Jake in Paris

Since I’m sure nearly everyone has gotten through the 10 episodes of Netflix’s new masterpiece, Emily in Paris, I figured now would be a good time to share my experiences in the baguette capital of the world. I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel to Paris on two separate occasions, and I had two different experiences each time that I went. The prevailing theme of both trips to Paris was that it really does live up to the dream-like expectations that movies and television shows give it. There is an energy and aura about the city that sucks you into its romanticism. It’s inescapable, and you end up really loving every second of it. There’s a reason that there are so many quotes and stories from famous artists such as Hemingway, Wilde, Fitzgerald, and the like, about how Paris provides inspiration like no other place in the world can. One must visit Paris to truly understand the feelings that this city can provoke inside a person.

Naturally, when we first moved to Europe, Paris was at the top of our list in terms of places that we prioritized visiting. Paris ended up being the second overnight trip that we took, an NFL game in London being our first. The centerpiece of our first trip to Paris was to visit Disneyland Paris. We hopped in the car, made the 4.5 drive, and paid the $4,000 (okay, closer to $40) of tolls along the way from Maastricht. We did our honeymoon at Disney World in Orlando 5 months prior, so it was kind of a pinch yourself type of moment to go from Disney World in Orlando that July to Disneyland in Paris in just 5 short months.

The Mickey Santa hat really came in clutch when it was absolutely freezing.

Disneyland Paris was a good time. We spent two full days at the park, and we rode basically every ride that we wanted to ride as many times as we wanted. We went in December when queue lengths were shorter than in the middle of the summer, but, regardless of when you travel there, you should be able to ride every ride that you would like to ride at least twice. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t want to cooperate much. We had spurts of good weather where we got to ride the fun rides, but it was freezing cold and rainy the other parts of the day. That didn’t stop us from walking our happy butts around the entire park and making a fun time out of it.

Our favorite rides featured some of the classics you see in Orlando like the Tower or Terror, Rock n’ Roller Coaster, and Space Mountain. Some of the things that we liked that you won’t find in Orlando were the Toy Story Playland that featured the RC Racer ride and the Ratatouille: The Adventure ride. Disney Paris has touches that fit with the French culture, but that is exactly what Disney wants for each of their parks, to reflect the local culture. That is what makes each Disney park a unique experience. Of course, you can’t go to Disney and not do a character lunch or dinner, so we treated ourselves to a character lunch, which is just a nice added bit of fun to your day. The fireworks show at the end of the night isn’t quite as magical as the one in Disney World Orlando, but it still has the magic that you would expect from a Disney theme parked based in one of the most magical cities in the world.

The most convenient part of Disneyland Paris is the little village of hotels that sits maybe 5 minutes from the park. We stayed at the Hipark-Val d’Europe because it was the cheapest hotel in the area, and it offered a free shuttle to the park. The bed was a sofa bed, so that wasn’t my favorite, but overall it was a good place to crash after walking around the park for nearly 12 hours each day. Besides the free shuttle to the park, there is a RER train station within walking distance that takes you directly to the center of Paris in about 35 minutes—super convenient, super easy, literally idiot proof.

I am a bit ashamed to admit where Katie and I went first when we hopped off the train at Gare de Lyon. It was about 9 in the morning and we were starving. In a moment of weakness, we stepped into the closest Burger King and had a quick breakfast. In the land of freshly baked croissants, pain au chocolat’s, and Nutella filled beignets, we had a croissan’wich and pancakes. You know what’s even worse? We had somehow found a Steak n’ Shake and decided to go there for lunch. Oh man, we sound like monsters, don’t we? In our defense, we had been away from home for about 4 months at that point, and we were just a tad homesick. Mistakes were made, but I am happy to report we remedied these mistakes on our second trip to Paris—more on that later.

Paris food sin #2: Steak n' Shake. I regret nothing.

Our first tourist stop was at the Arc de Triomphe, and it really did not disappoint. It was only 10 in the morning on a Saturday at this point, so Paris was very much still asleep. We used that to our advantage and had the entire area around the Arc de Triomphe to ourselves. It was at this point that I started to get a feel for that Paris magic that everyone talks about. Standing in front of the Arc de Triomphe and looking down an empty Champs-Élysées was a pretty awesome experience. Tourist stop number two was the world-famous Louvre Museum. I want to preface my experience at the Louvre by saying that while I appreciate the beauty and skill of high-end art, it just isn’t my scene. This is coming from the person who managed to get a B- in art in high school. That being said, the Louvre was spectacular and overwhelming all at the same time. There is simply no way that you can see the entire museum and fully appreciate everything in a day. We did our best to see the highlights, which of course included seeing the Mona Lisa. When I say, “seeing the Mona Lisa,” I really mean fighting our way through a mob of people to get a quick look at it, and then fighting our way back out. I had no idea that the area in front of the Mona Lisa is basically a mob. We didn’t have that experience with any other pieces of art though, which was awesome. We got to see Liberty Leading the People, The Raft of Medusa, The Wedding at Cana, Hammurabi’s Code, and quite a few famous statues. Like I said, I’m not an art guy, but overall it was a pretty surreal experience to see so many famous pieces of artwork in one place. You could most definitely spend an entire weekend just getting lost in the Louvre.

Notre Dame Cathedral on the Seine. This was December 2017, so before the catastrophic fire.

After lunch we decided to go to the Luxembourg Gardens, have a nice sit, and people watch. We had just done two open to close days in a row at Disneyland, and we had spent the morning trudging around Paris and the Louvre. We were pretty tired and cold, so it felt nice to sit and watch the people go by. If you like to people watch and have a sit, you can’t really find a better place than Luxembourg Gardens. At this point we hadn’t even caught a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower yet, so the anticipation as we rode the metro was palpable. I can tell you right now, the Eiffel Tour doesn’t disappoint. It’s one of those things you can just stare at and think wow, I’m in Paris looking at the Eiffel Tower. It’s a cool moment. We did the tourist thing and got tickets to go to the top of the Eiffel, and while I want to say absolutely don’t do that, it is almost one of those things that you need to do. It’s not nearly as cool of a view up there as you would think, but it is cool to say you’ve been at the top of the Eiffel Tower. The real view is the Eiffel Tower though. I will forever say that everybody needs to see the Eiffel Tower at night. Once it’s dark outside, the Eiffel begins to sparkle at the top of each hour. We had no idea that was a thing until we were looking at it, and boom it started to sparkle. Talk about Paris magic.

That concluded the first trip to Paris. Not a bad way to go out. The second time we went to Paris was this past August, and we did things a little differently. We decided to stay in the city and explore any areas that we missed our first time around. The only exception was taking the train out to Giverny to see Monet’s Garden. This go-round we decided to forgo paying an arm and a leg for tolls and take the Thalys train from Brussels directly to Paris. After about an hour and a half on the train, we were arriving at Gare du Nord ready to be swayed by Paris’ magic once again. We stayed at the Best Western Premier Opéra Opel, which was fantastic. About a 5 to 10-minute walk takes you from the hotel to the 1st arrondissement, which is more or less the center of Paris.

This trip offered the other temperature extreme, and, instead of being freezing cold, we were swelteringly hot. Being a tourist isn’t the most fun when it’s pushing 100F and non-stop sunny all day. Poor me, right? It was hot and sunny in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Some would definitely say that is the definition of a first-world problem. Thankfully our hotel had freezing cold air conditioning, so we didn’t suffer too horribly. Beyond sweating our butts off, I chose quite possibly the worst time in the world to break in a new pair of sneakers. I had just gotten a new pair of Veja shoes, and, being the cultured person I am, I wanted to break in my new pair of French sneakers in the place they were created. Mistake number one! I ended up with blisters on both of my feet, but I was a trooper and did all of the walking. Almost 15,000 steps a day!

The world-famous Louvre Museum. August 2020.

Due to the heat we decided to make things a little more lowkey this time around. We did a lot more sitting in gardens, and we took the metro basically everywhere. Our first day there, we sat in the Jardin des Tuileries followed by the Jardin du Palais Royal. Like I said before, one of the best places in the world to people watch is in the gardens of Paris. Remember how I said we redeemed ourselves from our last trip? Our first stop on our redemption tour was a little hole in the wall pizza place called Nick’s Pizza. Great pizza and absurdly cheap. After we finished our slices of pizza, we decided it was finally time to treat ourselves to a famous Parisian crepe. Our first crepe was at La Crêpe Dentelle, where we each got a crepe stuffed with so much chocolate and topped with so much whipped cream. It would really be hard to screw up a carb filled with chocolate and topped with whipped cream, but these crepes were exceptionally delicious. After we indulged in such a delicious dinner, we decided to take the metro to the Arc de Triomphe and catch the sunset on the Champs-Élysées. We weren’t alone like we were the first time we visited the monument, but watching the sun set into the twilight was a remarkably beautiful experience—more of that Paris magic in action. Once the sun was setting, we strolled down the Champs-Élysées and marveled at all of the goods that were absolutely out of our price range. Just a beautiful night in the beautiful city.

In case you were wondering, crepes do live up to the hype.

The Arc de Triomphe at dusk is *chef's kiss* perfect.

The next day we headed to Monet’s garden via the train system, which takes you directly to the Giverny where you can catch a bus to take you to the gardens. Overall it was a very cheap and efficient way to get out of the city and to a truly beautiful place. Due to COVID, we lost a little bit of our freedom to wander around the gardens and really soak in its beauty. They directed the traffic in one direction, so it was hard to take your time and wander around as you pleased. Of course, that was a small price to pay in order to be able to see the gardens at all. The garden itself really is a beautiful place. Think of the most beautiful gardens you can imagine, and Monet’s garden will likely match the beauty you pictured in your head. As far as “Instagramable” places to go in the world, Monet’s gardens are near the top of the list. The gardens were a really nice way to get out of the city and spend some time in a quiet and relaxing atmosphere with delicious aromas.

There are so many garden photos to choose from, but these are two of my favorites.

We continued our sightseeing in a more chill manner the following day. After being inspired by being in his gardens the day before, we decided to go to the Musée de l'Orangerie where Monet’s Water Lilies series is housed. This was a very cultured trip if you haven’t noticed. After we stared and appreciated the Water Lilies for the adequate amount of time, we took a nice long walk along the River Seine. Out of curiosity, we wanted to see how far along repairs to the Notre Dame Cathedral had come, so we did a quick walk by and checked that out. It was hard to tell how much progress they had made, but it appears they are still pretty early in the process. They had some signs outside that detailed the plans for the cathedral, and it was interesting to see the measures they are taking to get things repaired for the future. After doing so much walking, we decided it was time for a second round of crepes. This time we stopped in at Happy Caffé and were treated to two delicious crepes. We went for both savory and sweet crepes this time, and we were delighted to discover that these crepes were even better than the ones we had the previous night. The food redemption tour continued!

Crepes round 2 at Happy Caffé.

Even if you have been to Paris a thousand times, your trip isn’t complete without passing by and admiring the Eiffel Tower for at least a few minutes. Instead of doing the first main tourist thing, going up to the top of the Eiffel, we did the second main tourist thing, we bought a baguette, two bottles of wine, and sat in the Champ de Mars until well after sunset. I cannot say this enough, everyone needs to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle in the dark. I can’t really put the correct words to describe the beauty and magic of it. To get the most beautiful perspective, cross the Seine, and head up to the Palais de Chaillot. This is the most beautiful panoramic view of the Eiffel and the bustling streets around it. We stood here for a good 15-20 minutes in silence together. That moment felt like it brought our time here in Europe full circle. Paris and seeing the Eiffel Tower was one of our first trips when we got here and seeing it for a second time turned out to be our second to last trip here. Paris magic at work once again.

The Eiffel at night is literal magic.

Our last day in Paris was spent wandering around the Montmartre region of Paris. This area is the new “Instagramable” area of Paris, with La Maison Rose and Rue de l'Abreuvoir even being featured in an episode of Emily in Paris. This is also the region that features the Moulin Rouge and the Sacré-Cœur Basilica. It really was a wonderful area of the city to wander around in for a few hours. Eventually we headed back to Gare du Nord to catch our train back to Brussels. It was there we committed our final Paris food sin. We indulged in some Five Guys, and I have no regrets.

Maison Rose on Rue de l'Abreuvoir. As featured on Emily in Paris.

Nearly 3,000 words still isn’t enough to describe the beauty and magic that Paris has to offer. Of all the places in the world, Paris is one of those places that you just need to go to in order to understand what everyone is talking about. There is just an air of luxury, excellence, and tranquility that is hard to describe. I cannot advocate enough for going to Paris and spending at least a week to immerse yourself in the culture and do as the Parisians do. Take the train out to Disney and Monet’s gardens, eat crepes, eat baguettes, drink wine, and just sit back and enjoy life. Parisians are experts in enjoying life, so do as they do. Van Gogh said it best, “There is but one Paris and however hard living may be here, and if it became worse and harder even—the French air clears up the brain and does good—a world of good.” Sit at a café, sip some wine, and let the French air do a world of good and clear your brain.