Bonjour, Paris!

Sometime back in the early-mid 1990s, I corrupted Rob.

An avid Big Gulp Cola Fan, Rob had little interest in alcohol. I, on the other hand, had a burgeoning hobby in white wine and dark beer. My last quarter of college, I felt very sophisticated as I lightly sipped the occasional Chenin Blanc while doing homework that wasn’t terribly taxing. When Rob and I got married, I would order wine with dinner as he enjoyed his Diet Pepsi. But curiosity crept in and Rob started to take sips. Eventually, he started ordering his own glasses of vino.

Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, our proximity to world-renowned wine was too tempting to ignore. Rob and I and our friends group took pretty regular day trips to Napa, Sonoma, and Lodi to learn about wine – how it was grown, made, marketed, and tasted. It quickly became obvious that wine is one of those topics that the more you learn about it, the more you realize you don’t know.

Now, over 30 years later, All Things Wine is a hobby Rob and I share. And somewhere about 20 years ago, we started dreamily fantasizing about going to France to learn about their wine. We have a pretty good grip on the basics of American wine, but French wine is sort of confusing. Especially since the wine types are named after the French regions the grapes come from (Bordeaux) and not the varietal of grapes themselves (Cabernet Sauvignon). I learn best from doing – as opposed to hearing or seeing – and Rob loves learning in general, so the idea of going to France to Do Wine morphed into one of those Bucket List Trips. You know, the long-talked-about trips that we promised ourselves in the depths of the Pandemic that we would take someday if it ever felt safe enough?

And so, that’s how Rob and I ended up landing in Paris two days ago and have train tickets to zoom to Bordeaux tomorrow morning on a reportedly super-duper fast train. We are finally here to Learn French Wine! We’re excited beyond words and also a bit terrified, as this is not at all how we typically travel. And I am here to tell you, my 3.5 years of high school French is NOT standing the test of time. Thank God for the invention of smartphones and translation apps in the intervening 40 years.

So Paris! It’s been interesting!

One of sooooo many Eiffel Tower Photos

The punch line is, we have liked the city but surprisingly not as much as we expected. Chalk it up to rather meager – if nonexistent – interests in art and fashion. We’ve been touring for two solid days – 5 miles of walking yesterday and nearly 9 miles today – and are a bit stunned that we are ready to move onto our next French adventure. We have happily seen all that we felt compelled to see, with sore feet and legs as proof.

Apparently this Loius Vuitton building shaped like
luggage is...important? Iconic? Not worth the
hours in line to get inside? 

Don’t get me wrong; Paris is lovely. And its efforts to be a clean, welcoming city for the throngs of Olympians and their spectators in a few months are clear and promising. The locals have been helpful and patient and more than happy to speak English and kindly correct our mispronunciations when we attempt to say things like “eleven.”

I didn't buy any sidewalk art, but this is
honestly more my speed

We took a bus tour to all the major sites, we spent nearly 2 hours floating down the Seine, we walked around and under the Arc de Triomphe, and strolled down the Champs-Élysées and along the river. We meandered through the charming Montmartre neighborhood to take in the view of Paris from the Sacré-Coeur cathedral. We ate at a sidewalk café, had the most amazing ham and cheese sandwiches of our lives, discovered the wonder of pouring booze over sorbet, and deftly avoided snails, squid, and liver thanks to the cell phone app. We spent quite a long time admiring the iconic and impressive Eiffel Tower from a variety of vantage points, with sooo many photos as proof. We watched Parisians go about life and noted how so much better dressed they are without seemingly much effort.

Among many tourists standing in the
middle of the street to get a photo with
the Arc de Triomphe

The grilled cheese sandwich was so
good, we went back for dinner the
next night, too!

Some observations:

Style-wise, it appears the secret is accessories. Namely, a blazer or leather jacket and a scarf. Also, belts are important. These rules apply to both men and women. Hats really aren’t a thing, with only young touristy girls wearing berets. Jackets are rarely removed, but if they are, they are carried – NEVER tied around your waist. Oops.

Béreted tourist yet still fashionable

Even the Parisian children have
insane fashion sense and the
confidence to carry it off!

Bicycles are a VERY popular mode of transportation. However, it seems few locals own them. Instead, they rent them for whatever transit they need – perhaps even daily. Those Lime Bikes that I have seen in other major cities that are typically for tourists are used almost exclusively by locals in Paris. And helmets are not worn, which given the insanity of the traffic seems unwise.

Not sure about the shoes, but that is definitely a
local on that bicycle. Also, while that bike is a
very similar color to the many rentals I saw, I realize
now it is probably her very own bike. With storage
for a kid or a purse. Or even a helmet if one thought
that might be useful to have handy...

Despite its decadence, a heated toilet seat is quite an inspired invention. The jury is still out on the bidet. (No photo. You're welcome.)

The brand Carhartt is very Of the Moment among the Paris teen set. Which is hysterical because back home, Carhartt is a rugged, durable brand for farming, logging, fishing, and other decidedly not-Parisian activities.

Alpha Girl in the teen group I was
observing on a river bus. Note the
Carhartt belt. Also, round eyeglasses are very
vogue in Paris on all ages and genders.

Spotted later on a very swanky street with high-end
brands. There's a Carhartt store near the Portland airport.
It is nothing like this.

Paris is surprisingly flat. I guess I was expecting hills? Yes, around Mile 6 today I did detect a slight incline, as most of the city is sort of a river basin and we were heading away from the Seine.  But for the most part, Paris is pretty flat.

Looking south across Paris, Eiffel Tower hidden
by tree to the right

The architecture is very…consistent. Think the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland or the French Quarter in New Orleans. Stately, stone, rounded metal roofs, ornate. That’s pretty much what we have seen here, to the point that many of the streets are difficult to distinguish from one another. Thankfully, every corner has a blue street sign attached to a nearby building so we never got lost despite a pretty useless map from the hotel. Google Maps to the rescue!

The Seine and the architecture of
the French Quarter

We are much more interested in the street food here than the fancy restaurants. Crêpes, Croque monsieur, onion soup, beef kabobs – all much more our speed than the steaks and fish with heavy sauces.

Maker of the best crêpes we've ever
had. Just a random street vendor.
Oh Mon Dieu!

I was unexpectedly struck with emotion when the tunnel that Princess Diana lost her life in was pointed out. I remember that day well. Above the tunnel is a life-sized golden replica of the torch that the Statue of Liberty holds. While originally intended to be a symbol of friendship between the French and Americans, the flame has become a memorial of sorts to the late Princess.

We have a taxi scheduled to pick us up at our hotel at 8:45 tomorrow morning to take us to the Gare Montparnasse train station. Even though the Metro sounds more fun, navigating it – and its stairs – with suitcases is a bit more adventure than we are looking for. Just riding a bullet train through the French countryside will be adventure enough! Stay tuned!