A French Adventure, Part I: Paris

I didn’t expect to love France. But I did. And the reason it was surprises me most: the people.

The French have a certain sophisticated, yet warm debonair. Many people, including French people themselves, have told me that, on the contrary, French people are snobby and have their noses in the air. If this is the truth, I had a hard time finding any French people to provide me the proof.

Anytime I asked passersby for help they were eager and excited to advise me. A few times I, myself even got stopped by French people who thought I was one of them and asked me for directions to somewhere. Since I don’t actually know the correct way in French to say, “I don’t speak French,” I would just say the latter. 

I love the way the French are not afraid to maintain eye contact. In the U.S., especially in big cities (cough*cough New York), people couldn’t be more distant and cold. If you smile at someone in a public place you are taken as a crazy person. 

My week-long trip began with two nights in Paris.

The flowers were beginning to bloom!

Let’s preface by saying this: my father is one of the most amazing people I know. Because of him my world keeps getting smaller and smaller. My dad has discovered that we have blood relatives in countries I once never knew existed. To name a few though I’m sure there are more: England, Greece, Italy, Turkey, France, Israel, South Africa, Belgium. It is an adventure in itself just to meet these people, let alone to visit them in a foreign place. 

Some of these such long-lost cousins hosted me for two nights at their beautiful home in Paris. They fed me, entertained me and cared for me as if I was one of their own. Even though we share a last name, I couldn’t begin to tell you how we are related and despite this they still consider me family and I them. How amazing to have such a big family! 

Left to Right: Jeremy, me and Noemi (Hopefully I am spelling their names correctly!)

Me and Philippe (I failed to get a picture with his wife Vanessa.. oops!)

My hosts Philippe and Vanessa illustrated visual guides for me of Paris and its special sites and advised me of what to see. Prior to arriving to Paris, my top two priorities were to visit Versailles, and to stand underneath the Eiffel Tower. And guess what: done and done.

I had only one full day to spend in Paris and since Versailles is more than a stone’s throw outside of the city I decided it best to pay a visit to the late Marie A.’s home first. 

Compare this photo with the picture above it. The previous photo was taken at 9:00 a.m. and this one was taken sometime around 2:00 p.m. - it's a good thing I went early and didn't waste any time!

WOW!

Versailles is incredible. What I didn’t realize is that Versailles has two (at least) additional chateaus on the property in addition to the main estate. I visited all three and rode around the gardens on the Versailles mini-train! Honestly though the gardens were nothing to write home about...

One of the chateaus.

There I met travelers from all over the world: The Philippines, Germany, England, Colombia, Argentina, France (of course…). I will let my pictures speak for themselves in regards to the splendor that is Versailles.

When I returned from Versailles I was pretty much pooped. But after a quick matzah break (after all it was still Passover...) I decided to pick myself up and take a stroll to the Eiffel Tower. I thought I would become filled with some kind of jubilant Eiffel Tower feeling, but instead I just felt like a foolish tourist. Despite this, I would have regretted it if I didn’t visit the Eiffel Tower.

Eiffel Selfie!

Here's the proof that I stood underneath it :)

My second day in Paris was limited - instead of a full day of touring I had until just 2:30 p.m. (14:30) at which point I needed to halt the wandering and catch a train to the west side of France. I decided that in order to make the best use of my time I should walk to the more historic area of Paris to visit Notre Dame, walk around and then eat lunch.

First things first. I got lost. When I say lost I mean I took one wrong turn (walking) at the Eiffel Tower and ended up an hour or so from my intended destination. It wasn’t until after an hour and a half of walking that I decided to ask a passerby how much more time I should expect to walk until arriving at Notre Dame. And to my own amazement, I was walking in the direction of Versailles!

On my long walk to nowhere I discovered there is a mini Statue of Liberty in Paris!

...and wheels bearing the names of the U.S. states Tennessee and Mississippi...

Eventually I caught the train back to Paris and found my way to Notre Dame. By the time I arrived the line to enter Notre Dame was 200-people long. I decided a better use of my time would be to head straight to the restaurant where I planned to eat lunch so I could have a nice sweet conclusion to my time in Paris.

But not before snapping a quick photo of the cathedral!

Le Potager du Marais is a quaint little vegan restaurant that is located by foot about 15-20 minutes north of Notre Dame. The cuisine is French but is 100% vegan. I of course stopped in to support the joint by ordering a three-course meal.

French Onion Soup with 'cheese' and croutons.

Eggplant Surprise - stuffed with 'cheese' and sun-dried tomatoes

Red Berry Crisp

All of the food was delicious. When it was time to pay I was so happy with everything that I left a 15% tip - in Europe I was told that people usually tip 10%. The server was so happy when I handed him the money for his tip that I thought he was a genuinely nice person. Only later did I find out that people usually do not tip in France at all!!! 

After lunch I took the metro back to my cousins’ to gather my things, say farewell and be gone. The next part of my French adventure will be continued…

This might be my favorite picture that I took. It characterizes Paris so well with the juxtaposition of the big city graffiti against the charm of the highly romanticized Eiffel Tower.