France 2011: The Trip Begins

Tuesday/Wednesday    27/28 September 2011

Night flight to Paris. Our group of six gathers at O’Hare at 6pm. After weeks of preparation and months of anticipation, we’re ready to get on the plane and wake up in France. In the United terminal, we’re surrounded by a mountain of luggage, large and small, duffle bags, daypacks, and camera bags. The time for angsting over just how much to bring for a two-day stay in Paris and a week on a houseboat in the South of France is over. We’re on our way!

Once on the plane and in the air, for the first time ever, I order wine during a flight, hoping it will help induce sleep. According to friends who travel internationally, the best way to minimize jet lag is to spring forward seven hours to get on French time right away and sleep as much as possible on the plane, waking up to the new day when the plane touches down. Almost directly after dinner, the lights in the cabin go out and everyone tries to catch some sleep in the five hours remaining before we land.

When I’m not napping (I can’t really call it sleep), I enjoy watching our progress on the inflight map on the screen in the chair back in front of me. The flight passes quickly and we land around 9:30 a.m., flying through customs without incident. We pick up our bags and are met by the Super Shuttle which takes us into Paris, a long drive (1-1/2 hours in traffic) punctuated by interesting tidbits from the driver.

We check into the Hotel Saint Christophe, a very pleasant (and very tiny) hotel in the 5th arrondissement. The elevator barely holds one person and three pieces of luggage. After dumping everything off in our rooms, we regroup in the lobby and head out to find a neighborhood spot for lunch. We’re all starving and eager to get the culinary portion of our trip underway.

Lunch in an alley. A few blocks away, we find a cute corner restaurant (I never did get the name) with plenty of outdoor seating. At first I thought it was located on an alley, but came to realize, nope, that’s just a typical narrow French street. I chose the Prix Fix meal, a common (and often economical) option found in most French restaurants. Everything, from the snails and grilled lamb to the crème caramel, was quite tasty, probably accentuated by the long hours of travel and mediocre plane food. Others in the group feast on goat cheese salad, mussels with fries, and steak with béarnaise sauce. We order our first bottle of wine, toasting the beginning of another adventure.

We all enjoy people-watching as we dine al fresco on the mostly pedestrian street, marveling whenever a car threads itself through the people, walking and dining on either side of the road.

Down to the river. After lunch, Rick and Mary return to the hotel to nap and the rest of us walk down to the Seine. After a short stroll along the river, Jenny and Anne succumb to jet lag and return to the hotel, and Karen and I push through our fatigue to continue walking along the Seine toward Notre Dame. Along the way, we watch the tour boats floating along and the people streaming across the many bridges. Walking through the garden behind the cathedral, we circle around Notre Dame and decide to go inside when we see that the line to enter is moving fast and the admission is free. To put it lamely, Notre Dame is absolutely impressive. Many visitors sit in contemplation, serenade by the endless click of digital cameras.

We walk in the sticky heat back to our hotel and continue up the hill to a bustling neighborhood square lined on all four sides by shops and cafes, tables lined up facing a fountain in the middle of the tiny traffic circle. Karen and I enjoy our first cafe crème at an outdoor cafe, people-watching and soaking up the atmosphere of this quintessential French street scene.

The first of many outstanding meals. Our first dinner is an outstanding meal at A la Biche au Bois. From the moment we step inside, we receive warm and friendly attention from our waiter, and in no time we’ve kicked off the party with the featured house cocktail, a Kir Noir, made with red wine and plum liquor. Mmm good. A bottle of bordeaux with dinner, which includes deer and salmon patés, mushrooms a la Greque, and a big pot of outstanding, succulent chicken stew (made with wine, of course.) This was followed by a mouth-watering cheese course that will live forever in my memory; goat, sheep, and cow cheeses that had us all exclaiming the glory of French cheese. Dessert followed: sautéed apples and puff pastry, coffee glacé, and a chocolate cake with crème anglaise.

Afterward, another walk by the Seine, watching the boats and the varied night life along the river. We pass groups of musicians jamming together (each with their own half-moon of an audience), dancers sashaying and tangoing in a circle to music playing on a boom box, and folks in large and small groups simply enjoying the view over a bottle of wine.

We head toward Notre Dame, beautifully lit and the center of attention even at 10 p.m. Sidewalks are busy with wanderers and a large crowd watches skating street performers put on a show. Tired and well-fed, we return to the hotel to turn in, our mission to avoid jet lag and stay up for our entire first day in France a success.