I love Paris (in the fall)

December 9 - 13

Our location in London affords us many opportunities for travel. It's an easy jumping off point for nearly anywhere in Europe and boasts five airports, a few major rail stations, and a ship harbor nearby so that you can choose your mode of transport as well as your destination. Joe and I knew from the beginning that we not only wanted to take the Eurostar under-channel train to neighboring Paris, but that we wanted to do it in multiple seasons. The French capital is only a bit over two hours away via this high-speed rail journey and St. Pancras station is only one bus from our apartment - much closer than getting to Heathrow or any of the other airports. It was a surprise, though, how quickly December snuck up on us. Suddenly autumn is almost over, our moms are about to arrive from the States, and our window of opportunity for Paris in the fall/winter was losing daylight. If we were going to go, we had to do it now.

That's how it happened that we booked our citybreak to Paris only five days before departure. I won't say that this plan was ideal - we had to pay a pretty penny for booking the Eurostar less than a week in advance and our hotel wasn't exactly a steal - but oh, was it worth it.

This trip was shorter than our norm (three nights instead of four), so location was key. Check this out:

The marker at 12 o'clock is our hotel, the Hotel Louvre Montana, the other two are the Louvre Museum and the Musee d'Orsay. Not bad for proximity to sites.

Joe was sick most of last week and is still dealing with the remains of a cold. It was a risk, but we decided to go ahead with the city bike tour on our first day. Fat Tire Bike Tours, if you remember from Berlin, has a "Junkies Program" which rewards travelers who take the tours in Berlin, Paris, London, and Barcelona with a free Fat Tire t-shirt and infinite bragging rights. Since we are living in one of the cities and already planned to visit the others, we have taken on the challenge. Plus Fat Tire guides are awesome, their bikes are the most comfortable around, and we love bike tours anyway (see Boston, Helsinki, Berlin).

The tour met at the base of the Eiffel Tower, probably the easiest landmark in the city. As a disclaimer, I am not always a fan of capital cities in general. They tend to be dirtier, more crowded, and more filled with tourists/tourist-traps than other parts of a country. While Rome may steal the hearts of many, I find myself largely unmoved. I enjoyed Madrid more the second time around, but it still falls toward the bottom of my favorite spots in Spain. Paris is a different story. What I remember from my visit in 2007 (it was late in a long trip with 16 sixteen-year-olds, so the memories get a bit fuzzy), was how surprised I was by Paris. Not only did I enjoy it more than other capitals, but it didn't have the same grittiness, that overused quality of so many big cities (New York and LA come to mind). I think most visitors expect the metropolises of the world to glitter in real life the way they do in the movies, but in reality these places are often more tired, run down, and layered in grime than expected. Not Paris. Paris is clean. Even in winter, the bareness of the trees didn't detract from the beauty of this city. It would be fair to say that I am captivated by this place.

Joe riding along the Seine

We were incredibly lucky with weather for this time of year (and for the ridiculous fog that descended on London while we were gone). While it was painfully cold for us southern Californians to be outside so much (low 30s mostly), there was no rain, little wind, and pristinely clear, blue skies for most of our trip. The sun was only out for a short while each day and never rose very high in the sky, giving us the disorienting sense that it was always seven in the morning or four in the afternoon. The affect was beautiful, though; I can see why the impressionists were so inspired here in France.

A surprise around a corner; this sight takes my breath away every time.

Sarah riding near the end of the day (believe it or not, it's only about 3 pm here)

Our guide, Andre

Our bike tour traversed the city's major sites and included an overview of its history, particularly focusing on Louis XIV - XVI and Napoleon as these are the leaders under which the city saw the development of many of its architectural landmarks. Not only did this remind Joe and I why we wanted to visit Paris more than once, it tacked several new destinations onto our spring itinerary. In particular, we now want to visit the Rodin museum and Petit Palais in addition to the Fat Tire bike tour of Giverny and Monet's gardens, Maurice Ravel's house-turned-museum, and a second visit to the Musee d'Orsay. We may need a whole week to make it all happen but we're not complaining.

Because we visited so close to Christmas, we took lunch at the Parisian Christmas market along the Champs-Élysées. As this site had been on my list anyway, I was excited to see it both during the day and again on my own that night. Each of the cute cabins housed a shop, some uniquely French, some trite and touristy. I bought and tasted my very first French macarons and Joe enjoyed his first bowl of French onion soup. When the sun went down (at all of 5 pm), Joe retired to the room and I strolled the length of the Champs-Élysées from the Arc de Triomphe to Tuileries Gardens, enjoying the sparkling lights and offers of fresh nutella crepes and hot mulled wine. 

A typical menu: churros with hot chocolate, waffles, crepes, and hot mulled wine: all the treats that keep you warm in the winter.

Somehow the Christmas market just looked more magical at night.

We will readily admit that we were enthralled and enchanted by the Eiffel Tower. Nearly half of our photos are of or around it and we're already excited to see the way the view changes when we return in spring. I have never been one to "fangirl" about such things, but for whatever reason I've been struck this time and I can't get enough. 

Wednesday morning we had a skip-the-line reservation to take the lifts to the top of the tower. Normally we'd scoff at taking an elevator when there are perfectly good stairs to climb, but I am so glad we booked the "easy way" this time; Joe's stamina was not up to his usual because of his cold and I managed to injure my knee somehow during our bike ride making stairs suddenly seem like a cruel and unusual torture. 

As anyone who follows this blog (or my instagram) knows, #welikehighplaces and Joe and I will go out of our way for an elevated view of the cities we visit. The view from the Eiffel Tower is exactly why we seek out these experiences. 

Can you see the shadow of the tower (even though it was noon)? Can you find the Arc de Triomphe? What about the line of black smog hovering over the city?

It was particularly hazy looking out on the city, blanketing everything in a white film that was hard to penetrate with eye or camera.

Follow me to the Eiffel Tower (again). I don't know why more people don't approach the landmark from the sides - this park on the southwest side was beautiful, peaceful, and nearly devoid of other tourists.

From there we headed to the Île de la Cité for a visit to Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle. We arrived at the cathedral for the free tour conducted in English, only to skip out on it when the guide decided to give a theology lesson and conversion seminar instead of a historical-architectural tour. 

Christmas time at Notre Dame

We then headed down to the dock below Pont Neuf for a sunset river tour. (We bought these tickets intending to use them to see the city at night on our first evening, instead we waited and I was lulled to sleep by the vibrations of the boat. The tour may have been valuable on the first day, but other than that I wouldn't recommend it.)

gorgeous afternoon light

Our plan had always been to visit the Louvre on Wednesday evening since it is open until 10 pm then. Unfortunately my knees wouldn't have it. We decided that despite the ideal location of our hotel, we would save the Louvre for spring.

Thursday morning we had time for just one more site before heading to the train station. We headed across Tuileries Gardens to the Musée d'Orsay for a visit with the impressionists. (Those visiting Paris take note: each Eurostar ticket is good for a 2-for-1 entry into a museum. Round-trip tickets for two people = FOUR half-priced museusms.)

Me: This is so beautiful even in the winter! I can't wait to see this in the spring!

Joe: F this! It's too cold. No stopping.

Tuileries Garden on the left, the museum on the right

Bert and Charlie loved the museum, too, especially because of this Van Gogh painting in "their colors"

Most of the cities we visit, we leave feeling satisfied that we've seen what we wanted to see and that there is no reason to return, at least any time soon. Paris was all about the second trip and how much we want to return as soon as possible. The entire time, I couldn't help but sing like Meg Ryan in French Kiss: "I love Paris in the springtime. I love Paris in the fall..." Well Paris, until the springtime, we bid you a fond adieu.