Hi guys! Glad you enjoyed my post on Thursday on how French people stay slim. While I don’t think there’s a one size fits all approach to food, I definitely think that we can all learn a bit from the Mediterranean style of eating. As I mentioned, I was in Paris last week for 3 days. Courtesy of brother, it was the one of the best birthday gifts I’ve received yet! Given my multiple failed attempts, thank goodness he speaks French fluently. Every time I tried utilizing whatever I learned in IB French, I ended up speaking in Hindi instead.
Trains are definitely the new planes when it comes to travel- the 2.5 hour Eurostar journey seemed almost too convenient. Aside from a couple hours of pouring rain when we reached, the weather remained fabulous- think crisp blue skies & blazing sun. I’ve never been big on French food per say, but this trip sure changed my mind. A few points about the food during our stay:
- Croissant breakfasts trump oatmeal/cereal
Eric Kayser
- Baguettes are sold like water in France…and give a whole new meaning to the term ‘bread’
- The best kind of dining experiences come in 3 courses:
Les Fines Geules + La Plage Parisienne
- Portion sizes are even smaller than in London. However between eating multiple courses & the richness of the meals, the portions were perfect for me.
- The relatively small-sized glasses of wine & cups of Americanos, however, were not perfect for me. My go-to line with every coffee order was: Il est possible d’ajouter plus d’eau, s’il vous plaît (=Is it possible to add more water please)?
- With flavors like almond, coconut, and dark chocolate, sorbets are no longer just fruity, lactose-free alternatives to ice cream:
Le Bac a Glaces
Aside from eating our way through Paris, we also walked our way through the city. Especially as we were out of the hotel by 8:30 AM each day, I’m pretty sure we covered at least 15-20 km on foot daily. With every building and monument more beautiful than the last, I naturally went photo happy…as any other shameless Instagrammer would ;). A few of my favorites include:
Arc de Triomphe
Eiffel Tower
Love Lock Bridge
The Louvre
The Mona Lisa
Especially as it’s not every day we get to run down La Seine, we also managed to fit in a run in Paris. With the Louvre on one side of me & the Eiffel Tower on the other, it will definitely remain one of my most memorable runs yet. I was sad to leave Paris, but my feet were thrilled- all that walking left them covered in blisters and in dire need of a pedicure.
So much deliciousness & so much culture! Paris, tu me manques (=Paris, I miss you)!
What city is next on your bucket list to visit?
Awesome post K!!! Traun journey is certainly amazing, went to euro disney two yers ago.
xoxo
Thanks, Zainab!
Oh baguettes….I could live off them. When I was home in Melbourne, mum got me a couple of mini ones from the French patisserie- so good!
I laughed at your coffee notion- I did that too- especially because une espresso was cheaper than a ‘cafe American!’
Who woulda thought that water could be so expensive!!
Paris is definitely on mine! Wow – what an awesome 3 days! And those sorbets!!! As a connoisseur of all cold, sweet, dairy free treats – those sorbet flavors AND your run through the streets of Paris have me so looking forward to being there – next year!!
You will have such a blast, Shashi- I am excited for your trip 🙂
Looks like an amazing trip – what an awesome birthday present!!! Can we trade siblings? Haha.
Paris and the rest of France are definitely the next places on my travel bucket list. And I actually may get the chance to go in September if I haven’t found an RD job yet!
For the sake of Paris, here’s hoping you find an RD job post-September!
Ahhh looks like so much fun!! I’ve told Eric multiple times that I need a trip to Europe in my near future.
Make sure London is one of the European cities you select 🙂
Reading this made me realise I hardly took any pictures when I was in Paris! It was my third time there, so I didn’t go crazy. Almost all of my pictures were of food or selfies – not much difference to normal life, then 😉
Send me a text (I lost all my numbers) and we can arrange a meet up this week!
Just messaged you 🙂
What a great brother you have! Such a fun trip. I’m definitely going to try to extend my next work trip to London and include a side trip to France.
Next on our travel list is Italy. Vishnu and I are hoping to make the trip next year. I honestly can’t wait!
Oh wow, Italy will be amazing- it’s on my bucket list too!
That picture of the Eiffel Tower makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I haven’t been to Paris since I was a tiny little thing (7? 8?), but I would kill to go again… especially now that I can appreciate all the food and culture that the city has to offer. And as much as I love my oatmeal, I’m going to have to agree with you that croissants would probably trump it. But only in France!
Now that I’m back in London, I have no desire to pick up a croissant…but when in France, it’s the only thing I want for brekkie!
Oh Paris!!
I miss my time at Swissair when I was a Flight Attendant and flew to Paris so many times. It is just magical.
You look like such a fancy jetsetter. I want to travel with you!
Next city I will get to visit is hopefully New York. If that doesn’t happen it’s Berlin or Sydney – not too bad either!!
Ohh I’m hoping to make it out to NY next year- hopefully our dates collide!
It all looks amazing!!! I must got back, and for more than a day this time.
The next one I visit outside the US will be in Italy, but my bucket list? That’s somewhere in Thailand! I really want to take a cooking course there.
Have you been to Thailand before? I went when I was too young to remember/embrace it, so I definitely want to revisit the place so I can appreciate it fully!
The trip sounds like it was so wonderful and definitely memorable! That sandwich in the second picture makes a Subway footlong look puny 😛
Haha bigger and 1000x better tasting than Subway 🙂
Had to comment because I’m doing basically the same thing in a couple of weeks: 3 days in Paris, via the Eurostar train from London. I’ve never been and I’m really excited to practice my baby French language skills (I’ve only taken about a year but I’ve been working hard). Your pictures are making me excited!
Oh you will have a blast- hopefully the weather is fabulous while you are there!
I had fun following along on your Instagram while you were in Paris. It looked beautiful! I haven’t been to anywhere in Europe, so I would pick any cool European city on my current bucket list.
Glad you enjoyed the photos- Europe is so beautiful!
Je t’adore.
I want to go back to Paris now. I haven’t been in 20 years and yes to the baguettes. The simple cheese sandwich I got in the train station would have put some US sandwiches from restaurants to shame.
Pshhh the French mean serious business when it comes to sandwiches 😉
Lovely blog again. If all goes as per plan I should see this city this year. This blog will help me to see what needs to be seen and save my time.
Hope you are able to visit Paris soon 🙂