We had seen most of our Bordeaux sights yesterday, so we decided to head to Paris on the earlier side for SMS last day. There was the added bonus that the weather in Bordeaux was rainy, while Paris was supposed to be sunny.
Les affranchis
We had the nicest day! I wanted to walk the Paris Highline, so we headed over to that part of the city. But first, lunch at my now-favorite brasserie Les affranchis. There was a nice woman hostess, but the highlight was a petite, charismatic waitress in her 70s (ish) in leather pants. She was so cool.
Lunch was delicious. I started with the onion soup, followed by a Niçoise salad. SMS had one of the plat du jours, which was beef burgunion which was amazing. Then, we split the house strawberry cake, which was a solid choice.
I also got to practice my French, which went pretty well until the very end. When signing the check, I cheerfully told the hostess that I am a pen! while looking in my bag for a pen that I had. Oh, well, win some, lose some. At least I immediately corrected myself, lol.
Paris Highline/La Coulée Verte
Then, we went to the High Line, or in Paris, the La Coulée Verte. We ascended the steps catty-corner from the restaurant and walked for about 3/4 of a mile. Then, we ran into a guard who was shutting the walkway down due to the high winds.
Because we had stopped on the staircase to look at the map, we ended up getting locked in temporarily. Fortunately, the guy locking the gate was there but he made us wait until he radioed the other guard to scold her for letting two people get stuck. Or at least that was the gist of what I picked up.
Eiffel Tour Walk: Champ de Mars to Jardins du Trocadéro
So, where to? Well, we hadn’t been to the Eiffel Tower yet so off we went. We walked the entire park from École Militaire to the Trocadero. It was very windy. The views were spectacular, the people watching stellar, and the weather beautiful. It was really a great walk.
Then, we walked over to a street that I had seen on IG with an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower. I didn’t want to pay for someone’s e-guide just to figure it out, so I sleuthed reels the day prior until I figured out the spot was Av de Camoens.
It was somewhat crowded but a spectacular spot. Then we went one block over to walk the staircases and gardens of the Musée de l’Homme, which SMS had spotted.
We sat on a bench for awhile and crafted dinner plans. SMS had been on-and-off suggesting pasta for the last two days so when a craving strikes, feed it! We looked for places around Montparnasse station, striking out on a few before coming across Pastamore. I read this as Pasta more, but it’s actually Pasta Amore which sounds nicer.
The pasta was clearly fresh. We each had a plate of pasta and very happy with our meals. It was a perfect way to end SMS’ France experience.
Hotel misadventure
We headed out to the airport hotel via taxi since there was something strange with the RER directions. The hotel sent out an email the day before saying how easy it was to find. It was not easy! And despite getting the email and checking the address multiple times, we still went to the wrong hotel. Argh! In my defense, the other hotel is on the periphery of the airport, while our actual hotel is literally in the airport. But I thought the periphery was inside…wrong!
But man, do we live in convenient times. We just called an Uber and went 2 miles to the hotel in the airport. I’ll write more about it in a SEO/AEO clickbait-y post (I have post-vacation plans for this blog!), but there are definite pros/cons to staying at the airport vs. and early morning ride out to the airport for an international flight.
I want to walk that high line, and was laying in bed this morning wondering if it is pretty this time of year or if it kind of shuts down for the winter. It looks like it was lovely! What an amazing day you had! And your meal sounds like perfection, too.
I strongly recommend this lunch/walk combo!