Paris: Where to Go/What to Do

Since there's a lot of really good info embedded in my very long winded posts about paris, i thought it may be helpful to give a quick & dirty version of where we ate/went in case anyone's planning their own spectacular parisian vacation!  If you think my vacation was so darn awesome that you want to copy it exactly, just let me know and i'll send you every last detail...including what i ate at each spot, i'm slightly obsessive about documenting travel details.

• Hotel - Le Notre Dame
• Breakfast
• La Boulangerie de Papa
• also go for sweet (or savory) crepes at night!!
• Paul
• Lunch
• Le Petit Pont
• King Falafel Palace (or L'aus Falafel)
• Maison du Gyros - picked this one since it had no line, but there are tons and i'm sure they're all excellent
• Cafe Royal Opera
• Dinner
• Le Bistrot 30
• Le Relais Odeon
• Le Grand Bistro
• Cafe de Paris
• L'Atlas
• Sweets
• Berthillon - I hear there are MANY amazing ice cream shops but we only went to this one
• Un Dimanche A Paris 
• To Do/See
• Sorbonne
• Notre Dame
• Luxembourg Garden
• Saint Severin
• Pantheon (we didn't go in, just walked by)
• Shakespeare & Co book store
• The Latin Quarter
• St. Michel fountain/area
• St. Germain des Pres area
• Rue de Buci/cour du commerce st. andre
• Bastille
• Louvre
• Eiffel Tower
• Palace de Vosges
• Catacombs
• Rue du Rosiers
• Champs Elysee
• River boat tour (buy tickets in advance, saves like 5 euro)
• Ile St. Louis
• Montmartre
• Basilica Sacre Coeur - tour the dome if you're up for more steps!

And here are the links to the rest of my Paris posts:

• Planning for Paris: the hotel
• Planning for Paris: maps 1
• Planning for Paris: maps 2
• Planning for Paris: maps 3
• Paris Recap: part 1
• Paris Recap: part 2
• Paris Recap: part 3
• Paris Recap: part 4

Let me know what great spots YOU find in Paris so I can add it to my list for next time!!

Paris: fin!

eek, guess these posts keep getting longer and longer...hope you're hanging in there with me!!

Tuesday - our last full day in Paris didn't have much on the agenda since we had covered so much ground already!  I've gotta say, if you can only visit paris for 2 or 3 days you can definitely do the highlights but you won't get to really feel what the city's all about...but you should still go, even if just as a layover city!  Okay, back to Tuesday...after watching a slew of idiots attempt to navigate the metro ticket machines for what seemed like hours (ps, they have an english option, what's so difficult?!) we were finally on our way to the catacombs!! we got some breakfast at Paul - a large chain Patisserie which was pleasantly delicious! Another side note - holy crapola - i just googled them and found they opened a bakery in DC and in Florida!! WHAAAT?!? if you're near there, GO, right now! report back!! I had an anglais aux abricots (think apricot tarte...basically dessert) for breakfast and it was to die for.  could've eaten 10.  unfortunately, the line to enter the catacombs was not as wonderful as breakfast...it wrapped around the entire square and moved very slowly.  we stood outside in the damp, cool air behind 3 dirty 'couch surfers' who looked like they hadn't brushed their teeth in month.  so annoying.

thank goodness we waited out the line though because it was such a neat experience to be down amongst the bodies of 6 million parisians!  i couldn't believe how far underground the ossuary was or how old the entire structure/quarry system was since it looked like they had been made recently.  definitely less spooky and more fascinating than i expected.  the whole walk through the catacombs took about an hour and then we rode the metro back to St. Germain de Pres.  I was on a mission to go to the chocolate shop we saw a few nights back.  the store itself was gorgeous, only 6 months old, and the chocolate looked heavenly (insanely expensive, but heavenly nonetheless).  we bought 5 macarons and they were the most delicious morsels i had ever eaten!! guess i do like macarons after all, sure do wish i realized that years ago!

later that night we made an impromptu decision to take a boat tour along the seine.  we went to the ones at Pont Neuf since they were the closest ones i knew of.  the boat was a bit cheesy but a nice thing to do on a day without any real plans and gives a totally different perspective of the city/monuments.  after a highly entertaining ride, where we made a game out of taking the worst tourist pictures possible, it was time for dinner!  after much debate we ended up right across from the place we ate the previous night.  this time we were on Rue du Buci at L'Atlas...i made sure we picked a table so our waiter at Cafe de Paris wouldn't see us!  for our last meal we had some awesome boeuf bourguignon served in individual little pots. mmm, mmm, mmm, paris sure did treat our stomachs well!!

Wednesday - up early (7:45) for our 1:25 flight.  after i accidentally locked our passports in the room safe the day before (with some unknown combo) we decided to leave plenty of time to get to the airport...plus dealing with all of the moronic tourists at the train and airport is frustrating enough, no need to throw in the stress of running late!  lucked out with bulkhead/exit row seats...plenty of leg room and space to keep our treats safe for the ride home.

Au revoir!!

Paris: part trois

Monday - drat, i forgot that the catacombs are closed on Monday...luckily we didn't take the long train ride down there like mom & i did to find out the hard way many years ago!  Instead, we made our way to the Louvre.  But first we had to stop for something warm to drink & eat since it was a cool gray morning.  we came across what appeared to be a banksy mural right next to our hotel, cool find!  i tried my luck at the post office but the stamp machine only took coins so only the parents' postcards got mailed out.

Once at the Louvre, we spent most of the day on the 2nd floor checking out Napoleon III's apartment are before venturing out to the italian paintings wing.  And the Mona Lisa...which neither mz or i cared about as much as the hundreds of people waiting in line to get closer to her.  weird.  once we had enough museuming to last a lifetime, we wandered through the first part of the Tuileries before detouring to find a spot for lunch - priorities right?  Ended up at Cafe Royal Opera...just down the street from the royal opera house, duh.  Very different feel over here - pricier and bigger cars on the streets, many more business people and more expensive shops.  Since it was cool out, we both had Soupe de l'ognion (YUM!) and "croque monsieur for madame and croque madame for monsieur"...mz didn't think that was nearly as entertaining as the waiter (or I) did!

I wanted to walk around the area more since i thought there might be some good shops in the area (found out Fauchon was around the corner afterwards) but got too cold in my short sleeves, so we metroed it back to get warm...and mz got a little nap.  i should've slept but instead i spent way too long researching restaurants which of course were all way too expensive or closed on mondays!

Around 7 we made our way (after going 2 stops in the wrong direction on the RER) to the Eiffel Tower.  The line was pretty reasonable but the dimwit americans in front of us were NOT....took them 20 minutes to piece together that "pilier nord" meant North Pillar.  REALLY!?!  we went all the way to the tippy top in the lifts and on the way down we walked from the second floor.  so fun, one of those things that you just have to do!

Once back on the ground, the mission to find dinner became more and more important...it was already 10pm and i was starving!!  It was definitely our best meal of the trip at Cafe de Paris on Rue de Buci.  We sat inside and it was such a different experience (rich purple and dark wood furniture) than sitting in the same chairs that every place has outside.  mz had duck foie gras with fig jam to start - i almost even liked it, surprisingly!  we both had coq au vin for our entree...wow, so flippin' fabulous.  slightly precarious with all of the little bones, but melt in your mouth amazing food.  pair that up with some nice wine and follow it with a big slice of Tarte Tatin served with creme fraiche (basically upside down apple cake) and i was in heaven (my stomach's growling right now from just thinking about it).  oh yea, and we're getting wicked good at eating the european way...fork upside down in your left hand and knife in your right for the entire meal.  thank goodness we had to walk back to the hotel because i was so so stuffed afterwards.  it was a late night - even had to get buzzed in back at the hotel - but of course there were people out everywhere!

can i go back now please?! i'm huuungry!! :)

Paris: part deux

oops, apparently blogging during the summer is NOT my forte.  sorry!

back to the paris...

Saturday night - we ended up deciding on Le Relais Odeon for dinner in a must see alleyway near Rue de Buci (cour du commerce st. andre) and sat outside under the colored party lights.  At first I thought the waiter was super rude and almost made michael leave because when i asked him if he spoke english he said "i'm busy but will come back" and seemed offended i interrupted or asked him about english.  after much grumbling, mz finally came up with the thought that maybe that's exactly what he said in french and was just repeating himself in english as i requested.  ha, oops, yep, that's what it was! silly me!  dinner was delicious (gazpacho, veal and amazing bernaise) and the waiter ended up being FANTASTIC.  right after our appetizers were cleared there was a huge crack of thunder and then the rain began.  before we even had a chance to get rained on, the waiter whisked us (and at least 50 other diners) inside as if that's where we were sitting all along.  this place was CROWDED, i thought for certain dinner would be interrupted and we were going to be waiting a long time for others to finish their meals...but nope, miraculously there was a row of tables open!  there wasn't any delay whatsoever in getting our food, no mix ups...so professionally handled, really awesome service.  after dessert we walked back in the rain and were in bed by 12:30...so parisian to be out to dinner so late! :)

Sunday - time to bandaid up my feet so i wouldn't have to wear touristy flip-flops again.  after breakfast at a rip off tourist trap across from Le Conciergerie we went to Saint Chappelle.  It was beautiful as ever but unfortunately there weren't many tours on Sunday so we had to make up our own stories.  From there we took the metro to Pigalle (Pig Alley - pretty much the red light district).  Could not believe how raunchy it was even in the middle of the day!!  We saw the outside of Moulin Rouge and i could NOT imagine coming back here at night for a show, ick.  Even though it was a million degrees and pure humidity we walked up the hill and stairs to Montmartre & Sacre Coeur...as the funicular passed us by.  The basilica was very colorful, not sure if i had ever been in there before.  We also explored the crypt (boring, skip it) and the top of the dome (another 300 crazy tiny steps, but the view was well worth it!).

Afterwards we headed back to 'our' neighborhood for a quick pitstop, lunch and maybe some ice cream?!  we grabbed lunch from one of the many gyro shops behind our hotel - hot salty gyro with fries in them, hit the spot!  On Ile St.Louis it seemed like EVERYONE had the same idea...everywhere we turned there was a new window opening up to sell Berthillon ice cream and the line for the main store was around the block.  I got chocolate noir (basically like melting fudge, amazing) and rhubarb sorbet.  mz had the tiniest scoop of vanilla imaginable, so silly and so expensive but i couldn't resist.

Once the ice cream was gone and we ran out of places to window shop on Ile St.Louis, we ran out of ideas and headed back to the hotel.  Watched Due Date on the iPad (had rented some movies on iTunes beforehand - great idea since netflix, hulu and many other video sites were inaccessible in france)...uhm, i thought that movie was downright hysterical, let me know your thoughts!

For dinner we went to a seedy little place in the Latin Quarter called Le Grand Bistro...but the prices were good and they had a lot of cheese!  We both got the Raclette and laughed a lot since we basically were heating up chunks of cheese under what reminded me of a nail dryer at a salon!!  There was no doubt it was aimed at tourists, and we were pretty okay with that for a night...lots of english radio playing and Frank Sinatra's "my way" even came on during dinner.  made me think of papa of course!  when we left dinner crazy lightning was starting and by the time we got our out-of-this-world crepes (from the "crepe ninja" street stand at Boulangerie de Papa) the rain began.  We hustled back to our hotel and made it just before an intense downpour killed the street life for the evening.  Anyone want to make me a crepe right now please?!?!

voila...a post about paris!!

the day is finally here...paris vacation recap post day! hooray! :) don't get too excited though, i think the pictures are going to be way better than anything i could share in writing.  i must admit that i have about 22 teeny pages of my fancy new moleskine notebook with travel journal documentation but i'm going to spare you the gory details of my inner monologue and just touch on the highlights.  

so we left the good ol' u.s. of a thursday night around 7pm...almost missed the flight since we were sitting in a waiting area a gate or two away due to the crowds near our gate.  not a very smooth start but once we were on the plane for a couple of minutes i settled back into the 'yay, vacation!!' mindset.  we arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport an hour early...what?! yes i said that right an HOUR early and it wasn't just because i messed up the time zone change!  Let me tell ya, this airport was so snazzy looking.  Really beautiful with glass everywhere, put philly to shame, but you have to walk/people move/shuttle about 15 million miles before you can even exit.  That was slightly exhausting but who cared, we were in PARIS on the RER speeding towards our hotel!  eek!! :)

Friday turned out to be a gorgeous day, mid 70's and sunny.  just perfect!  our hotel room wasn't ready so we got changed, left our bags in the care of the pleasant (and english speaking) concierge and were off to get acquainted with our new neighborhood, the Latin Quarter.  And to find food of course.  We wandered past Saint Severin church, the Pantheon, the Sorbonne, through Luxembourg garden, many winding side streets that took us past Boulevard St. Germain and eventually back to the river Seine.  Chocolate croissants were purchased along the way...i think i read that they help combat jet lag ;-).  We later had lunch in the shadows of our hotel and Notre Dame at Le Petit Pont cafe.  Super touristy with the waiters/host calling at people on the streets to get them to come to their cafe, but it hit the spot and was a fun first experience.   After lunch we checked into our room and it was so funky, totally different than the place i've stayed in Paris before (or really any other hotel i've been to...maybe similar to the vibe at cork, ireland airport hotel?).  All i know is it was perfect for a much needed nap!!  After getting refreshed we headed west down the Seine to an area i'd never seen before and to the Jardin des Plantes (Paris' botanical garden).  It left a little something to be desired, looked a bit more like a city co-op than an impressive garden like i was expecting, but it was something new to see and there were some animals that appreciated our company in the menagerie area.  we found a place for dinner in the area right behind our hotel.  The pedestrian area of the Latin Quarter is kinda like a philly south street on steroids....packed little alleys, people selling art that they're making on the street, restaurants of all sorts at every door...and i swear it's like a bermuda triangle, such a maze of streets.  Dinner didn't knock our socks off at Le Bistrot 30, but it was good for the price and we were too tired for anything more impressive anyway!

wow this is getting long already...can you imagine if i transcribed everything in my journal!? gosh.  sorry, hang in there!!

Saturday - did something mom would never do on vacation and slept until 10! Grabbed a quick croissant (almond for me, choco for mz) and cafe crema at my fave place - La boulangerie de Papa!  Then we were off to walk our feet off again.  Past Notre Dame and all around Ile St. Louis then over to the right bank area and up to Bastille until we made it to the old Jewish section of the city and Rue de Rosiers.  I had read about L'aus de falafel in a few books so I wanted to try that out, but they were closed so we settled for King Falafel Palace.  WOW, who knew something so simple could be so delicious?!  Two pitas (almost like a bowl), really crispy falafel, eggplant, fried onions, tomatoes, cukes, cabbage & tzatziki sauce.  Unfortunately that delectable experience was slightly ruined once MZ became the target of an evil pigeon, waaah. waah.  I was determined to not let that ruin another sunny day though, so he changed his clothes (and eventually attitude) and we decided to head out of pigeon territory and inside for a tour of Notre Dame.  In the afternoon we also saw the flower market on Ile de la Cite, the Champs d'Elysee (although very much under construction), and everything in between - Grand & Petit Palais, Invalides (from a distance), Musee D'Orsay, Pont Alexandre III, and Rue de Seine with tons of great art galleries.  We also happened upon Rue de Buci with great restaurants and a little hidden alley way that I had forgotten all about from my previous trips!  We had our first parisian baguette along the way and picked a place to return for dinner....

More tomorrow but here are the pictures to tide you over!  Paris pictures part un & part deux.

making mozzarella. almost.

i've mentioned before how i love groupon.  the daily deals that get sent directly to my phone always look enticing, although sometimes a little outside of my normal spending comfort zone.  when i saw a 'make your own mozzarella' class pop-up as the deal of the day i thought it could be fun but at $60 it seemed a little too 'spensie.  but mz was all for it, he'd been seeing a lot of mozzarella making on food shows and wanted to try, so i signed us up as quick as i could!  let me tell ya, it's no fault of groupon, but this was seriously the worst $60 i've EVER spent.  even spending money on shoes that hurt forever or a dress you only wear once made me feel better than this experience!!

Here's the email that I sent to the fellows over at Taste.  It's seriously not an exaggeration at all.  This chick was wacky - she stuck her hand in a pot of boiling water, multiple times...and had a brown front tooth.  An 8th grader would've handled themselves better.  Spread the word - stay away from this class and probably the store too!

To whom it may concern:

My husband and I recently attended your Learn How to Make Mozzarella class and were thoroughly disappointed.  We have heard such good things about your winery and store so were excited about the opportunity to take a class at a well known establishment in the area.  When we got there, the "instructor" was running behind, nearly had a panic attack, yelled at the class and cried before we were able to get under way an hour late.  What followed was not a class, it was a joke.  I learned more about how she was afraid to drive in the snow and her dog's bowel movements than I did about mozzarella.  The cheese turned out terrible because, as she informed us every 15 minutes, she had no idea what she was doing and had never taught this class before.  She handled herself in a completely unprofessional manner that was uncomfortable and rather insulting for all of the people who had paid good money to be there.  The wine tasting was also uninformative and did your store/winery a complete disservice.  I would guess that "this wine isn't really good for drinking but try it with food, you might like it then" isn't part of your standard sales pitch.

The fact that you decided to offer this without a real kitchen by a person with zero knowledge about wine or cheese is offensive and seems like you're running a scam rather than a class.  It's truly a shame because I know many friends who were as excited as I was about taking this class and I've had to tell them that it was a complete waste of money and to not bother.

Bad right?!  Now if anyone wants to really teach me how to make mozzarella please give me a call!!


**post edited to include the crummy response from the manager at Taste:


Thank you for the feedback, the ex-employee is now under care by a professional, she is doing better though it maybe a long road ahead.  Again, thank you for the feedback and everyone is sorry for the experience and understandably concerned for her will being.


uhm, yea, i think you missed the point that offering this class is a scam since you don't have a kitchen.  oh well.  i tried.  and for the record, groupon is AWESOME...they gave me a credit for the classes!!

for months i've been writing this in my head.  adding to it, editing it until it was just right.  knowing that when the time came, my brain would be mush and anything i wanted to say would get washed away in a wave of emotion.  well the time, unfortunately, is finally here and the months of mentally preparing for it did nothing because the words won't flow, only the tears.  but i don't want to procrastinate anymore so here it goes...mushy brain and all...

on friday of memorial day weekend we laid my grandfather to rest.  while we know he is in good company with the angels in heaven and the other dedicated soldiers in rhode island veteran's cemetery, our hearts are bursting with love and sadness.  my nana's devout partner and lifelong love is no longer around to provide comfort through a simple whistle, a sarcastic remark or an andes' candy.  the man who built my family is gone.  yes my wonderful parents raised me to be who i am today, but i know that so much would've been different were it not for the lessons papa instilled in them, and me, along the way.

papa, me (with a delicious looking dorito) & nana at my 3rd birthday party.

he was a tough man, especially on the newcomers to the family.  but no matter how wearing his teasing could be, we all knew that if you could take the chiding it meant that you were in.  part of the club that is the pellegrino clan.  and let's be real, we don't want any members that are going to fold under that kind of sarcasm because each and every one of us dishes it out on a daily basis...suitors be warned :).

i learned from a very early age that i make a better door than a window.  and that unlike some households where they follow a particular sports team, football was an entire weekend event for papa.  so grab a coloring book and sit nearby and he'll entertain you with sports facts and other conversation...just don't plop down right in front of the telly or you're definitely not going to earn that yoo-hoo from the little fridge.

while nana will always be his true love.  he did have some pretty serious girlfriends...

from top left - papa & kara as a baby; dancing with my cousin hayley; hayley, papa & kara at thanksgiving

while he had many houses along the way, many that we all still consider home...the cliff house and houses in jackson, nh...it was in this house where some of the greatest lessons were taught:

St. Thomas More Church, Narragansett, RI (image)

lessons like: always kneel up, no rears on the pews - that's just for lazy folk.  dress appropriately...wouldn't want to hear the "you're wear dungarees?!"being grumbled over the entrance prayer.  always give back...even if it means dropping coins in the glass poor box after communion while everyone else is silent.  it's okay to tell a kid to cut his rat-tail if it's in church...because chances are Jesus thinks it's nasty too.  mint lifesavers are also 'okay' in church...but only one and only if papa sneaks it to you in a way that makes you feel like you're the coolest person on earth for getting this special treat. be on time for church or you will be subject to a look of disapproval.  being on time is a big one and i think that i've carried that throughout my daily life...it also meant that you could park closest to the church and leave exactly as mass was ending to then get to Dad's Place for breakfast before the crowd (food is a very good motivator).  Speaking of breakfast...'2 eggs over lite, italian toast, no hash browns and more coffee...Barbara...order'....hope to heck that waitress was ready with a pen and paper because it wasn't getting repeated.  But all joking aside, Papa instilled the fear of God in us all...in a good way.  Growing up there wasn't a sunday early morning mass we missed because it meant a chance to not only get in His good graces but it was time we spent with family.

I am so very blessed to be a part of the family that Papa built.  I am so fortunate to have had the time I did with him and to have grown up in his care.  There are so many things that I will miss about him, I'm sure I could write something every week as more and more memories come to mind.  But for now I will end with saying thank you for keeping the little girl in my alive, for always supporting me and the rest of the family, for never letting us slack because you knew what we were capable of and for loving us, always.

xoxo, yawdi amana