I went to Paris the weekend of the July 29th with 8 girls - Connie, Semhal, Madelon, Karen, Donna, Tanja and Amy and me. What fun! I know, you think 8 girls = giant fights, hair pulling and crying. Nothing of the sort - what a cool bunch of fun, relaxed and interesting people!
We left on Friday going up by train - we got a cheap rate on some first class tickets so we were riding in style compelte with provision of wine, champagne and snacks. YUM! Our hotel was really well located in the 8th arrondissement so easy to get around.
On our first night we walked to a fabulous restaurant in the area of Les Invalides(photo taken at sunset - lovely!) Tanja had been there 15 or so years prior and it was truly great. The service was outstanding and the food just kept coming and coming. I've never seen such a selection of desserts! We rolled out of there (literally) and took a nice walk around Paris and wound up at the Eiffel Tower in full view of the lightshow they have going on every half hour.
I know the French this it's awful and gaudy and ruins the tower, but I loved it! Come on it's dark out! How else are you going to see the thing at night? I'm surprised they didn't have more accidents from people bumping into that big thing at night! It's really just a matter of safety! ok that's a stretch, but I like the lights. Come on - look at how pretty!!!We went up to the mid level since it was too late for the top tier and it was nice to see that view again. A good first night for our group in Paris!
The next morning started, well....slowly. Essentially it took us until 3:30 to get everyone together and get beyond 200 yards of our hotel. We ventured out around noon and did some shopping and got some breakfast. Which at this point I have to stop and say I was ASTOUNDED at the lack of croissant availability the whole weekend! Everyone kept running out of them. Isn't that tantamount to treason in France? I come to Paris every few years looking forward to finally having a real croissant instead of the "breadroll in croissant shape" imposter I'm used to.
Saturday we walked around Montmatre - I hadn't been there since high school and it was really as lovely as I remembered. A great little town. We climbed to the top of Sacre Couer for some more wonderful views then decided all our shopping, walking and climbing warranted a cold beer. That was the original intent - sit, have a beer and move on. Best laid plans right? Eight hours, no food and MANY beers later we picked up the bill (and our young, impressionable French waiter) and headed to another bar then out to a disco for some dancing. Aaahh Paris.
Sunday we got ourselves out of the door a bit earlier and managed to do some touring - Pompadu center square for breakfast and some excellent coffee. By the way - AGAIN no croissant. Beginning to think it's a conspiracy. Then headed to Hotel de Ville and Notre Dame at which point it started to pour rain. So we steered our giant gaggle of girls to the subway and headed to the Champs E'lysse to see the Arc de Triumph and go get painted at Sephora. Who says America is the mass consumer market? Never have I seen so much "product" in my life! We emerged spritzed, coiffed and sparkley ready for another night out. Unfortunately that was time for our train.
All in all a very fun weekend in Paris! The city is redeeming itself!
Above - the group at the after hours bar. Above Right - Semhal and our waiter. Below right - Madelon and Karen at the disco.
