Eurotrip - Paris

Our arrival into Paris (one night and half day), was via the EuroStar train. We bought tickets well in advance and left London @ 2pm on 11/4 to journey to Paris. As rarely happens in my travels, I drew a good train partner, Chloe. 

Chloe is from the UK and now lives in Paris, coming back from visiting family. She had a fabulous energy about her and we had a great conversation, about life, energy, humanity, etc. She had a very sexy energy about her in the way she spoke and carried herself, it was not surprising that she was a Moulin Rouge dancer, but I was shocked by how non challant she was about it.

We arrived in Paris, with some small frustrations at the stop, then made our way to the apartment. Apartment is tiny, we dropped off our clothes, got ready and set out to visit Chloes recommendation. We took a nice walk to the Louvre along the Sienne, through the court yard, a small piece of the gardens, then metroed over to Ave Maria.

Ave Maria is a gem, had to be top 5 restaurants of all time for atmosphere, food and Duff beer. This is on a must Paris visit list! I love how the restaurant sits you next to random people to socialize (love it!) We could not help but watch a young couple in a booth eating dinner, there is just something romantic about the French. The girl was wearing leg garments on a laid back dinner on Tuesday that American girls only wear on sex night :)

Ave Maria (Web Link)

Next day, we used the opportunity to put on jogging clothes and explore the city on foot, jogging. This was a perfect way to move around Paris quickly so that Dom can see the highlights. We did polish off a bottle of vino, cheese, crackers at the Eiffel park as we watched a bus full of Asian tourists take stupid pictures, peace signs, jumping, etc. Many of our stupid pictures on the trip, will probably be inspired by this :)

We finally picked up our car at 5pm in rush hour traffic. I havent driven a stick in 10+ years and have never driven outside of the US. Rolling out of the parking deck in the middle of traffic next to 10 police cars outside was a nerve racking experience. I fucking stalled at a round about in Paris traffic. 

The proximity of the toilet to the washing machine in our airbnb appartment

Getting the Duster

We finally got out of there and headed on the road. For a bite to eat we picked a random spot the 3 brasseurs (3 brewers), which we later found out was on the top 10 Europes pubs lists (I can see why, beer was the bomb). Getting off the highway posed our first big frustration moment. Exiting the tolls, I picked a booth that takes credit cards and quickly learned that american cards dont work in automated machines (the chip! If you are a tourist, take the cash lane). A very nice french man got out of his car and helped us through the mess. If it had been me, I would have been leaning on the horn and cussing the dumb me in front of me out.

Paris - Deeper Thoughts

• Paris, the magical city - this is my fourth trip to Paris and there is something special about this city, everyone attests to it, but no one has a reason why. After dinner, headed back to the apartment it clicked, the city  is magical because you feel like you are surrounded by love, the French always look like they are in love, their language, the vino, their general approach and way of life and typically, I think there is something magical we feel when we are around that.
• Learning new things and getting out of your comfort zone - this is another interesting thing of traveling abroad, all your mental models are questioned (appropriately I just finished reading Design of Everyday Things), the sink is Ave Maria, had a FOOT PEDAL to start the water, I was unable to figure it out and Dom showed me how to use it. This teaches you to appreciate an alternative view point, how the culture, the people and everything about this place arrived at turning the sink on with your feet. Some metro cars require you to push a button to exit, some dont, fuck this up once, you are going an extra station. The more you learn, the easier it is to adopt, the next sink w/ a tricky mechanism stands no chance!
• Staying on your feet as your model of the world is challenged in real time - this is the trickiest of them all, especially w/ driving, usually you have to make quick choices in a tricky environment. Good mental workout.
• Staying fit - I am pretty proud that so far we have found a way to stay fit in running, working out, etc. So far so good.

Take aways:

• American CC dont work in automated machines (toll booths, metro stations, etc)
• Ave Maria is a worthwhile Paris restaurant to check out
• Some sinks water is turned on by a pedal (not knobs, touch, etc) - Crazy