trip report: paris day 1
We went on a whirlwind long-weekend trip to Paris for a birthday that shall not be named. Here is what we did in pictures.
After much deliberation, we settled on the Hotel Plaza Athenee, located in the 8th arrondissement, close to the Champs-Elysees. We were not disappointed; the service, room, location, breakfast (more on that later) were all some of the best we had ever experienced. It might be the best city hotel we've ever stayed in.
Waiting for us in the room was a fresh box of apricots!
After checking in, we made like all food lovers do and caught a cab to Le Marais for snack time. First up? The famous L'as du Fallafel. A favorite of college students and tourists alike, the sandwiches here are fresh, warm and pretty much perfect.
No Parisian snack is complete without dessert, so we walked a few blocks over to l'Eclair de Genie, for ... eclairs.
Do you SEE all those flavors? We tried a salted caramel and an almond, both stuffed with a satisfyingly cold cream filling and encased in delicate pate a chou. Don't leave Paris without trying at least one of these.
Paris was in the middle of a heatwave (or, une canicule, if you're feeling fancy) while we were there. Temperatures hovered around 95 or 100 degrees everyday, which wouldn't have been quite so bad if anyone in Europe had air conditioning. Guess what? They don't. But hey, an excuse to drink Coca-Light and imbibe numerous afternoon cocktails? Not too bad.
Thanks to the awesome concierge team at the Plaza, we were able to snag a dinner reservation at Yam'Tcha, a sort of French-Asian fusion spot that had been closed for many months and just reopened this spring. The tasting menu was incredible, but I won't make you sit through photos of every course (although I thought about it). Above is the shrimp we had.
Verdict on first day?
Success.
PS: Yes, as you can see from the bags in the photo above, les soldes were going on while we were there. This, coupled with the heavenly VAT refund meant that we certainly did our part to help the European Union. I await my ambassadorship eagerly.