Day 1 – Paris: Les Marais

We landed at Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport at 8:15am CET and it took us 40 minutes to get through customs. The one annoying part is that for US passports they have 6-7 passport scanner machines rather than waiting in line for an actual person to review your passport. While the non-US passport lines seemed longer, the scanners didn’t make the process much quicker. Most people had to scan their passport 2-3 times before it worked and for several unlucky people, myself included, we needed an airport employee to come over to assist us. After the 4th machine attempt I finally got the green checkmark (thank goodness!) By the time we got to baggage claim we spotted our bags right away and walked towards the taxi pick up.

Travel Tip: Upon exiting the CDG airport lots of men will approach you asking if you need a taxi. Just say no and keep walking. Not only is it creepy but they will try to price gauge you and who knows if they’re even a legit taxi driver. If you follow the taxi signs there are airport employees who will grab a cab for you and it’s a fixed rate of 55€ to Paris. (Uber would’ve been €57 but why wait when the taxis were already lined up). It took us about an hour to get to our destination because of the morning traffic rush (with no traffic it’s only 30 mins to/from CDG).

We were staying at the Roi de Sicile hotel in the Marais neighborhood. Upon check in, the concierge offered us a $200 discount if we pay in cash, however after converting our cash to euros & the atm fee we really only saved $100. Still it was better than nothing.

The immediate neighborhood behind the hotel is tucked away from the busy Rue de Rivoli and felt picturesque Parisian. The man at the front desk said that we had good taste because this area is highly sought after by Parisians to live in. We couldn’t actually check into our room until 3pm so we dropped off our bags and strolled around the corner to a Boulangerie (bakery). It was our first croissant of the trip and it was flakey, buttery perfection – 10/10. After finishing our croissants we wandered into a cute coffee shop called Le Peloton and ordered a cappuccino and latte. On my first trip to Paris I remember being very unimpressed with the coffee but both of ours were delicious.

Next we walked to the Lourve & Stelios was impressed by the architecture and the fact that there was a man fixing the antenna on the top of the building. Unfortunately it started to rain a bit heavier and since the skies were clear when we left the hotel we didn’t bring our umbrella (we won’t be making that mistake again). So we crossed the bridge and took cover at Cafe des Beaux Arts and grabbed a table outside under the awning. Stelios ordered a glass of wine and I had a delicious espresso martini (9/10). I forgot how good the French make espresso martinis (and it always comes without baileys or cream by default which is how I prefer it).

The skies cleared up so we followed the sun and walked into the St Germain neighborhood. We stumbled upon a chocolate shop called Debauve & Gallais and bought 4 to try – the place seemed very fancy but the chocolates weren’t that impressive. I prefer the Maison du Chocolat that I purchased last time. We popped into a few stores in the St Germain district and found a really cute street called Rue de Buci with lots of cafes and other eateries. Maybe we’ll come back to hangout in this area later.

It was 2:30pm so we decided to start walking back to our hotel & check in. Our hotel was apartment style, on the 4th floor, and luckily it had a very tiny elevator, it really only fit two people (without luggage), but the concierge already had our bags in our room waiting for us. The room had a living room/kitchen area and was very clean and spacious. My only complaint is there was no deadbolt lock to the door which we usually use when we’re sleeping at night. Even though you need a fob key to get into the hotel lobby and into the room, not having a deadbolt lock didn’t feel as secure. We showered, unpacked, and got ready for our evening plans – a wine tasting class at O’chateau and dinner at Vins de Pyrenees.

The wine tasting class was very interesting and I learned how to properly read a French wine label (Region – Appellation – Grape) and a bit about the different appellations of France and what grapes they use in each to produce their wine. We tasted 6 wines in total along with fromage (cheese) board. We both enjoyed the Chateneauf Du Pape best which was a GSM (Grenache Syrah Mourvèdre) a grape combination that has become a favorite of our when it comes to red blends.

The wine tasting ended and we took a cab to Vin de Pyrenees for our 7:30 dinner reservation. Normally I wouldn’t have booked such an early dinner reservation in Europe but it was either that or 9:30pm and I knew after the wine tasting me and Stelios would both need food. Upon arrival the place was fairly empty since it was so early but they tried to sit us right next to another couple (the tables at French restaurants are VERY close to one another) so Stelios asked if we could sit at the bar instead. We were happy they did because the bartender, Matias, was very friendly chatty and comical. He recommended an egg mushroom appetizer that was absolutely incredible and melted in your mouth. We also ordered the other egg appetizer to compare, octopus, and duck croquettes.

After dinner we were in search of a cocktail bar with a DJ and some dancing, but Marais seemed fairly quiet on this Thursday night. We wandered into Bisou – a cocktail bar with no menu. Instead the bartender asks you what you like to drink and makes you a surprise cocktail. Mine was a spicy margaritas with mezcal and Stelios had a bourbon cognac drink. Both were delicious. After enjoying 2 cocktails it was 12:30am and we were both pretty tired after a long day so we strolled back to the hotel. We were both looking forward to a good deep sleep.

At the end of each day Stelios & I have been doing High Low Buffalo (HLB – shoutout to Sam & Ross for introducing this to us) plus our favorite dish of the day. Basically HLB is a quick way to reflect on your day that includes your high point, your low point, and your buffalo (something random that made you think or something that made you say “hmmm”). So I’ll be posting our HLB’s at the end of each blog.

Steph:
High- the wine tasting and learning how to properly read a French wine label
Low – not having an umbrella when it started raining
Buffalo – there was no late night food being served after 1am on a Thursday (that just seems like a missed opportunity in Paris!)
Favorite dish of the day: mushroom & egg appetizer at Vin de Pyrenees

Stelios:
High – the experience at Bisou cocktail bar
Low – not being able to check into the hotel early
Buffalo – the tiny elevator that supposedly fits 4 people
Favorite dish of the day: mushroom & egg appetizer at Vin de Pyrenees