Paris

Waldorf Astoria Trianon Palace

I took the train from London to Paris.  I feel asleep and stayed asleep listening to Diddy Dirty Money's Last Train to Paris.  It only felt appropriate.  I woke up and I had to pee, but I decided to pee after I got off the train since it stopped already.  That turned out to be a decision that cost me  €0.60 since restrooms aren't free at the train station.  Once I got there I met up with a friend of a friend.  Julie helped guide me through the city.  We searched for a while to find a place to drop off my bags for a while and finally decided to end up taking them to my hotel.  I love the city of Paris, but their train ticket system sucks.  The tickets are such tiny and easy to lose pieces of paper.  Combine that with the fact that I’m a tourist trying to keep up with tons of stuff, and you can see why I lost my ticket after the first trip.

Julie went off to work for a bit and I bought another train ticket and headed back to the hotel in order to finish checking in.  I had an awesome deal at the Waldorf Astoria Trianon Palace.  I wanted this to be my

splurge hotel for this part of the trip and I was definitely not disappointed.  It is definitely more of the romantic getaway type of spot but I didn’t mind that at all.

Inside my room at the Waldorf

The Hotel boasts the two Michelin Starred Gordon Ramsey au Trinanon, one which I decided to pass on after seeing I was priced out of even the slightest inclination of eating there due to the meal cost of €180.  I like to spend on a good meal but that is just absurd.

The room wasn’t too large, but it was definitely appropriately comfortable.  You had more than enough space.   Interestingly enough the style was great because it definitely had an old school feel to it with beautiful architecture that seems to be from a few generations ago.  The design of the interior gives a nod towards that timeframe without being passé.

The hotel is just a short walk away from Louis XIV's world famous Chateau de Versailles.  It is about a thirty minute ride into Paris via train or car.  It is a bit of a walk to the train station though.  I was able to manage everything just fine despite having my huge suitcase along with me.

I meet up with Julie later that evening and we walked around for a little bit while I took some pictures.  I had to wait on her for a little bit and while I was waiting I randomly drunk a liter of water.  Combined with the walking I really had to pee.  I was saved by the bathroom in a McDonalds, which you had to get a code for.  Europe is really serious about making sure you aren’t using the bathroom for free.

Later we made our way to Notre Dame and although we did not go inside.  I did get a chance to take a lot of pictures from the outside of the church.  Julie pointed out the back of the church to me which is by far more beautiful than the front.  You really get a chance to appreciate the amazing architecture of the church.

We walked over a bridge where she pointed out there were many locks along the bridge.  It is customary to write the name of your love on a lock and lock it to the bridge and throw the key in the river.  Then you and your lover will be locked in love forever.  The amount of romanticism of the place nearly borders on a sickening level.

Locked in Love Forever

My dinner in Paris would be at La Taverne de la Huchette.  It really wasn’t that memorable of a meal but it was certainly cheap.  Julie was not a foodie and had no idea what to recommend.  She admittedly hates French food.  I had an appetizer, main course, and two drinks all for under $40.  I ended up getting the boeuf bourguignon and potato dauphinoise.  It was tasty but like I said nothing to really brag of.

Afterwards Julie and I went to the Eiffel Tower.  I have a couple of pictures outside at night with the tower lighting up in the background.  We rushed back to the train station so we would not miss our trains.  I unfortunately missed my train.  I ended up with a €40 cab ride back to the hotel.

Julie and I talked about me waking up in the morning and going to see the Chateau de Versailles.  I said yeah of course I’d be up by 8 see the Chateau, do some more touring of Paris.  The next morning I was awakened by the sound of the room service trying to clean the room around 11.  I took a quick shower before checking out and going to see the Chateau.  It was a long walk from the Chateau to Marie-Antoinette's estate.  I hoofed it the entire way to the estate and back up to the Palace.  It was quite a walk but I felt like I needed to work off some calories since most of my time was spent sitting as of late (I
want to tell myself that but I did a lot of walking in Europe.  The real reason was I couldn’t understand how to buy a ticket for the tram thing and am extremely impatient).

Garden at Marie Antionette's Residence

When I got back to the Hotel, to have brunch before I left ate at La Veranda.  It is Gordon Ramsey's other restaurant in the hotel.  Even the €57 I spent there seemed a little steep but it was money well spent.  I started off with the Foie Gras pressed with beef bourguignon.  I really couldn’t get enough foie gras on this trip.  This particular version was very good but I was a little let down by the fact that the beef notes were a little in the background and not at the forefront of the dish.  It was a very subtle beef taste, but the plating was very beautiful.

Scallops at La Veranda

Next up were the scallops.  They were served with an awesome bouillabaisse sauce.  It was so tasty, that I had to resist the urge of picking it up and drinking it from its serving vessel.   The scallops were fresh and cooked perfectly.  You got the perfect amount of saltiness from the bacon and the bouillabaisse that went along with it.  Then there were the vegetables that accompanied it which included mushrooms, marinated artichoke hearts and sun dried tomatoes.  It was a great meal.  My meal made it's way up to €70 once I paid for the bottle of water, glass of wine and coffee, which I thought was complimentary based on the fact that I didn't order it.

Foie Gras at La Veranda

Then I had to hustle in order to make it to the hotel to change in order to make my reservations for dinner that night.  I got on the train and made my way all the way over to Orly airport and took a shuttle to the Hilton Orly where I would be spending the night.  By the time I got there I quickly realized that I would not have enough time to make my dinner reservations.  Combined with all I had done earlier in the day I was just tired of doing pretty much anything.  So I ended up settling with the hotel buffet.  I got a glass of red wine and I left the meal pretty unsatisfied with the mediocre offerings that looked much better than they tasted.  I wish I would have ordered my meal from the a la carte section.

The hotel didn’t have any outlet adapters available so I ended up taking the shuttle to the airport in order to buy a really nice one there.  It cost me €25, but it claimed to be a universal outlet that went from any outlet to any outlet.  It worked fine.  It was a bit of an upcharge too since I could have gotten the same thing off of amazon for $15.  That’s to be expected in an airport though.

I guess Hangover Doesn't translate to French well...

The next morning I checked out of my hotel and made my way to the airport.  My plan was to drop my bags at the airport so I could leave from exploring the city that day and head directly to check in for my flight to Rome late that night.  It was too early for me to check in my bags though, so I left them back at the hotel.  The van driver was extremely nice because he chased me down in order to give me the headphones I had dropped when I exited the vehicle.

I took the train into town and got something to eat while I waited on Julie to meet up with me.  I would eat at Le Triomphe.  This was another huge let down on the trip.  I must say the best thing about the place was the bread which was very tasty.  The prices weren’t bad at all either.  I got the salmon rillettes which really just tasted like a tuna salad gone wrong made with salmon.  I also had the salmon tartare which was a little better but not by much.  It was just bland and uninspired.

I knocked back a few glasses of coffee as I waited on her to get there while inhaling tons of cigarette smoke.  It seems as though everyone smokes in Europe.  When she finally got there we headed to Sacré Coeur.  It is a church that once you arrive at it you can overlook all of the city of Paris.  We made a quiet walk through the church saw the amazing artwork on the inside.  Thought about going into the catacombs but I passed on the idea of paying money to see dead people.

We walked about the streets nearby a bit giving me a chance to buy some souvenirs and I made my way down to the train station.  A quick ride and we were at our next stop.  We headed through a park on our way to the Louvre, but we decided not to go inside because of time.  I got a few pictures outside of the place though.

Chez Flottes was our next stop for no reason other than Julie really had to pee.  So I ended up ordering a cheese plate and we had some wine as well.  Both were pretty amazing.  I guess I just had a series of misses in my food selection, and though I don’t know how good the food was at this place, if I was using that cheese plate as a measuring stick, the bar would be set pretty high.

We ran out of time and I had to head for the airport and she had to go to work.  I ended up eating dinner in the airport and had a pretty great quiche that redeemed French food for me.  I guess I really needed to do some hardcore research before eating in Paris rather than winging it.  I also had an amazing salad there and some macaroons for dessert.

So yeah I have to go back to Paris because there is so much that I didn’t do, like going into the Louvre and seeing the Mona Lisa, or going inside Notre Dame  (though Julie tells me that Sacré Coeur is better), or even eating a crepe for that matter.  I’ll do all of it next time but to be honest a return trip to Paris isn’t exactly at the top of my list.