Paris Day 1 Part 1

"When I dream of afterlife in heaven, the action always takes place at the Ritz Paris" - Hemingway

I read that quote on the plane ride over in last months Vanity Fair. I found it rather suiting. I didn’t get to see Hemmingway’s heaven – it is under reconstruction for the next year or so, but technically I was right outside his heaven and that’s close enough for me.

Our first stop in Paris was finding the hotel we were staying at that night to drop our bags off. After, we went to Ile De La Cité where the Notre Dame is located. We stood in line for a few minutes to go up into the towers of the cathedral, but decided this time we were more interested in walking around the exterior of it. 

It was supposed to rain that day and at that point the weather was still holding nicely, we wanted to take advantage while we could. Abby took a few photos of me outside the Notre Dame and the next morning as she was uploading photos I asked her how old it was. She thought it was hilarious that I was so tired I had no memory whatsoever of her taking the photos.

Aforementioned photo I have no recollection of

After the Notre Dame we went to find some lunch. The Notre Dame is located on one of two small islands in the middle of the Seine, so we had to cross a bridge to get back onto the mainland. The bridge we happened to cross was something we are assuming is called Le Pont de Amour. The chain links on the railing were covered in locks put on the bridge by couples in love. Most of the locks were really simple ones but there were a few very elaborate ones such as a lion’s head and a few locks that look rather antiquated. 

We sat outside at a classic Parisian café called a Brasserie, which essentially means that it served alcohol. I ordered a “Salade de Chevre Chaud” which is a salad with tomatoes in balsamic vinaigrette that came with bread toasted with goat cheese.  Apparently it is a classic French salad. Let me just say, it was amazing, and the goat cheese we have in the US is very different, in France, the goat cheese is much more mild and almost looked like it was sliced off a log that had a rind on it.

We then went to the Louvre (see specific Louvre post for details).  After the Louvre we walked to Ile St. Louis, which is the other island in Paris and is adjacent to Ile De La Cité. We walked around there for a little and stopped at another brasserie for drinks where Abby said her family normally stops when they’re in Paris together. 

I enjoyed a coke and Abby a sparkling lemonade with grenadine in it, all whilst sitting outside staring at the Notre Dame in the background. After drinks Abby had coconut ice cream that had flakes of coconut in it, it was really yummy.