Lady Frye's Chronicles of Paris: I
Dear Reader,
What you are about to read is an account of my husband and I's recent expedition to Paris, France. As a foreword, I would like to say that this is purely our experience, and yours may be or may have been very different from ours. It's honest, raw, and sincere just as Mr. Hemingway would have appreciated. I can't promise that this post will invoke a sense of wanderlust in you, or implore a newfound love for Paris. Everyone's Paris is different, and what you are about to read is ours. It is just a place after all.
I had difficulty deciding how to organize this narration of our journey accompanied by photographs. Why make something complicated when it isn't? I decided to treat this just like any other post and keep it in chronological order, told just as we experienced it...hence the Chronicles of Paris.
As you can see, I've coined myself a pen-name, as this will be my first post writing as a happily-married writer. I've decided it's a interesting way to organize myself as a author; sort of like a B.C and A.D kind of system. I quite like it.
Back to the organization of this account, this will be the first of three of the Chronicles. What's more simple than the beginning, middle, and end? The first, which you are reading, will illustrate our departure from America and then first day in Europe, which happens to be New Years Eve.
I hope you find them entertaining and maybe, informative.
À votre santé!
Lady Frye
Passport holders courtesy of The Binette Family...thanks guys!
12/29/18
We began our journey at Boston's Logan Airport awaiting our flight to Zurich, Switzerland. We booked an overnight flight that would bring us into Zurich around 11:00am, then into Paris around 2:00pm. We were anxious to begin a trip that we have been dreaming of for so long. We'd never gotten to travel together, so Paris had been an idea that had helped us through the time apart. When we thought about where we wanted to honeymoon, we couldn't help but think of the romanticism depicted in literature and film of Paris, France.
Casablanca, Hemingway, the Fitzgeralds, da Vinci, Ratatouille, La La Land.
We were sold on Paris, and so we booked the flight and now we're here!
As we're here waiting, the woman sitting next to us complimented our luggage tag which started the conversation of our recent wedding and our approaching honeymoon. She herself was heading on a romantic venture to Naples, Italy to be with her true love. They met at a summer party there, and ever since, she has been flying out two months at a time to be with her Antonio. She said that her previous marriage wasn't good, and she never expected to find love at her age. Her story made us smile. Really, how is true love so different? For anyone whose found it, it sounds like this beautiful Italian woman's story. It sounds like our own story. True love finds us when we are not searching. And when it does, we'd travel oceans and over mountains to be with our soulmate. I wish her great happiness.
We finally made it on the plane and there were 5 infants screaming. And they continued wailing for the remainder of the 7 hour flight. Impressive pipes those infants had. We enjoyed a traditional Swiss meal on the flight with wine.
12/30/18
In the morning, we had our first taste of a European breakfast of bread, bread, and bread. Oh and a slice of cheese. We landed in Zurich and were held up at customs behind a gentleman without a boarding pass. We then sprinted across the airport to board our plane en route to Charles de Gaulle airport. In the traditional hurry-up-and-wait fashion, the left engine of the plane wouldn't start, and the flight was delayed 45 minutes. We got our first taste of (what we coined the term) "appeasing chocolates", to keep everyone happy while waiting. The left engine started to roar, and we were up and away.
See the Alps in this photograph? They were an extraordinary sight from the air.
We landed at CDG sometime after 2:00 and we prepared ourselves for our journey though the Metro. Note: I had done much research on the Metro prior to our trip, so I knew exactly where we were going. We also wouldn't have made it five feet without the "Paris Metro" app, which I highly recommend. After boarding our first train, we saved a French family from the relentless Metro door, when a mother and her children and their 8 pieces of luggage didn't make it though the door in the allotted time. Levi and the father pulled open the unbelievably strong doors while I helped pull the children though the gap. It was something straight out of World News. The mother continuously thanked us for the duration of the ride. Our pleasure Madame.
I wasn't prepared for the amount of graffiti and smoke in Paris. While riding into the city, I started to feel like we were strangely in the wrong place. It looked dirty and smelled like cigarette smoke and urine. I began feeling not so confident about everything I had planned for us, I mean, if this looked so different than what I thought, everything else probably would. I've never had this experience before in a new place.
After our overly eventful Metro experience, we arrived in the 15th arrondissement where our hotel awaited us. The stay resembled something similar to a single room hostel, and we kept mistakenly calling it such. There was a bed, closet, and bathroom. Only the absolutely necessary, no extra amenities. Not what we expected (or was advertised), but we were apparently going to get the authentic Parisian experience.
We freshened up and went to our first restaurant (one of the only open on Sunday), and had burgers. We also tried our first Parisian crème brûlée. It was très bon.
crème brûlée from BCBG Gourmet
We couldn't help but notice the time at which the locals were eating, especially families with several children on a school night. Downtown streets bustling and diners sitting outdoors at cafes smoking like chimneys. Speaking of outdoors, the weather here was an unseasonably mild 50 degrees F, and not at all what we packed for.
12/31/2018
The preparations for the Feast of Saint Sylvester have begun here in the city. The first item on our agenda was to donate my hair. I had made an appointment at Franck Provost Paris prior to our trip to cut my hair that's been waiting for 4 years! At my appointment, I learned a lot from my stylist. He said that a lot of French women will go to the salon just to have their hair brushed! How luxurious. He also mentioned that the French like to discuss which royal duchess they like best, like a "Team Kate" and "Team Meghan" sort of thing. He said that he likes Kate's grace, but loves Meghan's "rebelliousness". Leave it to the French.
Lob haircut from Franck Provost Paris
Nonetheless, we decided that today would be the best day to finally see the Eiffel Tower. We had pretty special plans for the evening, so it fit in with the occasion! Even with our hotel being within 15 minutes walking distance of the Tour, we still hadn't seen it. It took 10 of those minutes to finally just see the Grande Dame in all of her glory.
The Eiffel Tower from Trocadero Place
Nothing prepares you for the first time you see the Eiffel Tower in person. I recommend seeing her first before venturing off to other sites. It takes your breath away when you round the corner and there's the giant monument standing in front of you. The best place to get photographs with the Tour is Place du Trocadero. Completely unobstructed view and neat stairs to stand on. It gets busier as the day goes on, so I recommend an early start, especially if you're utilizing a tripod like I did.
We established our New Years Eve plans prior to our arrival, and had made reservations at a restaurant called Aux Anysetiers du Roy. When we arrived, there were a few other diners, but the most eye-catching items in the restaurant were the decor. It had a medieval flair in the very tiny space, as well as harpsichord music, and a wandering cat. He definitely lived there, and no one questioned his presence.
soupe aux oignons from Aux Anysetiers du Roy
I had the very tasty soupe aux oignons with the traditional side of crusty bread and grated cheese. We both had the sirloin steak which was equally as good, but was I was so anxious that I didn't even snap a photo. To finish, the gâteau au chocolat was accompanied by a vanilla reduction and red currant.
gâteau au chocolat at Aux Anysetiers du Roy
Our absolute favorite part of the trip came next. In searching for NYE plans, I was having difficulty finding something for us "old souls" who easily could have lived in the 1920s. After about a month of searching I finally stumbled across something that would make our trip. Many of you know my love of the movie La La Land. If you've seen it, you remember the epilogue scene in Paris with a jazz club called Caveau de la Huchette. It exists and is open nightly for the best jazz in the city!
Well, others certainly were aware of this too, and we stood in line to get in for over an hour. The line behind us wrapped around the block. And guess what? It was worth it.
The caveau, or cave, has extraordinary acoustic qualities. The place is also a labyrinth and is quite easy to get lost in. There was absolutely no room to move, but we somehow still got some good dancing in! It was incredible.
Sometime after midnight we made it back to the hotel starting to feel the jetlag. We woke up after 11am on New Years Day.
Please stay tuned for the II and III of this series.
-Lady Frye
be or may have been very different than ours.