We have just returned from a dreamy week in France to celebrate crossing off number FIFTEEN on the marriage journey. My first trip to France (my first trip overseas period). A place I’ve read about, cooked endless recipes inspired from, and while I am a living nightmare at attempting to pronounce any words in their flowery, run-on-sentence of a language, a place I already can’t wait to return. An attempt to notate any sort of recap inside of social media felt ephemeral, and Paris is anything but that, so here it is. A whole newsletter devoted to the trip— mostly to capture the memories before they fade.
We stayed in Montemarte at the Terrass Hotel. It was small and intimate and had a sense of place that we loved. We explored the town daily and sat knee to knee in bistros along the street, sipping un café allongé and one night had cocktails on the hotel roof with a view of the whole city.
We wandered into the Garden of Love (empty when we were there, but upon a later return, packed with tour groups) on our Anniversary and took a quick selfie (in between bites of croissant) in front of the wall .
We wandered around the monuments downtown, pausing so Chris could pose with the Influencers of Paris (instagram coming soon).
We zipped all around the whole city on the metro. Chris is a true pro at navigating public transport and we took full advantage. The only time we weren’t in a train (or the occasional Uber) in the city was when we took a tour on our anniversary in a vintage powder blue Citroen 2CV which wound down narrow alleyways showing off all the hits of Paris. We gripped the seats as we dodged the chaos that was the Arc de Triomphe traffic circle— and then just as the lights started twinkling on the Eiffel Tower, the poor engine flooded and would not start again. Chris helped push the car to the side of the road, our lovely host snapped a pic for us, and off we went. Poor Frederic, we hope his car got fixed.
We walked miles around the maze that is the Louvre. Wandered into French beer markets and tiny record shops. Sat in the most perfect wine bar ever eating marinated white beans with olive oil and lemon zest and sipping cab franc. We ran into Americans who — no surprise— live only 10 miles from us, and visit Zionsville often.
We were completely spoiled by the ease and convenience of a high speed TGV train which zipped us down to Lyon for a day of food and wine. We wandered the halls of the Paul Bocuse market, intimidated and amazed by the selections, and ate the tips off the baguette we bought while we got our rental car.
We drove into the hills of Beaujolais, my most favorite wine region, and practically barged into this man’s home/cellar, where we clumsily used Google Translate to sip and taste his beautiful wines and buy a few bottles. This year’s harvest was high quality but a smaller yield. His daughter’s favorite thing about America? The Statue of Liberty.
In search of lunch, we ended up at an annual town party in Saint-Étienne-la-Varenne (pop. 749). As it was described to us, when the residents of the town turn 29, they have what can only be described as a demolition derby followed by a loud, fun celebration with singing, party hats, and of course— food. They invited us in, and gave us a BOWL of sauerkraut, sausages, potatoes and a cold beer. Oh- and our choice of homemade dessert. There we sat— the two friendly but weird Americans— in the corner of their town event hall celebrating all the 29th birthdays.
We took our go-kart of a rental car up a high and twisty mountain for what we thought might be a nice little hike— where we were greeted by a group of weekend paragliders lurching themselves off the top of the mountain.
We dined at a traditional bouchon in Lyon where I had what can only be described as the most perfect Lyonnaise salad on this earth.
We wandered the French flea markets where we haggled (sort of, not really) for a small and perfect 19th century copper saucepan as a souvenir, later found and ate the best falafel in Paris, and then went underground to Ceveau de la Huchette for live jazz and some of the best people watching yet.
We shopped at E. Dehillerin, the intimidating kitchenware shop Julia Child once called her favorite in Paris. I bought scissors. They are awesome.
We wandered around the to the Sorbonne and Luxembourg gardens. We took in some weeknight bocce ball leagues, sat with art students while they sketched, and watched kids push tiny sailboats around the pond.
We explored the entire city in the best way we know. Visiting the different neighborhoods, eating and drinking in local places, and letting your mood, Google maps, and the convenient Parisian subway system take you wherever you need to be. It was truly a perfect week. I will spare you the lovey-dovey anniversary thoughts in this public forum, but I think it goes without saying it’s not hard to understand why people fall in love in this city.
Memorable places we ate:
Montemarte/18th Arr:
La Bossue for the best Sunday brunch I’ve ever had
Boulangerie Alexine for daily pastries
Terrass Hotel rooftop for cocktails and snacks
10th Arr:
Vivant 2 (best meal we had, modern French cooking at its best)
Les Enfants Perdus (excellent elevated bistro classics)
9th Arr:
La Buvette (the most perfect wine bar in all the land)
4th Arr:
L'As du Fallafel (best falafel, just ask them, they’ll tell you!)
Lyon, France:
Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse (food hall)
L'Acteur - Les Bouchons Lyonnais (traditional bouchon)
Beaujolais, France:
-Saint-Étienne-la-Varenne local community hall (for all your village needs)
-Domaine Frederic Berne wines (call before you barge in with no french language skills?)