Ex-pat Newlyweds

My favourite jump to date.

Ask anyone fantasizing about a trip to Europe which cities they want to see and Paris will undoubtedly be on that list. Paris is the holy grail of European travels. Unlike some over-explored territories, no one will ever call Paris “done”. It’s Paris and no matter how many people trudge down its cobbled streets, it still lets you feel like you’re the only one to discover that piece of the world.

Josh and I had both been to Paris before, just never together. Both of us were 11 when we were lucky enough for our families to take us there. For Josh, it was his parents and sisters. For me, it was Trudy (practically my sister) and my grandparents. It was like a strange dream, going back to the city and chasing around the ghosts of our 11-year-old selves. The whole weekend was spent trying to figure out if we had actually been there ourselves or if it was something that we saw in a film or a picture.

Of course, we were in Denmark first. Loved it. I really only had a day and a half in Aarhus before we went through the smallest airport ever — yes! Smaller than Regina’s! — before Paris. Though I did go to Aarhus’s famous historic village museum, I spent the rest of my time doing what any other girl left to her own devices does: shopped. I liked it.

A taste of Aarhus, Denmark.

Off to Paris!

Seine River with the Eiffel Tower poking out on the left.

Thursday morning we left our charming little hotel, the Le Chaplain Rive Gauche, near the Luxembourg gardens for the nearby boulangerie for breakfast. We head out to explore the city on foot, wandering through the streets of St. Germaine and being lured into Laduree by a window full of macarons. Throughout the day we meandered through churches (St. Sulpice and Notre Dame) and over bridges until we ended up at The Louvre to fight crowds to say hello to a glass encased Mona Lisa with visits to the Venus de Milo, the winged Nike of Samothrace and many other masters along the way.

Croque Monsieur at Notre Dame.

The Louvre’s pyramid

Venus de Milo paparazzi. How many cameras do you see?
This is one of my beefs: people who take pictures of art. It will never do it justice! And your flash is ruining it for future generations! Just buy a print! Rant over.

Paris means a lot of walking, and we certainly got our fill on the first day. We kept dinner close to home, fuelling up at a Creole restuarant next to the hotel for Friday’s journey to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

When we were 11, neither of us went up the Eiffel Tower. Josh’s family is plagued by phobias while my story is we were 11-years-old and was told the only way we were going up was the stairs. Many years later, Josh and I finally went up to the very tippy-top, though I think the journey was far more redemptive for him. We climbed the stairs of the first two platforms and squished into the elevator to get to the top. There, we witnessed two proposals and snapped a lot of foggy pictures while marvelling at the lacework of steel that has become so famous.

Close…

…closer…

…at the top!

Coming down the Eiffel Tower from Sabine Devins on Vimeo.

And coming down…

More sightseeing that day included the Arc de Triomphe and a stroll down Champs Elysees. But it all seems so insignificant compared to our dinner that night.

At Le Timbre. He has no idea of what’s about to hit his taste buds.

Yes. The food. Friday, October 9, 2009, marks one of the greatest meals of my life. I could spend weeks in Paris just eating, but that night, we were lucky enough to stumble upon Le Timbre. Josh started with a liver pate and a confiture of onions followed by pork on a bed of lentils. I enjoyed a very French appetizer called Pounti — a dish that mixes guinea fowl and plums. My main was a roasted duck breast and roasted pears — two of my favourite things ever. It also seemed very appropriate to be enjoying pears for our wedding anniversary after they played such a big part in the wedding. Dessert: I had roasted figs in red wine sauce while Josh enjoyed his first Tarte Tatin.

The most. amazing. dinner. ever.

Flashback: Wedding pears!

The rest of the weekend was a little less intense as our feet threatened to stay behind. We made the mistake of enjoying an early-afternoon champagne from a foodfest that was happening on Montmartre, which put us in a hazy mood for the afternoon. I also got to eat a slated-caramel macaron. I wanted to just nibble at it forever. When we finally snapped out the champagne haze, we were at the Pompidou Centre — all the way across town. Dinner was French and I got to scold a chubby enfant in his own language for calling me une americaine, giving his family reason to boom laugh. Finally, we got to catch up with friends made in Toronto over drinks. Thanks to the Metro, we crisscrossed the city without our feet hating us too much. Also, my new French shoes helped.

We rounded up our touristing with a trip to the Orsay museum filled with French masters after returning to Laduree for a massive brunch. If you go there — you can order the brunch and its seriously more than enough for two. Bonus: They forgot to charge us for our upgraded order of scrambled eggs to asparagus omelet. Yay!

All that was left of our brunch before we remembered to take a picture. Oops!

Josh was more than happy to be returning home. He had spent very little time in his own bed in the previous two weeks. Paris is lovely but its no Berlin.

Again, I let Josh take the photographic reigns on this trip and I’ve made sure he uploaded his favourites. Click VIEW SLIDESHOW to see them all!