You all are too bloody observant. We hide a little blurb about Kevin’s Paris office in our last post, and you figured out our surprise! Even after a year of blogging, it still sometimes surprises me to find people actually reading what we write, but I digress.
500px / Sylvain Peru
As you guessed, our next big trip will be to London and Paris for two weeks in April! We’ll have four days in London and 10 days in Paris. For the full week in Paris, Kevin will work out of the Paris office (one way to maximize our limited vacation time) and then we’ll explore the city at nights and for a few days at the end. While he’s working, I may have to do a bit of work of my own (in a Parisian cafe, can’t complain about that!) but otherwise I’ll be exploring the city on my own. I love wandering the streets of old cities, and there are few better places to get lost than Paris.
It will be Kevin’s first time visiting to both cities, and my second.
Tower Bridge, London – January 2003
My first time to both was over a decade ago, with my friend Rocio. It was my first independent, self-guided trip abroad, so I was pretty green at the whole international travel thing. I had a back-breakingly stuffed backpack, no guide books, and a crappy (film!) camera. So I’m hoping to get some more memorable photos and visit some places that I either unknowingly or knowingly skipped, for example, the Louvre. (My exact quote from the time: “Meh… it’ll be there next time.” And it is.)
Bridge over the Seine. My photos will be better this time, I promise.
In London, we’ll meet up with our friend Dylan who said he’d show us around the food markets, tea houses, and pubs. In France, I’m hoping to meet up with my old friend Pierre, who lives in Reims with his family (but I keep forgetting to contact him) [Pierre: if you are reading this, oops! Email me].
We are planning to go to our first European soccer game as Paris Saint-Germain will be in town when we are there. We tried to catch a game in Spain a few years ago, but we kept missing the teams Kevin wanted to see.
Otherwise, we have no plans at all! Please comment to share any tips you for either London or Paris. I’d especially love recommendations on: accommodations/neighborhoods, food markets, flea markets, beer bars/pubs, and places to eat.
Also, while I’m content to look grubby when trekking around South America (and at home, for that matter!), my trusty carry on only packing list filled with quick-drying synthetics is inadequate for an exclusively urban trip. Please share any women’s tips for packing light on trips to stylish cities.
Au revoir!
Last year I did the London + Paris combo and it was great! Taking the train was really fun & easy to do and I’m glad I went for it. I’ll never forget waking up after an early-morning ride and hearing “Bienvenue a Paris.” You can say that again… <3
Interested in seeing gypsy jazz performances in Paris? That music was born there in the 1930s/40s and is still alive and well! I'd be happy to share more info. 🙂
Fantastic, I can’t wait! And yes, I’d love to learn more about these performances. I’ll email you…
Ten days is a really good amount of time to spend in Paris. I house sat there last year and did a post of some of my best tips at http://ontheluce.com/2012/10/23/paris-on-a-budget/ and have lots of others about some of the more unusual attractions. Have a great trip!
Perfect, thanks Lucy–this is great info! Any tips on what neighborhood we should look to stay in?
I like your red hair, Cas! Soooo cute! 🙂
Also, that picture from the bridge helps explain why you hate the camera flash so much! We’re going to take a full tripod to Europe, no arguments. 😛
You can barely see it! But yes, I miss my red hair, sigh…
Kifer, I heard about your blog from Jenny. Don’t let it die! Always remember: At Siena, EVERINTRANSIT is a verb. And say hello to Squirrel-Baby for me.
AGGGHHHH!!! Lleri, I don’t even believe it! Someone pinch me!
OMG OMG OMG… I’m emailing you!
Kifer, one more thing. When you go back to London and you’re riding the “tube,” get off at the Canada Water stop just to see what the heck is really there. Or, better even, do an EVERINTRANSIT blog post dedicated solely to Canada Water.
I don’t believe you remember that! But yes, excellent idea. An EIT exclusive–What IS Canada Water?
Exploring the streets of Paris by yourself sounds devine, and at night with Kevin – perfect you will have the best of both worlds!
We’re both pretty excited! 🙂
I can’t recommend much about Paris since we only did one full day there but the thing that we saw that I thought was really cool was the Arènes de Lutèce – it’s a hidden amphitheater in the 5th arrondissement with a few public entrances that are like, random doorways on the street that we probably would’ve walked right by if we weren’t specifically looking for them. Here and here are two links to information.
Have a wonderful time! I’d go back to London in a heartbeat. Take a ride on the Eye if you have time, I’m sure you guys would get some awesome pictures from there.
Wow, that amphitheater looks amazing! Amazing a space like that could be buried in the growth of the city! I’ll definitely check it out. And I’ll I hadn’t considered the London Eye because I’m so scared of heights, but I know you’re right. We need to do it for the photo op 🙁
You’ll be fine! I’m terrified of heights as well (have NO idea how I was able to get on the plan to actually go to London in the first place, but I think wine was involved) but the “pods” that you ride in are so big and go slow and smoothly (If I recall, it was like 45 minutes for the whole ride) that it doesn’t feel so terrifying. I had to be practically dragged onto it but ended up enjoying myself and getting a few good snaps in the process.
Duly noted: wine first! 🙂
Well, if you’re a foodie, you need to hit up both Nicolas (wine) and Fauchon (we recommend the light pastry snacks). You’re in France, you need crepes and cidre – you can find both at The Cidrerie du Marais. No trip to Paris is ever complete without Bertillon ice cream on Ile St Louis. One of my favorite restaurants in Paris is Les Bonnes Soeurs (on rue du pas de la mule) off the Place des Vosges – consistently great.
Finally, the restaurant “Breakfast in America” (yes, that’s its name) is a real hoot. It really is worth it one morning to head there for an American breakfast – as interrpreted by the French.
Excellent information, these all sound so great — thanks Lance! I’m guessing the American Breakfast they serve will be still somehow be healthier and smaller than an actual American breakfast?!