Paris

We had six terrific days in Paris – a city we each have special memories of. Matt and I spent our honeymoon there 18 years ago, and then we took the girls for the first time in 2004. We stayed in the 6th Arrondissement in a really nice hotel called Hotel Tourville which is very close to the Eiffel Tower. Every morning Matt and I would walk to Rue Cler for a morning coffee and then scour the street for fresh fruit, breads, yogurt, hot latkes and other goodies for our morning breakfast in our room. We became familiar with the local food merchants and in particular, one lovely elderly French woman who was convinced Matt was a famous actor (not the first time this has happened while traveling). She didn’t speak a word of English and our French is limited, at best, but on the second morning coffee meeting she decided to sit down with us and have a fifteen minute conversation that neither of us understood, but both of us enjoyed immensely! She made quite an impression on us and will remain as another fond memory of Paris.

We kept ourselves busy visiting the Pompidou (the girl’s very favorite museum), Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the Champs de Mars, The Louvre, Palais Royal and Napoleon’s Tomb and Tuileries Gardens. I have a really good friend, Cathy Franz, and her son, Mike, runs a bike tour company in Paris called Fat Tire Bikes. We took a three hour tour around Paris on one of Mike’s tours and we had so much fun. The girls LOVED it! Mike was funny and well-informed and he kept us interested and entertained. We later took him out to dinner at a really cool restaurant called Le Coup Shou. Mike is a smart, personable, really great guy and we enjoyed our time with him so much.

The weather was a bit chilly and we even had a few brief hail storms, but they always seemed to happen when we were tucked away in some sidewalk café, or in our hotel room. The clouds broke and the sky was burning blue the day we decided to walk through Rodin’s Garden. The gardens are just beautiful and it’s a magical setting to view some of Rodin’s most famous sculptures. On Mike’s recommendation, we decided to visit the Jewish section of Paris, Rue Rosarie. What a hoot. There is clearly a different energy pulsating in this section of town and we just soaked it up. We stopped for incredible falafels (our favorite lunch) and just walked around and did nothing!

Madeline, the other chef in the family, expressed interest in visiting Le Cordon Bleu in Paris while we were there. We walked from our hotel all the way to the cooking school with hopes that we might get to participate in a class or tour, but no such luck. The school was actually closed for spring break. I think Madeline was really taken with the whole idea of the school and it wasn’t a total loss – we bought a few gifts and I took her picture out on the street in front of the Le Cordon Bleu sign. She was pretty jazzed!

Some people think Parisian are snooty and rude and that has never been our experience. I think Parisians are incredibly proud and devoted to their country. There is symmetry to the city that is clearly visible in the way important monuments are lined up with each other, the way the gardens are trimmed and groomed to perfection and even in the way the morning markets are set up so beautifully. There is no doubt that Paris has earned its reputation as “The Most Beautiful City in the World!”
Off to Toledo (that should be a good time)
Lisa, Matt and girls