Paris - With Friends and Typhoid Dave

Describing winter in Paris, Ernest Hemingway wrote:

When we came back to Paris it was clear and cold and lovely. The city had accommodated itself to winter (...) there were braziers outside of many of the good cafes so that you could keep warm on the terraces (...) on the streets the winter light was beautiful. Now you were accustomed to see the bare trees against the sky and you walked on the fresh-washed gravel paths through the Luxembourg gardens in the clear sharp wind. 


Not much seems to have changed, the light, trees, the damp gravel paths.....all still there and still as inspiring. 

Yes we went to Paris AGAIN. Because you can do that when you live in London. Just 2 short hours on the Eurostar, and there you are - in the land of croissants, cheese, wine, and beautiful men wearing scarves.

This trip involved a specific mission: a visit with friends from the U.S. who were in town for work. Sweet! As if I needed an excuse for another visit to France, but this was actually a great excuse.

My dates for the weekend.

The Benefits of January Visit
There are no crowds at all. We went to the Louvre and waited for about 20 minutes inside to get a ticket, but otherwise - we were good. Even restaurants were relatively quiet and we managed to snag a table at Les Cocottes and Le Bistro D'Henri (both in San Germain and both recommended) without a reservation.

Big time "SOLDES", which means "sales" in French. In Paris, they really only have large sales at retail stores twice per year. Generally the sales span six weeks, falling at the end of June and the beginning of January. And holy crap if you are brave and willing to fight through the crowds, there are deals to be had - even on the really high end designer stuff. The entire city is half off. I am just bummed I have to go home before the June sales.

You can find really cheap hotels. We stayed at the Hotel Palm Opera for 91€ a night and it was perfect; lovely staff, cool and modern, insanely clean, and just a 10 minute walk from the train station (Gare du Nord).

Yes that is a hot dog, and yes I had a bite. I still feel dirty.

 
The Downside of a January Visit
Bloody COLD, I live in London and get enough of that shit.

Some attractions are closed for maintenance. We tried to visit the super creepy underground Paris catacombs and the viewing tower at the Sacre Coeur, both closed. Definitely check websites before you head out on whatever activity you have planned, because it felt like arriving at a closed Wally World a few times there. I thought there were going to be tears. Luckily, we were able to console ourselves with a cocktail in the face of adversity.



Let me point out something about the photo on the right. Dave was NOT OK here. He spent the night before barfing his lungs out in our hotel bathroom. And when Dave barfs, which he rarely ever does, he goes for it. There is a lot of voice and force behind his ralfing.

He couldn't find the light switch so he could see where he was barfing. And let me tell you, the man has bad aim.

The bathroom looked like a murder scene because of the red wine he had been drinking all night. I thought he ruptured his stomach. Nope, just red wine and poor clean-up skills. EW.

Dave was christened "Typhoid Dave" for the rest of the weekend by our group. Though, he put on a brave face and pretended he was OK, he clearly wasn't. I know this because I got whatever he had 2 days later. I could barely stand up without wanting to die.

So after that story, I'll leave you with a few photos from the Louvre to cleanse your mind. Happy travels.

The guy in the red in the middle was playing a cello, ridiculously perfect moment.

Oh come on, this is just stupid.

Just don't barf on me, man........