Day 1: A Sleepy Start

Bonjour! After an overnight flight during which I did manage to sleep about 5 hours, I arrived at CDG. This was the smallest plane I have ever flown transatlantic in, and we deplaned via stairs and a bus took us to the terminal, which I do remember doing there before. I was able to locate the tourism office fairly quickly, bought a 6 day Paris Museum Pass, my ticket on the RER into Paris and un carnet of Metro tickets. If you buy a carnet (a book of 10) you get a discount over single fares. However, I think I'll buy a Passé Navigo on Monday, which is the new electronic metro card. They require a passport sized photo, and you have to buy them on a Monday, because the week version expires on a Sunday no matter what day you purchase it on.

After successfully getting myself on the RER, which went much more smoothly than my previous trip with Brandi, from an earlier post (no pickpockets this time!), I navigated myself to the hotel which is located in Place Pigalle, in Montmartre. An old man who spoke very little English gave me a key to a room numbered 19, even though the doors were al, marked 100-110. Hmmmm. After finally finding the door, I had to slam my shoulder on it to get it opened. Here's the view that followed...



Ok, big bed, but I don't need that. Not quite like the pictures..


Oh dear, where's the potty?


Nice window and view, though! I went back downstairs to get the wifi password, and the owner was there this time. He asked me if I was Mademoiselle Stauver, and that he was soooo sorry but I had to be given the wrong room just for one night. Since I am staying for over a week, I assume there was a scheduling conflict. He said the room wasn't renovated, an the bathroom was downstairs and a bit of a walk down a hallway. He apologized so much and said I would of course be discounted in the rate. I didn't really care, so it worked out!

Once I got back in the room, I promptly passed out for 3 hours, and I'm pretty sure I scared the maid. (The room lacked a do not disturb sign!) once I arose from my coma I took an early evening walk through my new neighborhood, including a visit to Sacre Coeur.








You can either take the funicular, which costs a metro ticket, or the stairs. The last time I took these stairs I ran up them, trying to impress the group of kids I was with (I think it was a middle school trip?) and I promptly fainted when I got to the top. This time I took my time, and am happy to let you know I survived.


This is the garden/lawn in front, which was closed by the time I got there.


Me at the top with the crowds of people!


This man was singing Beatles and Backstreet Boys songs....with a French accent!!


Lots of people enjoying the view.


I visited the inside, where nuns were singing Vespers, and it was so cool to be there to hear that. No pictures are allowed inside, but imagine above the altar a massive domed mosaic, with Christ dominating the center, his sacred heart made of gold, shining on his chest, and Joan of Arc and other figures kneel before him and offer their gifts.

Next up was a walk around Montmartre, which was nice to do at night but not so nice for the pictures. I stopped by the Church of St. Pierre-de-Montmartre, which has in it four columns that possibly stood in a temple of Mercury of Mars. Montmartre supposedly means "Mount of Mars" but the meaning wad changed to "Mount of Martyrs" after the patron, St. Denis, who lost his head!





There are always mimes. This one was particularly creepy, since he brought that eerie spotlight.


I stopped by this patisserie, where I bought my first macarons! French macarons are different from American macaroons, which are coconut. A macaron is a (gluten free) cookie made from almond flower and paste, filled and flavored with all kinds of things!


Au Lapin Agile is where the likes of Picasso, Renoir, Modigliani et all hung out.


Look at that wily rabbit! He's gotten drunk on the wine he was meant to be cooked in!


This is the spot where Picasso used to live, in a building that burned down. Outside is where he met Fernande Olivier, and later painted Les Demoiselles D'Avignon, thus creating Cubism.


Le Moulin de Gallette! This used to be a super happenin' spot, as seen in Renoir's uber famous Bal du Moulin de Galette.


Amelie fans, je te presente, Cafe de Deux Moulins.





I took a walk down Rue des Martyrs, which is a market street. It was mostly not marketing by this point, but I still got some cool pictures. How you like them tomaters?


Different kids of mushrooms.


















I found a place for dinner, went in and showed the waitress my Celiac card, which has information about what I can't eat written in French. I ended up with a three course delight.


My entree, a mozzarella and tomato salad. (Since an entree does mean to enter, it makes sense that it precedes the plat principle, or the main dish.)


A piece of beef with some rice. Oh gluten free living.


And a mousse au chocolat pour dessert,


I then stopped by my locale grocery store to see what kind of GF foods they carry (terrible...barely anything), and to pick up some things for snacking. I saw these massive kinder eggs and nearly passed out. I love Kinder Eggs! They're hollow chocolate eggs with toy on the inside! And these were huge! They're normally the size of a regular egg.

And to leave you with.... some funny cereal names:

Cold, yet Cute!

This post is meant to be an addendum to my previous article about traveling in style. As the temperature begins to drop in NYC (we had SNOW in October...) and I start the process of bringing out all the bulky sweaters and wool coats, I've had to do some serious thinking about packing for cold weather travel. Are you familiar with this scenario? It's the first really cold day of fall, and you decide to bust out the coat and put on your pretty boots. Aside from being steamy hot before you actually head outdoors, all that extra clothing really begins to weigh you down. The first staircase after I put on my winter boots almost kills me every year. Until I become accustomed to the extra heft, I always feel like a sluggish wad of wool. This is definitely a sensation I want to avoid while traveling. A heavy coat is normally fine for the brief outdoor moments between home and work, but when you're traveling you're constantly on the move, and need greater flexibility.

On my upcoming trip to Paris, I can plan on temperatures in the mid 40's-50's during the day, but much colder temps at night and along the Seine. So how can I maintain my flexibility, movability and comfort without being weighed down? And what about the range of temperatures I'm likely to experience every day? From walking outside during the day/night, stopping in shops and museums, running up stairs and in and out of the Metro? And for Pete's sake, how can I still look GOOD? For all these variables, the answer is, of course, layering.

Unless you're going to someplace that is genuinely cold, where practicality outweighs appearance, you should be fine layering some simple yet effective pieces that can be whipped on and off at the slightest deviation in temperature and won't make you feel like you've added 10 extra pounds.

Below are some well-reviewed examples of layering pieces. You might hear some suggestions for cashmere other places, but it's always made me slightly itchy. Plus, it's not easily washable while traveling and although very light, can sometimes be bulkier than I like. So for my suggestions, I've chosen synthetic fabrics that are lightweight, incredibly packable and easily washable while traveling.

My first suggestions are base layers. An excellent company is WinterSilks, and they make silk base layers in different warmth levels. Since it's harder to take off a base layer if you happen to walk into a over-heated locale, try to use these only when you know you'll be outside a lot, or when a cold front moves through for the day.

For other times, I find lightweight zip jackets do the trick just as well, and I'm able to take them off quickly and stuff it in my bag if I get too warm. Below is an example from REI. Click the picture for links. 

Another excellent layering option are packable puff jackets, like this one from TravelSmith. I think they actually call this a sweater, and look how small it gets! 

And my favorite option for an outer shell is a chic A-line raincoat in a fun color with a hood and additional zip-out liner. Raincoats are so much lighter than wool or cashmere winter coats, and since you'll have a couple of options for layering underneath, it will be plenty warm. Plus, having an optional liner means you can quickly adjust the warmth of the coat, and stuff the liner in your bag. I find rain coats are easy to take off and drape through my cross body bag for hands-free carrying. Another plus is protection from rain and snow that might overtake you suddenly. Being cold is no fun. Being cold and wet is the pits.

Top off your look with a fun scarf and you should be all set to keep yourself toasty up top. Place a pretty pin on your lapel and you'll be downright stylish. You could also bring a hat if you feel it's necessary, but for the most part, hats, gloves and scarves are fairly inexpensive and I purchase them only if needed while I'm there.

Now for your legs....

My mom always told me I had antifreeze in my legs, so I'm not the best at giving leg warmth advice. Wintersilks does make leg layers for underneath pants, and I highly recommend leggings if you're going to be wearing skirts or dresses. On my next trip, I'll be bringing a pair of tall boots. I'm planning on packing them in my suitcase on the way there, and then wearing them on the ride home and using that extra packing space for things I'll pick up along the way. And here's a tip from my Olive Garden days - since warm socks take up space and aren't easy to wash and dry in a hotel room, I usually only bring a few pairs, but layer them over trouser socks, which are much thinner and will dry very quickly after washing in a hotel sink. You'll get more use out of the warmer socks without having to wash them as often.

So there they are, my tips for staying the perfect temperature while traveling. Post comments below with your suggestions or any questions!

Hmm, I Think I'll Go to Paris Next Week...

Yes.

Paris.

Next week.

I got a fantastic fare, and although I've been to Paris numerous times, I do not have clear memories of those trips. (See my earliest posts) Our family trips to France didn't leave us lingering in Paris for long anyway, as our family friends would take us to more "out of the way" places in their car, which was much more interesting in the long run. School trips to Paris involved a few jam-packed days of sight-seeing while incredibly jet-lagged. So yeah, I'm ready to make some new memories.

I am incredibly fortunate to be able to take this time, as my wonderful boss happens to be abroad herself. Before she left she handed me a stack of guide books and told me to have fun. How many 9-5ers can do this? I feel it's best I take advantage of my current flexible work situation while I can. So to Paris it is!

My last trip to Paris was for a few brief hours, and I tell that story in my earlier post, here. This locale is the impetus for my wanderlust, and I feel it appropriate that I return and pay homage.

If you know me and we've talked in the last few months, you'll know how incredibly charmed I was by the new Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris. As one of the few theatres playing this film in NYC happens to be down the street from where I work, I saw this movie 6 times. I was so courted by this darling tale that I just couldn't help returning to the cozy nearby picture house and swooning at lovely pictures of Paris and the sparkling gems in the movie. If you love art, literature, and glittering beauty, or if you've ever dreamed of dropping all the troubles of your modern life to jet off to a romantic place where to be poor is to be grateful for what you have, then go see this movie.  So, yeah, maybe this movie had a little something to do with my willingness to take another trip so soon!

With not much time to plan, I will mostly be relaxing and taking in the experience. I booked a well-reviewed hotel in Montmartre, in the red-light district, which looks to be more scandalous that dangerous. I have tentative plans to visit Versailles (I am a big Louis XIV fan. I'll bring my Louis action figure) and potentially Euro Disney! I might jot off to Reims or Giverny (have I been there, Mom?), but will most likely have to miss Mont Saint-Michel, even though it's one of my favorite places in the world. I'm currently looking into a champagne tour of some kind, as well.

Speaking of wine, apparently the third Thursday in France is the day that the Beaujolais Nouveau comes out, and Parisians, like excited Harry Potter fans, stay up Wednesday night until 12:01am to pop open bottles of this fruity, young and light red wine. I will leave just before this joyful occasion, but look forward to seeing the anticipation.

I have some more planning to be getting to, but look forward to more posts about maintaining style while traveling in cold weather, gluten free dining in Paris and updates on packing for this trip, since it will be different from London!

À bientôt fidèles lecteurs!

Travel Essay from Brooklyn Based

As I started perusing my usual travel websites for the next place I'm going to visit,  I got an email from a website I subscribe to called Brooklyn Based. I don't often get to read the whole email, but I noticed this time they were announcing the winner of a writing contest...with a theme of Journeys. It's a nice little piece so I'm sharing it with you here.

I'll keep you posted on my next wandering!

Day 13: The Last Three Hours

This is my last post of London! I have since returned, but as I did manage to squeeze in quite a few things before my flight home, I wanted to share them here. 

In the morning, I packed all my things, including my new suitcase, with the treasures of my adventures, and checked out of the hostel. I was able to leave my bags in their storage locker, so I decided to head back into Westminster, since it's on the same Tube line and I wouldn't have to go far out of the way. First I stopped near Green Park to visit The Royal Academy, which had an exhibition on about Hungarian photographers.

The exhibition was excellent, and among many others, features the works of Maholy-Nagy and Gyorgy Kepes. These two artists were associates of the subject of my masters thesis, so I thought it was an important and unique opportunity to be able to see their work in this context.

My next stop was in Westminster, where I had a Rick Steves walking tour on my iPod. It starts on Westminster bridge, giving you this awesome view of the Palace of Westminster and the bell tower (the bell is called Big Ben, apparently.)

Another shot from the bridge.

And the London Eye again. The clouds were so spectacular. It really shows the rapidly changing weather patterns. Dark and gloomy rain clouds exit the picture to the right hand side, making way for a stretch of blue sky and cotton candy clouds. It is, however, short lived as you can see, the whorls of impending rain are creeping in again.

The Westminster Bridge also has this amazing statue of Boadicea, the warrior who cut off one of her breasts because it got in the way while she shot of arrows.

The towers of Westminster Abbey, with matching sky.

The walk continued up Whitehall, where I saw some monuments and other important buildings I hadn't yet had the chance to stop by and see.

The Cenotaph, a WWI memorial. It is also ceremoniously used to remember all the dead from the wars Britain has fought in, and on Remembrance Day, members of the royal family and parliament place wreaths, and soldiers march past. On the audio guide I learned that it's said that if all of Britain's WWI dead were to march four-abreast past the Cenotaph, the parade would last for seven days.

There is also this memorial to the Women of WWI.

No. 10 Downing Street! You can't see the door, but it's that black and white building there. I did see the door to No. 10 that was used by Winston Churchill, in the Churchill Museum.

And here is all that remains of the once ENORMOUS and faboosh Palace of Whitehall. It's amazing dining hall, now known as the Banqueting House, is all that is left of a palace that must have been quite something to see.

Aside from hosting elaborate high teas and classical music concerts, the Banqueting House is the site where Charles I was beheaded after the British Civil war, when Oliver Cromwell took over...and got rid of all the crown jewels  >:-(   Clearly, thats the main thing I took away from the British Civil War. 

Then I walked by the Household Cavalry Museum, and saw the mounted Life Guard. They are the Queen's body guards, along with the Blues and Royals.

Uhhhh watch out little girl...

They bite!

About this time I had to leave to go collect my things at the hostel and head to the airport. I had purchased a Heathrow Express ticket beforehand, because August 29th was a bank holiday, and I wasn't sure what to expect from the Tube. I think I would have been better off taking the tube, however, because that weekend was Carnival, the big Carribbean festival in Notting Hill, and that stop was only two down from Paddington, where I had to get off for the express. So there was me, apologizing profusely for my massive amounts of luggage, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. Needless to say, I got a few good bruises from my efforts.

The airport was fine, and I got my VAT tax refund. Security at Heathrow is twenty times that of JFK, which I thought was interesting. With all the additional security, however, I never had to take off my shoes.

I watched several movies on the plane, and gradually slipped into a state of suspended psychosis, as my brain tried to comprehend the ticking of my internal clock and the persistence of the sun out the window. My flight was at 5pm yet I landed at JFK at 7:30pm, as the sun was beginning to set. And in my condition of non compos mentis, I saw the most spectacular view from the plane window. Never wanting to forget the experience, I jotted down these words, a blithering and loquacious description of the sunset, which I will use to bring to a close my trip to London:

Through the small portal I behold a most blinding sunset of rich, resplendent golden orange, the star in the center brilliantly glowing with the warmest of light. The glittering rays sparkle down through the atmosphere; a rain of fire, casting the skyline of Manhattan in a majestic purple shadow. And against the orange sky, ablaze, the cool aubergine monoliths of the city are dramatically silhouetted, seeming to sizzle as their bracing forms reach into the hot sky. The Empire State Building stands as a lone sentry, victoriously piercing into the golden veil sent gloriously from the retiring sun, with its crisp dark spire.

With its last efforts the wizened sun alchemically transforms lakes and ponds from leadened gray discs to pools of deep liquid gold, a feat of magic so very fleeting, and only seen from the sky. What magic the birds must see, what transformations! We must envy them all the more for their flight, not just for the exquisite freedom, but also the qualifications to witness the Sun's secrets as it steadily slips below the horizon.