What’s one thing that can make a couple of international travelers, generally obsessively neurotic about their meticulously planned trip details, feel completely uncomfortable about the week ahead? A national transportation strike, that’ll do it. Whatever plans we had previously made for our upcoming week in Paris had to be completely flexible as soon as we learned about the country’s strike over the government’s plans for pension reform. News outlets were predicting major difficulties with transportation and a potential continuance of the strike into the New Year, making the entirety of our trip a total “we’ll have to wait and see” moment. But with positive attitudes we boarded our flight departing Kansas City and hoped for the best.
From the beginning of the trip we had to make adjustments to our plans. We actually considered multiple options of what we would do if we could not even make it into Paris at all. We were completely prepared to spontaneously change locations once we landed in our connecting location of Atlanta. Luckily, our credit card on which we had booked everything offers fantastic insurance in the event of cancelled flights and excursions, so we knew we would not be taking a loss if we opted to call an audible and fly to an entirely different country for the week. But because we both really loved the idea of Paris at Christmas time, we stuck with our original plan and let the rest fall into place.
Prior to our arrival at Charles de Gaulle in Paris, we had arranged for a private car airport pickup through our hotel. Let me first say, this is definitely not our preferred or usual mode of transportation, as we both love navigating new metro systems and comparing them to those we’ve already traveled. But with all but a few metro lines closed, we opted for the security and comfort of knowing we would have a way to get into central Paris.
We spent a ton of time trying to decide where we would stay for the week. Anyone who has been to Paris or even researched traveling there knows that the city and its main attractions are spread out all throughout the city. Some prefer to stay near the Eiffel Tower, while others prefer the history and ambiance of Montmartre. Our plan was to stay at a boutique hotel located near the center of Paris where a short metro ride would have us at any of the city’s main attractions – funny right? Emily picked our hotel and several other trip details with the help of Paris Perfected, a trip planning service that she learned about from a blogger she follows. Of the several options that were recommended for us, she chose Hotel Adele & Jules, a boutique hotel conveniently located in the busy Opera district of Paris and right around the corner from a metro station. The hotel was easy to find but is quietly tucked away so that the lodging feels cozy and private. We frequently took advantage of the free coffee and espresso machine in the lobby as well as the evening happy hour that offered light refreshments and fresh juices. I highly recommend choosing this hotel for a visit to Paris, no matter how long you plan to stay.
Our airport pickup and transfer to the hotel went smoothly, and we arrived on Sunday mid-morning. As our room was not yet ready, we were able to use the public restroom in the hotel to freshen up and change clothes, and the hotel graciously stored our luggage until we could fully check in to our room. In the mean time, we set out to begin exploring the city on foot. We considered joining a walking tour that afternoon, but the timing wasn’t right and we ultimately decided to do this on Monday morning.
Galeries Lafayette Christmas Display
As we walked around in a somewhat sleep-deprived and jet-lagged haze on a cold and wet day, we considered various options of what to cross off of our to-do list on day one. About 15 minutes straight down Haussmann Boulevard was the Galeries Lafayette department store, which is known to have one of the most glorious holiday displays in the world! One thing to remember if you plan on checking this out is that there are multiple Galeries Lafayette locations, and only the one on Haussmann Boulevard has this display. An enormous Christmas tree hangs from the department store’s elaborate dome and twinkles with an amazing display of lights. Every so often, I believe hourly, a light and sound show erupts within the store and is certainly worth waiting around for. You’ll know it’s coming because people will start to crowd around the railings on every floor of the store to witness the spectacle.
We returned to our hotel to find that our room was ready for us, so we enjoyed a much-needed shower and quick nap. Before we knew it, it was time for dinner. When reading these posts from Paris, you’ll find that I’ve included more photos of food than I normally do. This is because, well, it’s Paris. Internationally known for its cuisine, I’d be lying if I said that Parisian food was not a major factor in our decision to visit the city. In my opinion, one of the best things about Paris is that you do not need to visit the best Michelin Star restaurants in order to enjoy fancy, fantastic, memorable dishes. Almost every place we stopped to eat was delicious, and the majority of them we selected by simply walking by and peeping at the menu. Because of the transportation limitations we experienced, we primarily ate at restaurants within walking distance of our hotel, but there were so many to choose from that this was not much of a limiting factor. On night one, we tried Le Gramont. Emily had the veal blanquette while I chose the Brittany scallops. Both were delicious.
Follwing our first taste of true Parisian cuisine, we explored the city some more on foot. We walked by the Opera National de Paris Bastille (Paris’s famous opera house), the Colonne Vendome (a bronze war statue), past several high-end shopping streets all the way to the Place de la Concorde, with its thousands-year old obelisk from Egypt. There we tried our first sips of Vin Chaud, hot mulled wine served during the holidays in France. We also got our first glimpses of the beautiful Christmas lights illuminating Paris at night during the Holidiays – more of this to come later in the trip! Exhaustion was creeping in at this point, so we walked back to the hotel to call it a night.
