Day Two in Paris

On Sunday, I woke up to a wonderful surprise – the Paris marathon was passing right by my hotel. I quickly dressed and ate and got down in time to see the frontrunners passing by. I walked along the Seine for a while, following the marathon route, until the full crowd descended.

I followed the Seine towards the Louvre and wandered through the manicured Tuileries – here it really felt like spring with the tulips and trees blooming. For lunch, I headed toward the Marais to Mi-Va-Mi, a falafel shop famous for competing with the L’As du Falafel directly across the way. L’As du Falafel is regarded as the best falafel in Paris (at least according to Lenny Kravitz, apparently), but Mi-Va-Mi had room to sit and was much more persuasive (they hawk you as you walk by), so I went there. It was my favorite meal in Paris by far. I got l’assiette royale falafel (royal falafel plate), which came with lots of crunchy-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside falafel, a big dollop of wonderfully creamy hummus, buttery roasted eggplant, and a fantastic assortment of random little salads. My favorite was one with huge fava beans, which I’d never had before, and which, Dan tells me, cause your red blood cells to explode, fatally in some people. Luckily my exploded red blood cells will regrow in 120 days. In the meantime, I am considering short-term disability. Ha. My only really complaint at Mi-Va-Mi was the horrifically annoying American tourists sitting at the table behind me whining that the french fries tasted “like potatoes.” OK.

After my lunch, I wandered back through the Marais to my hotel where I overheard this gem from another American tourist: “Macaulay Culkin is a babe.” I was more focused on the gorgeous scenery, but whatever. At the hotel, I lay down with my feet in the air for a while since, by this point, I was having intense foot pain. Not only had I developed gigantic blisters in shoes I’ve worn for years, but I was also having like muscular aches… And because I was headed to Brussels for work the next day, I felt some obligation to not completely incapacitate myself and arrive for work unable to walk, so I took it a bit easier for the rest of the day.

I decided to take the metro, since that involved less walking, and rode up to Montmartre, which involves climbing flights upon flights of steps to reach Sacre Coeur. There is a funiculaire which you can ride to the top, but sadly, even in severe pain, it turns out I am still kind of cheap. At Sacre Coeur, I met a strange man who asked me to take his picture as a souvenir (for me?) and after I finally relented and he checked to see that I did in fact have the picture stored on my camera, he left me alone. I paranoidedly (is that a word?) checked my purse, but all was still there…

From Montmartre, I went on a little metro tour, riding past the Tour Eiffel and my old neighborhood, where I got a quick glimpse of my old French family’s apartment. And no, I didn’t call them, so you can express your disapproval in the comments. I was very conflicted, but in the end, it’s always easier not to, and so, I didn’t. Not a very satisfactory explanation, I know, even for me, but c’est la vie, eh?

After a quick stop at the hotel, I went for dinner at a restaurant where Dan and I ate, and where I ate with Mom, Dad, Mariah, and Tyler too, five years ago – Chez Paul. It was EXACTLY like I remembered it, which was really gratifying. I think it’s rare that someplace lives up to expectations after so many years of being romanticized in memories, but Chez Paul was the exception. The service was so friendly, the food was delicious (I had steak au poivre with potatoes gratin), and, like last time, I drank a bit too much wine. Maybe even a bit more than a bit too much because the table next to me bought me a glass of wine as a thank you for letting their kids pass by me to get outside since they were antsy waiting for their dinners.

And thus concludes my little voyage to Paris. I enjoyed this short re-living of my time there, although it really didn’t feel like yesterday, which made me feel old. Next up: Brussels!

(notice the kissing couple on the right!)