Fade Away and Radiate

Managed to get out and see a fair bit.  Even more surprisingly, accomplished this without copious amounts of caffeine.  Also got pretty good at hopping on and off the Metro - I don’t find it quite as easy as the Tube in London, but not as baffling as the New York subway system.  (I don’t know why I’m intimidated by the subway in New York.  I just am.)

Things I saw:

• Place du Trocadero - a bit underwhelming, since the fountains were being repaired, but with a great in-your-face view of the Eiffel Tower
• Guimet Musee des Arts Asiatiques - only went through a few galleries, again electing for quality viewing over quantity
• Arc de Triomphe - one thing I appreciated very quickly was that just about everything associated with Napoleon has an insane larger-than-life epic quality about it - talk about overcompensating ;)
• Champs Elysee - was nice and all, but I hate shopping so it really didn’t do much for me; briefly considered going into Louis Vuitton, but there was a line-up to get in - no thanks…
• Centre Pompidou - only saw one gallery before I had an energy crash; planted myself on a bench in front of a Kandinsky painting and semi-dozed off for half-an-hour; was able to focus better after that

Things I ate:

• crepe with apricot filling for breakfast - light and tasty
• tagliatelle and salmon, with a half-bottle of Chardonnay at lunch - had this at a brasserie within sight of the Arc de Triomphe; was decent, but expensive relative to the quality of the food; decided to take the plunge with the Chardonnay after my positive Riesling experience in London, and didn’t regret it - of course, it was a French Chardonnay (I’m more acquainted with the California ones, and don’t really like them) and I found it very drinkable, if not spectacular
• coffee and a mini-cheesecake on the Champs Elysee - also not cheap - clearly you’re paying for the scenery as much as the food
• Croque Monsieur and a Kronenbourg for a light dinner - this also marked the first time I got out of Montparnasse for dinner - this was at a bar in Les Halles; basic, inexpensive comfort food, in a cheery atmosphere

Things didn’t really get off to a great start, considering that I woke up achy and sick.  Even my appetite was slightly shot, and that’s never a good sign.

So what do you do when you feel like crap?  In Paris, go for crepes…

For breakfast, I wound up at Creperie Josselin, which was recommended by Time Out Paris.  Nice, homey atmosphere, all decked out in provincial decor.  Had the Crepe de Marron, a double crepe filled with sweet chestnut paste.  Lovely, just lovely.

Dinner was at another Time Out Paris recommendation - Creperie du Manoir Breton.  It had a similar homey provincial theme, although it was less pronounced, and it was also a bigger space.  I had the Perigord crepe, filled with duck, prunes, and caramelised pear.  Also super-tasty.

So, despite tweeting that day that I wanted to do nothing, I did manage to go out and see a few things.  Attempted to find the stop for the bus tour and couldn’t, so instead I wound up going up the Tour Montparnasse.  The locals deried it as an eyesore, but. it’s certainly good for the view and to help you get your bearings in the city.

After that, I decided to just pick something off my list, and went to Musee Rodin.  This again was one of those places where it really paid off to take time and appreciate things.  

I did less well at my next stop, Hotel des Invalides, where Napoleon’s tomb is located.  It was late in the day, hpoand I found myself starting to get distracted and not pay attention as much.  I had to force myself to stop at one point and really look at things.

Also took the Metro for the first time and survived.

Overall, not a bad day.

So here I am on my first visit ever to Paris.  It’s kind of sad that it’s taken me this long to get here, but better late than never…

Am slowly getting used to things.  Am reasonably confident to at least make a mangled attempt at speaking French (and it’s largely “restarant French”), although as soon as things go off script, I revert to a very Canadian “Sorry…”

Spent some time yesterday just wandering around, getting a feel for the neighbourhood around my hotel.  I am once again staying in a fairly touristy area, although it’s less distressing and more comforting here than it was in London.

I haven’t been super adventurous with dining out yet.  I’ve visited the same brasserie (and yes, am still learning the different between brasserie, cafe, restaurant, bistro, etc.) three times, and I’ve only been here a day-and-a-half.  It’s close to the hotel, I’ve been able to score a reasonably good table on the terrasse each time, and the waiters don’t treat me like a complete imbecile when I attempt my mangled French.  Oh, and there’s free wifi.

I’m at least doing a bit better with actual food choices - steak tartare for dinner yesterday, a basic petit dejeuner with coffee, croissant, and orange juice for breakfast this morning, a buckwheat crepe with chevre, honey, walnuts, and fromage frais for lunch, and steak de cheval avec frites for a late dinner tonight.

Oh, right, and I did do stuff today besides eat…

It was a beautiful day for walking around, and while I did have a few things planned out, I ended up going off-plan a few times, allowing myself to get “lost”.  It was worth it.

First planned visit was to the market on Rue Mouffetard.  Yes, I know it’s touristy, but it was near(ish) to the hotel and near other things that I wanted to see.  And there was definitely lots to see there.  Again, was easy to go into sensory overload, so it was yet another exercise in really being aware and paying attention.

Second planned visit was the Pantheon.  You really appreciate a sense of history that exists here that seems to be lacking in much of North America.  Again, much to take in and absorb.

I made a semi-planned stop at the Musee National de Moyen Age - more history…

The last sightseeing stop was entirely unplanned - in my wandering around, just following whatever looked interesting, I wound up at the Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris.  I’d thought to go later in the week, but decided that I might as well visit as long as I was there.

I guess it really is going to be mantra on this trip to really take things slow and pay attention as much as possible.  In going through there, I tried not only to absorb sight and sound (not to mention the smell of burning wax and incense) as much as possible, but also get some sense of the feel of the place, of what it meant on a spiritual level to be there.  Not that I’m religious like that - it just seemed to be important.

Anyway, it’s getting late here.  I still haven’t done the write-up on lunch at Gordon Ramsay’s.  I also don’t quite know what I’m doing tomorrow.

It’ll be a good day, I think…