The Weekly Recap #92
Bonjour from Paris! It’s Sunday morning here while I am writing this and Marco and I are sitting at a little bistro next to our first Airbnb having a coffee. We have come here every morning and now on day three the French server, who doesn’t speak a word of English, has warmed up to us. Today he commented that I was able to speak a little French and I have never felt more accomplished in my life! Now that we are in Paris and the trip is happening I feel comfortable spilling all the details. I was so hesitant before because this is a trip we have been trying to take for four years and there was always a possibility of it not happening. It is indeed happening!
Our first attempt was back in February of 2020. We had a trip planned for Greece, south of France, and Italy for that upcoming June. Covid happened and you know how this story goes. We were lucky and the week things really got bad was the week we planned to book flights. We were able to pull out last minute and not lose any money.
Since then we have been waiting for the right time to pull the trigger. Marco was put on to Scott’s Cheap Flights (highly recommend) by our friends and started watching the prices of flights to Europe. Sitting on the couch one night he said “I’m booking us a flight to Amsterdam right now” and the planning began.
We have both been lucky to travel across Europe before and we were open to traveling just about anywhere together. Amsterdam was a mutual pick, I chose Paris, and Marco’s pick was Berlin.
As we got closer to the trip it was clear covid regulations would be an issue. Holland and Germany both had 10-day quarantines and that wasn’t going to work. France was, and still is, open and we decided to make things easy and stay put for the entire trip. Zero complaints about this from either of us.
The Airbnb we had booked in Paris was in the middle of the trip and fully booked on each end. Instead of bouncing around Europe, we are bouncing around Paris and experiencing three different arrondissements. Since we arrived we have been staying in the 15th ARR by the Eiffel Tower. Our Airbnb was tiny but big enough for the two of us and a great location to the metro and walking distance to everything we have needed. Today we are headed to our second Airbnb in the 14th ARR. This is the nicest Airbnb of the three and we will have a little more space to settle in for the next five nights. We will finish the trip in the 11th ARR in another little studio right next to all the restaurants, wine bars, and gluten-free bakeries on our list. Coincidentally one of Marco’s coworkers (who has become a friend) is in Paris this week too. We will be close to each other in the 11th ARR as well as an old friend from college who lives in Paris now.
Our weather has been a little rainy and overcast but not too cold at all. The dramatic clouds have made all my photos look even more beautiful. The rain should pass in a few days so we decided to get the six-day museum pass now and bang them all out. The museum pass gets you into 50 museums and you get to cut the line. It is very much worth it.
We like to see all the art but cruise by quickly. So far we have done Pompidou, Louvre, D’Orsay, and Rodin. Today we are headed to the Pantheon and getting to bed early because we are both extra tired.
I feel like we haven’t stopped eating since we got here. Breakfast, pre-lunch, lunch, afternoon pastry, pre-dinner snack, dinner, and of course cheese for dessert. Everything we have had has been good. The meal at Café de Flore was passable but we had to go just to go. After all, we are tourists.
We slurped down a ton of oysters at Huitrerie Régis and are planning to go back again this trip. We have a few more oyster bars on our list but we loved the charm of Huitrerie Régis. The restaurant is the size of a small apartment bedroom but they squeezed 16 people in. We basically had lunch with the couple next to us and luckily they were from Seattle so we were able to spend some time chatting with them.
Fromagerie Laurent Dubois has a location right down the street from us and we stocked up the Airbnb with cheese for snacks. There is a whole section filled with goat and sheep milk cheese and Marco has enjoyed cheese every morning for breakfast. I nibble for snacks in the afternoon and evening.
Eating with his allergies hasn’t been too hard but it took some time to get figure out the best way to communicate his allergies. We came with preprinted cards to explain them and they have been helpful. Most places have at least one English speaker who has helped make substitutions. The best option has been making a reservation and sending an email ahead of time. This way we arrive and the chef prepares Marco a special dish.
One highlight has been finding gluten-free pastries and bread from NoGlu! The first few days Marco lived off cheese, meat, and seafood. Now he has a gluten-free baguette and some gluten-free crackers from the supermarché. I carry a few in my purse for him to have while we are out.
That’s all for today! We are off to the Panthéon then to do a little grocery shopping. I’m not sure where we will have dinner tonight but we will be in bed early so we can have a jam-packed week.
No need to write down restaurants, museums, and other details. When we are back I’ll be sending out a Google map with everything added, including the Airbnbs we stayed at, for you to save.
Last night we enjoyed a 14-course tasting menu with wine pairings from Restaurant A.T. Every course had an adapted plate for Marco and the entire experience was phenomenal. Marco’s favorite courses were the scallop and then fish. I couldn’t get over how good the carrot and crab dish was but truly everything was delicious. We both tried pigeon for the first time and we are fans!
This orange wine was part of our pairings with dinner at Restaurant A.T. I can’t tell you anything about it because I forgot everything I was told but I can tell you it blew us away!
Can We Move Beyond Food? *Living on powders and meal replacement drinks
Memo to recipe bloggers: No one wants your life story, says me, an asshole
Here Comes the Full Amazonification of Whole Foods *I do NOT like this
🚨GAME CHANGER DEVICE🚨 See this little guy? You plug it into the old headphone jack on the airplane TV and you can connect not one but two sets of Bluetooth headphones to it! We purchased one before we left and watching a movie together with our own set of Airpods each was a real treat. You need one!
Talk to you next Sunday! Head to my instagram for more photos daily.
Xx M