A magical day. Please don't pinch me.

Monday, October 14, 2013

What a truly magical day. I started with a run on the Seine (it never gets old) just as a lot of the street vendors and artists were waking up, and as others made their ways (mostly on their scooters) to work. I love it how the French women wear high, sexy heels even while riding their scooters. Impressive.

Then, I grabbed a "coffee creme," a chocolate croissant (duh) and fresh-squeezed OJ from the boulangerie downstairs outside of my apartment, before getting ready and heading off. I first walked through the Twillery Gardens and made my way by the Concorde (where they used to behead people) and up Champs-Elyesse. I could see the Arc de Triomph the entire time and it was beautiful. The street was lined with many familiar shops (and some new ones), and the fanciest shop on the street? Abercrombie & Fitch...go figure. And it definitely gave me a good laugh.

I grabbed a light lunch (a croque madame...basically the best grilled cheese sandwich I've ever had) and then went home to rest for a quick bit.

At 5pm, I headed out to an amazing restaurant that I'd read about on Yelp. It's right near the Eiffel Tower and is called La Varangue Phillipe's. Phillipe is the owner/chef/maitre de...he basically does everything by himself. He was adorable and the food and wine were beyond amazing. After dinner, I walked over to the Eiffel Tower where I met up with the night bike tour I'd signed up for.

This was definitely one of the most amazing things I've ever done in my life. There were about 20 people in my group (mostly from other countries) and we headed off on our bikes just as it was beginning to rain. As we wove through the streets of Paris, we ended at our first stop on Ile Ste Louis for some ice cream. Afterwards, we rode around the entire city as the lights came up and it was truly magical. We rode through the square of the Louvre, all around the Seine, and parked our boats for an hour-long boat ride on the Seine at 10pm. Seeing everything at night was beyond incredible and I highly recommend this way of seeing Paris.

Finally, at midnight, I made it back to my Rue de la Huchette in the Latin Quarter, grabbed a crepe from the crepery downstairs (nutella, banana and coconut, obviously) and headed up to bed.

A day to remember forever.