Paris - Day 1

I must apologize for the long delay since my last post.  Paris has been non-stop since arriving and finding time to blog or even journal has been difficult.  Most days start at 8 AM and go until after mid-night.  The city of lights didn't disappoint - a fantastic experience with wonderful memories.  Of course there wasn't enough time to see and do everything we wanted, but there's plenty left to see on return visits.  I'll be posting each day with pictures over the next 2-3 days...I'll have time to write during the train trip to Bordeaux today.  

Below starts with the flight from Rio to Paris and my arrival on Wed, Aug 20:

After falling asleep very quickly around 9 PM on the flight, I purposely slept through breakfast on the plane - I wanted to sleep more!  

I had been taking home-pathetic anti-jet lag pills for the entire flight.  I had found them at AAA before leaving the USA and clerk said she had heard of great results.  I must say, I fully concur - I felt alive and rested the entire day...finally sleeping hard at 10 PM...and sleeping all night.

We landed in Paris a few minutes early and deplaning was from the very front door.  I noticed some of the locals, virtually sprinting, so I thought - I need to follow their lead.  At the top of the VERY long jet bridge, agents were checking passports.  We were not given immigration cards on the plane, so I thought - this must be it.  We walked and walked and walked more, following the signs for baggage claim.

Those signs led to a train.  Ugh.  After a train ride, more walking and racing.  This time to immigration.  Luckily there was a Sky Priority line...or so I thought.  There were only 2 agents working the Sky Priority line, but about 16 working the regular line.  It was so bad, that I was ultimately pulled to go thru the regular line.  

Immigration was a non event.  I handed over my passport, the agent was on his cell phone the entire time.  He looked at my boarding pass, glanced at my passport and waved me on - no stamp, no questions, nothing.  I was a little disappointed that I won't have a France stamp in my passport.

On to baggage claim.  My bag was just coming out as I walked up.

I had debated about subway vs. taxi to the hotel.  After some research, I decided on a taxi - there were going to be transfers with the train, and I wasn't sure exactly where I was going.

I grabbed cash from an ATM and then headed towards customs.  I was in a group of about 20 folks going thru and I got pulled for my bags to be searched.  Lots of questions.  1 agent grew to 2 and then up to 3 agents.  All asking questions and all three going through my two bags.  I had to show my full itinerary, not just my boarding pass.  They seemed so disappointed that they didn't find anything.  I had nothing to claim - my only purchases in South America were postcards and two key chains that will be Christmas ornaments in the near future.

They tried to cram everything back in - I kept saying that it will not close.  Ultimately I had to completely repack both bags in the perfect order to get them to close.  As I walked away I let them know exactly what I thought of my warm welcome to Paris. :-)

I quickly found a taxi and was off to the hotel to meet Bridget.  Was shocked that at 10 AM on a Wed morning, there was virtually no traffic in central Paris.  

The hotel is the Marriott Champs E'Lysees.  The entrance is the middle of the retail section of the Champs E'Lysees  I cashed in many, many Marriott points for this stay since Paris is ridiculously expensive.

As I took the elevator up to the lobby level, I looked to my left and saw Bridget!  I hurried over for a wonderful hug from a familiar face.  We were both gushing at the excitement of being in Paris together.

We headed to the check-in desk.  After a much longer wait than expected, we were told that the room wasn't ready.  We were talking about not having eaten breakfast, so the clerk gave us coupons to eat in the hotel restaurant.  We enjoyed a hearty breakfast/brunch and more catching up on our respective travels.

We tried the room again after breakfast, but still no luck.  We checked our bags and headed out with cameras in hand.  First stop the Arc de Triomphe.

Bridget has a few minor tears in her left Achilles, so unfortunately was put into a walking boot about a week before the trip.  Walking was a little slower going, but we made it to the Arc.  It was incredibly impressive.  So much larger and grander than either of us had expected.  We also noticed a huge line to buy tickets for the top.  In our first attempt to make Bridget's walking boot a positive, we headed for a guard, pointing out her boot and asking about an elevator.  Before we knew it, we had free tickets without having to stand in line and ushered to the elevator (vast majority of visitors to the top have to climb about 200+ steps). 

The views from the top of the Arc was magnificent.  The sky was clear and the weather wonderful - we could see for miles.  So many avenues spiral out from the Arc, that we could fully understand the lay-out of the city.

This would be the perfect first stop for anyone visiting Paris.  You see all the major sites and get a perspective for the city and the proximity for each attraction.

After we took 360 degree pictures, we headed back down in elevator luxury.

From the Arc, we headed back down the Champs E'Lysees to the Metro.  We took the Metro to the Jardin des Tuileries  The Jardin entrance at the exit of the Metro is in the middle of a small amusement park.  We both found the juxtaposition of a Farris Wheel and swings against a backdrop of the Louvre to be amazing.

After strolling through the Jardin des Tuileries, and many, many pictures, we made our way to the Louvre.  The museum is on our agenda for Thursday, but we wanted to check out lines, potential line skipping with "the boot" and a secret entrance that Bridget had read about on-line.

The lines were incredible.  At least an hour-plus wait just to get to buy a ticket.  We found the secret entrance and a relatively helpful guard.  Bridget again pointed to "the boot" and the guard quickly explained that we could skip the ticket lines - go to a guard at the main entrance and we would be let right in.

We felt like we were set for our Louvre experience on Thursday!

After more strolling through the Jardin des Tuileries, we stumbled up on pedi-cabs and decided to take one back to the hotel.  It was a wonderful ride and actually saw a police take-down of 4 pick-pocketers as we rode along.

Back at the hotel at 4:00, we got our room, the cheese plate welcome gift and I finally got a shower.  I felt fully revived.

We had read about a restaurant about 3 blocks from the hotel that is renowned for Steak Frites - in fact, it is the ONLY entree on the menu.  We decided on an early dinner and walked to the restaurant around 6 PM, only to find it closed.  We were informed that they open at 7 PM.

We continued walking and stumbled upon the tunnel where Princess Diana died in 1997.  A piece of art - a flame - that was installed near the tunnel many years earlier has turned into a de-facto memorial to Diana.

From here we stopped at a small cafe for a quick drink, then onwards to Le Relais de l'Entrecote for steak frites.

Unfortunately, we arrived at 7:25 and a line was already formed outside.  Restaurant was full and we were about the 9th group in line.  Surprisingly the wait was only about 20 min.  And we are so glad that we waited.  The meal was superb.  I LOVE steak frites and this was perhaps the best that I've ever had.  The meal quickly moved to the top of the list for best meals on the trip.

The restaurant only has one entree - Steak Frites.  The only question asked when you sit down - how do you want your steak cooked?  We also shared a half bottle of 2009 Medoc - it was incredible.

First a small salad, then the main course - a full platter of pre-sliced tenderloin smothered in an incredible butter sauce along with a side of frites.  We were nearing the end of our serving and out comes another round - more steak, more frites.  Sadly, there was not thirds.

We then split a creme brûlée...we took full advantage of our outside wait.  The table next to us turned over twice while we were sitting there.

Home of the best steak frites ever (and don't tell anyone so that the line doesn't get any longer!):

We had a nice stroll back to the hotel and I was asleep within a few minutes of our return...exhausted after a long first day in Paris.  But the anti-jet lag pills had done their job.  I'm a big fan and highly recommend them.

For the home chefs reading the blog, below is the best "reproduction" of the butter sauce that I could find on the web:

The Relais Sauce

1 tbsp olive oil

2 large shallots, sliced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cups chicken stock

1 tsp pepper

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 bunch tarragon, leaves removed and chopped

1/4 cup white wine

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp anchovy paste

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon salt

Heat  olive oil in a small pot over medium heat. Sauté the garlic and shallots until soft. Add the stock and simmer for a few minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, except the butter and transfer to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth, return to the pot on low heat and reduce for several minutes if the sauce is too thin. Stir in butter to finish.

Makes enough sauce for six to eight servings of steak.