Paris – Oo la la

When I last left off on my vacation overview I was leaving London for the city of lights. We arrived in Paris Tuesday night and left Thursday afternoon so it was, as with London, a very brief visit. Finally over our jet lag we focused our energy on sightseeing and sampling the local cuisine.

And by cuisine I mean wine & beer. 🙂

My brother & boyfriend at the beginning of our first night in Paris

Cheers! My family at lunch. Seriously, lunch.

Vin rouge

Fashion: I am still shocked that I didn’t have any major accidents while walking down the streets of Paris considering I don’t think I was looking where I was going for more than 30 seconds the entire time we were there. Some stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason and the women of Paris did not disappoint (I’ve been to Paris before, but I wasn’t as fashion oriented at the time). They were chic and thin, there wasn’t a tennis shoe or a pair of sweats as far as the eye could see. Lots of flats and low heels, probably due to it being a walking-intensive city. Lots of layering and fun silhouettes, lots of high-low mixing & matching and lots of not-so-basic black. The accessory de jour? Le pliage bags from Longchamp, they were everywhere! The other, not so chic accessory in every woman’s hand? A cigarette. I spent most of the time in Paris sneezing!

Food: Honestly, I wasn’t blown away by the food while we were in Paris. Neither my boyfriend or I eat bread so most restaurants were something of a challenge during our short stay, though he usually ended up with poulet of some sort. We supplemented our smaller meals out with petit casino finds like nuts, goat cheese, apples & little Tupperware containers of tabouli. And yes, I made up the phrase petit casino to mean corner store. And I think it makes perfect sense! 🙂

Fitness: So much walking! Lost wandering, church steps, hills, exploring and walking between our hotel and the areas where the rest of my family was staying. Exhausting! We had a nap the second day and still barely made it to our pillows that night before crashing.

Lodgings: Our hotel wasn’t really anything special, but the location was great, we were across the street from the scenic Jardin du Luxembourg and we had a cute little cafe on the corner.

Cafe on the corner

View from our hotel

Sights: My family was spread out all over Paris which gave us a unique chance to check out all of the different hotels and fun neighborhoods. My aunt and her fiance stayed at the sumptuous Park Hyatt in central Paris, while my cousin & brother stayed in the Latin Quarter and my parents rented an apartment in Les Gobelins.

My Auntie & her then fiance and now husband at Sacre Coeur Basilica

Travel: My family rented cars for our from exit Paris and seven of us piled into a van Thursday morning for a five-hour drive south to Lanouaille lead by Mademoiselle Garmin. You’d think they’d get someone who can pronounce the French words to be the voice of the GPS… 

I still have nightmares. At the next round-about, take the second exit.

Highlights: Most of our rowdy group really enjoyed the food in Paris, from thin crust pizzas & giant beers to roasted chicken & steaks w/ pomme frites. I ate the frites. 🙂 My favorite part? The fashion of course. With big cities like this you get to see a lot of street traffic even during a short stay, and I really enjoyed the people watching. Oh, and I loved seeing everyone carrying their groceries home each night with the inevitable baguette sticking out the top. Too French!

Back soon with Milan Fashion Week!