We spent April 18th – 29th in Paris

What we did

• Champs Elysees and Eiffel tower – a Paris classic, and basically the first thing we did. This whole area was more touristy and crowded than we remember, and unfortunately there was quite a bit of construction going on. Tony found it surprising that it was brown, he thought that it would be silver or more metallic (like all the small versions that were being sold by the street vendors). We did some people watching and napping on a bench, and then bypassed all the fancy stores to get a 3 euro volume of Naruto 
• Louvre – We really aren’t art people and it showed here. The place was massive and navigating with the 3DS audio guides proved to be a bit tricky. After doing a few rooms slowly, we switched strategies and bee-lined it to the famous pieces. We then spent a lot of time trying to find the mummy (I wished it were creepier) during which Tony left his phone at a bench. Luckily a kind soul tracked us down to return it, which was probably only possible because his lock screen is a photo of us. This was the first stressful point of the trip as we had already mentally prepared for having to replace a phone. 
• Palace of Versailles – It feels like a palace this ornate could only be made by royalty – no modern person has the patience to commission something so expensive that will take decades to finish. We had to take a mirror selfie in the hall of mirrors. The gardens were definitely the highlight of the day. We enjoyed lunch at an outdoor cafe and strolled through infinite rows of manicured bushes. 
• Sacre Coeur – Came here early to meet up with friends. The church was beautiful but it was even more exciting because it was the location of the climax of John Wick: Chapter 4. We walked down the stairs he fell down. I’m pretty sure there’s no way he wouldn’t die from that fall. They did make the stairs in the movies look far steeper than how they are in real life.
• Walking through various gardens and neighborhoods – just picking and strolling through an area was our favorite things to do in Paris. Jardin de Luxembourg was the big one we liked, but we had the best time at the small one near our airbnb. We spent an hour here soaking in the sunlight and watching all the families playing with their kids. Maybe it’s true that Parisians are the best at just enjoying life
• Saw some protest aftermath – most of the protests over the delayed retirement age were over by the time we arrived, but on our second day, protestors smashed all the glass bus station shelters and burned the trash cans on the street outside our Airbnb. We didn’t see it happen, but we passed by soon after (maybe 10 minutes after they had dispersed). The locals just calmly sidestepped the glass and trash and continued on their way.
• Paris pre-wedding photos – Airbnb had so many photoshoot experiences so we had to try one. We arrived 15 minutes late because we’d again forgotten to account for how delayed the subway always seemed to be. This time the line that we were going to take ended up being closed, and so we had to take a really inefficient detour in order to get there. Luckily the photographer was super efficient, and we got some great shots (one of which he edited a dog poop out of)
• Running – after the marathon, it took Tony a few days to even walk at a normal speed, but we managed to do a short run together on the Seine, just far enough to see the eiffel tower poking out from the buildings and trees before turning back
• Haircut – Tony was in need of a haircut before the wedding. We tried looking for a place that does asian hair, and the two top recommendations were booked out for at least a month. We ended up finding a small salon in the 10th that had an open slot that week; the haircut was great – probably one of the best haircuts that Tony has ever gotten. 

Where we stayed

We stayed in an Airbnb in the 5th arrondissement on the 2nd floor of a standard French looking building. The location was great – next to two subway lines and right next to a bakery with 1 euro baguettes. Every place we stay at teaches us a little more about what we like:

• It was a small place, which didn’t bother us
• The toilet was separate from the sink/shower, which did bother us
• The kitchen was the smallest space but also where we spent the most time, likely because it had by far the best lighting. We never used the dining table and ate every meal on the little bar
• We tried moving the dining table to have more space on the ground to work out in, with mixed results. Towels cannot replace yoga mats.
• The pillows were probably the thinnest we’ve ever slept on, and Margaret REALLY didn’t like that. About 5 days in, she had built up enough tension in her neck and shoulder area that she couldn’t turn her neck at all. Anything that wasn’t laying down hurt. Tony had to help her sit up, and she slept on the couch half propped up. By the time we were T-4 days to our wedding, Margaret finally decided to watch a youtube video on how to massage her shoulders with a tennis ball. Lo and behold, the majority of the pain was gone an hour later. 

What we ate

Although Paris is known for its cuisine, we didn’t really eat out much at all – we still cooked all of our breakfasts and this time we even cooked all of our dinners. We went to Carrefour nearly every day. Some things of note:

• “Local” french goodies
  • Quite a few bottles of wine were drunk in the apartment with dinner. Wine was cheap and our palettes was and still is cheap, so everything was tasty.
  • 1 euro baguettes from the downstairs bakery, paired with heirloom tomatoes or various cheese
  • All the cured meat (prosciutto for Margaret, Mortadella for Tony) 
  • Sweet cookie things – Tony tried 5 different types and liked one with pistachio filling the best
• So many sandwiches – people here seem to be obsessed with sandwiches because they are everywhere. We liked salami and pickle filling the best
• Had the best Sicillian pizza ever at Casa di Peppe 
• Found out that Parisian salads are basically bowls of meat and cheese with some lettuce. Would not recommend
• Home-cooked Asian meals – we were hardcore craving Asian food and ended up making our own Japanese curry and Pad gra prow (thai ground beef)

Thoughts

For our non-foodie, non-artsy selves, Paris unfortunately doesn’t live up to the hype. It was also the first place where we could feel the negative effects of not speaking the local language, and some locals were snooty about it. Tony did learn how to order a baguette with only 4 french words (bonjour, un baguette, merci). On the positive side, Paris was generally very beautiful and walkable. We’d maybe come here again if we make a lot of money and want to go on a shopping spree.