spent visiting Rom’s family in their little village in Sussex.
I am hoping she will be able to finish her tour despite advanced pregnancy: we have tickets to see My Favourite Role Model, AMANDA PALMER!
Needless to say, I will be in countdown mode for the next few weeks.
An Exacting Life 
I’m jealous, Paris is a great walking city. I’m not telling you anything you won’t find in your guide book, but there is a great falafel place in the Marais called L’As du Fallafel – they keep Kosher so as long as you don’t try to go Friday evening or on Saturday you are OK. The street they are on is a scene and there are good pastries nearby. The Maison Kayser bakery empire sells good sandwiches and salads (some vegetarian) to take to a park – a great way to watch Parisians. You will do fine.
Thanks for the tips – I adore falafels!
Bon voyage. I hope it is magical. I look forward to hearing about it.
Thanks; like my first trip to NYC last Fall, I am calling it “exploratory”!
How exciting!
I am psyched 🙂
I look forward to seeing what you actually do. Love the vicarious travel, the view of someone else’s eyes. I love planning my trips too.
I look forward to finding out what I actually do, too 🙂
Eeeeee!!!!! I can’t say anything intelligible; I am so excited to read this!!
Oh my goodness – how exciting!!
I can’t wait for photos. Reports. The works, please!!!
I hope you love just being immersed in the language as much as I did. Music to the ear.
I am excited about Paris to the point where I need to stop and remember that the days in London and Sussex will be fantastic too (spoiled me!)
In French-speaking areas of Canada, it is impossible for us Anglos to speak French. As soon as we open our mouths and a bad accent comes out, they instantly switch to English. I have found it frustrating to not be able to practice French at all! Hoping I will be given a little bit of leeway in Paris. But I doubt it?
Parisians vary – those who are confident in English will switch, but it’s nothing like Quebec, they are FAR more likely to stick with their preferred language (French!)
They seem to be so appreciative of people speaking French in France that they will put up with even terrible Aussie accents. I found very few people spoke to us in English, even in Paris. But we also spent most of our time out in small towns, where most people genuinely didn’t speak English. No choice – they had to suffer through us mangling their language!
I so hope that will be true when we’re there (mangling and all)!
On a trip to London, hubby and I did one of those one-day-tours of Paris. Lunch at the Eiffel Tower, Seine boat ride…that whole touristy thing. We paid a RIDICULOUS amount of money for a whirlwind tour of the Louvre. I LOVED IT ALL!! Certainly one of the best days of my life. That being said, I don’t need to go back. Odd, isn’t it? You will have a fabulous time.
Good idea – I will have to think about a tour. Already spending big bucks so what’s a few hundred euros, LOL!
Wow sounds like so much fun! Have a wonderful vacation–I cant wait to see the pictures!
Thanks, I’ve never been there and I am looking forward to being somewhere new.
You’ll love Paris. It’s fantastic. And don’t worry, Paris is a metropolis. So even if you don’t like French foods, you can easily get any other cuisine. And I’m sure most have plenty of vegetarian options .
This is such an exciting piece of news! There’s heaps of options for your ‘non’ French liking tastes – lots of Maghreb food (north African). If you’re around the Moulin Rouge area/Montmatre, I can suggest a Moroccan restaurant though it may not be there. I would expect it’s as good as anywhere too!
sounds like you have a fun trip planned. Rupa and Manish once flew to Paris for a long weekend, it was quite surprising how much you can fit in, in a couple of days when you have too!! He also re-proposed to her under the Eifel (sp?) tower, which was very romantic and gave her another ring; they were already married!
I am all for jam-packing a couple of days! Re-proposing – what a concept 🙂
So exciting. We will be in Paris for almost the whole month of June. Walking around is indeed the best activity–I would skip the Champs Elysees because it’s lined with chain stores. We walk, sit in parks and eat…and, because we are there for so long, buy a Louvre membership!
The comment above is right. My husband is fluent in French, which makes my life very easy, but even my pathetic French is much appreciated, even in Paris.
A month! How fabulous. Thank you very much for the advice. I would love just to be able to walk around, eat good food and speak a bit of French!
YAY! Very exciting 🙂 I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time. Do you not like butter/cream sauces in general?
Nope, don’t like butter/cream sauces at all, not even whipped cream – only like butter and cream if they are baked into something! I am not worried about the food – but will not be ordering any steak tartare either! (Am currently researching where to get a truffle risotto…)