Our first day in Paris! I woke up to the very faint sounds of my low-volume alarm. I was completely disoriented and initially didn’t know where I was. This was quickly followed by a thought of, “Oh no,” since I thought I had left my work alarm on. It felt so early, even though I wasn’t tired. Wrong! It was 10 a.m. Oh my gosh, I had slept like the dead! This also reinforced my love for blackout curtains because those things worked!
We got ready and headed out. Our hotel was one block away from the Bastille metro. Over the next few days, we found this hotel to be in the perfect location. It was on the border of the Marais and Bastille districts. There were several cool restaurants, only a few of which we made it to. In addition, the 5 metro line really brought us everywhere we wanted to go.
We had planned on going to Versailles that morning but decided to make a stop at Hermès. This seemed appropriate 🙂 It’s usually closed on Sundays, but was open due to Fashion Week. We travelled on the metro from Bastille to Concorde.
The flagship is located on 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. It’s a gorgeous store with beautifully laid out sections of scarves, leather goods, colognes, shoes, jewelry, and bags. There’s also many bags on displays in various leathers, sizes, and colors. They are not for sale, but seem designed to inspire great longing and aspirational manifesting. Regarder avec les yeux seulment!
Jyotsna browsed in the scarf section, followed by the shoes. Part of the “game” is the wait, which wasn’t terrible but we were there a little longer than planned. Pas probleme! We are on vacation!
After Hermes, we walked across the Seine to Les Invalides. It was a spectacularly beautiful day and it was lovely to walk. We stopped for a picture with the Eiffel Tower. Then we took the RER C to Versailles Rive Droit, which is the closer of the two main stations to the palace entrance.
In Versailles, we walked a few blocks to the bakery for a sandwich. We definitely waited a little too long to eat, but at least we finally did with minimal hangriness.
Repleted, we walked to the palace and straight through to the gardens. We realized we were still thirsty and walked to the concession stand in the gardens. After buying a split of Ruinart champagne, we walked to the Apollo fountain and toasted the day.
We realized that with our late start, choices had to be made. I was in Versailles last year and wanted to re-visit the Grand Trianon. I thought it was so beautiful. I wouldn’t really think that pink marble was my thing, but I think that palace is amazing.
But Jyotsna had never been, so we both thought that the Versailles palace itself was a must-do. So, we went our separate ways for part of the afternoon.
I walked to the bike rental place outside the gate to the right of the Apollo fountain. I biked to Petit Trianon where there was a huge line. I am pretty sure it was for the 20th anniversary exhibit highlighting the filming of Sophia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. It was moving quickly, but then I realized that I was in the wrong location for where I wanted to be.
I went to the Grand Trianon. I went through the castle, listening to a few of the Versailles app audio guide chapter. The highlight is the Peristyle, with the column arcade that differs on each side and its checkered floor.
Afterwards, I wandered through the gardens and hedgerows. Despite the organized layout, I still became a bit disoriented but found my way! I realized I was near the Petit Trianon. I still had time so I went through the palace and the exhibit.
I just watched the movie last week. It’s fine. Stylistically, it reminded me a lot of Romeo and Juliet- a story set a few centuries ago but with a very late ‘90s/early aughts indie soundtrack. But it was cool to have seen it in conjunction with this exhibit. Without that tie-in, I wouldn’t have watched it.
The costumes, shoes, hair, and behind-the-scenes photos were quite cool.
Then, it was time to meet Jyotsna at the bike rental. She rented un velo. We biked around the Grand Canal which was super cool. It was at the start of golden hour with gorgeous light.
The path was crowded, especially closest to the castle but it was still very navigable. It cleared out a lot, but there were still a lot of joggers and some cyclists enjoying the day.
Afterwards, we had a snack & wine before heading back to Paris.
For a second snack/light dinner, we went to Le Mary Celeste. The cocktails were amazing, as were the small plates. We decided to head elsewhere for dinner in the spirit of tapas-hopping. This was a slight mistake since it was on the late side and the kitchen at our next stop was fermez. Les boos.
We walked back to our hotel, intending to stop at a creperie. On the way, we saw a shop with a sign that said Surpriz. We went inside and found a kabab stand. We ordered fries and found that the surprise was that the fries weren’t very good.
But still, a not very good French fry is still ok. We stopped at the crepe stand where we got a savory La Cheeeeese crepe and a sweet Nutella crepe. Combined, this dinner of champions hit the spot. We went back to the hotel to head to bed. We were tired but not wrecked. It was a wonderful first Paris day!