Paris: day three

Jet lag got the best of us, so day three was a day of shopping, napping, and eating…lots of eating. My third day look was a layered one: Old Navy fox printed button down, Old Navy grey off the shoulder top, H&M jeggings, and velvet Tommy Hilfiger kicks. Everything is thrifted except my kicks. To make myself feel more alive, I threw on a red lip.

We opted for breakfast at Cafe Richard right across the street from our hotel – orange juice (fresh obvi), coffee, and the flakiest, most buttery croissant I’ve ever tasted. This is my new favorite breakfast. We spent the next handful of hours wandering around Marais popping in and out of stores that looked interesting. I found lots of large lights that would not fit in my suitcase.

In Marais there are cute cafes around every corner. When we got tired and hungry, we basically just stopped walking and sat down in the nearest chair. That chair happened to be at at Marronniers.

It was during this lunch that I decided lunch is my favorite meal in Paris. We know how to dinner in America, but we could use some help with lunch. We scarf down a bland sandwich in 25 minutes and rush back to work. In Paris, lunch is an event. You sit, you chat, you drink, and you eat.

Quickly becoming pros, a bottle of rose was ordered immediately upon sitting down. I went with another duck salad with goat cheese, crostini, and large basil leaves. Mom opted for traditional French onion soup, because well, we are in Paris and it’s Autumn.

My salad was rich, fresh, and very satisfying. Mom’s soup was perfection. We sat and people watched for the next hour ordering espresso and chocolate lava cake when our lunch had settled. There is no rushing lunch in Paris, no turning of the tables, no bringing of the check when you are two bites into your meal. Only enjoyment.

I wish we had gone to the Picasso museum afterwards, but I didn’t realize we were so close. Perhaps it was poor planning or too much rose. Instead we walked and shopped a bit more which was still very enjoyable albeit a little less cultured.

After returning to Hotel Duo for one of the best naps in history, we freshened up. I put on my wax jeans again and a Zara firefly printed floaty top. This top has special meaning – my grandmother, who passed in 2008 and would have LOVED to be on this trip, is represented by these little creatures. So, in a way it was like she was joining us for the evening.

We were off to see 2 more famous landmarks – Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe. Champs-Élysées reminded me a lot of Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It was a wide road jam packed with cars, major brand storefronts lining each side, and TONS of tourists. The arc was chaos – or the traffic around the arc was chaos. Cars just join the roundabout with few traffic signals and zero road line, but clearly an understanding for how it works.

The arc itself was gigantic, intricate, and beautiful. We managed to snap an obligatory pic before heading to dinner.

Our third dinner in Paris was at Loulou, an Italian inspired restaurant located right in the Museum of Decorative Arts. It didn’t come a shock to me that the restaurant itself is a work of art. It was very dark when we arrived, so I included a couple daytime photos. You can actually eat right in the Tuileries gardens outside! We didn’t realize this, so we sat in a cozy dark corner in the dining room. While exquisite and private, I always opt for diner al fresco given the choice. Next time!

LouLou Art deco

This was our most unique dinner of the trip. Again, we let the server pick our wine, because it was just too hard to chose.

First course – Despite it’s simple appearance, this was an extremely interesting and complex salad. So much so, that my mom wrote down everything we could find hidden in there in hopes of recreating it later.

Main course – I had the pasta ragu; it was hearty and delicious. Mom had the lamb chops which were expertly seasoned and accompanied by a curry sauce.

We decided to skip dessert, because we couldn’t eat another bite at that moment. Perhaps later we could find something sweet.

After dinner, we returned to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night. I thought I might be disappointed, but like most things in Paris, I wasn’t. During the day the structure is so raw and industrial looking, but at night it seems so delicate. At the top of every hour additional lights twinkle for five minutes. This is made possible by 20,000 additional light bulbs installed one-by-one making this larger than life structure even more magical.