A Parisien Pendulum: Good Food and Good Company

Had my first solo visitor this weekend! We ended up planning this really last minute, but somehow it worked out so Chris came to visit me from London this weekend. He came by an overnight bus on Friday morning, and left Saturday evening so we didn't have much time together but we enjoyed the time we had thoroughly. We had planned on having a chill~ weekend, and it ended up being just that.

Friday

I woke up early to pick Chris up from Bercy station on Friday morning, and since Jenn was still sleeping, we went to Du Pain et Des Idees and I finally got to try their famous "escargot" pastries. As expected, they were crazy delicious, and we walked around the Canal for a bit just munching out and catching up. We picked up some groceries and headed over to my apartment, where I made lunch for the both of us to kickstart the long day ahead of us. We dropped by St. Christopher's Inn (the hostel where he stayed) to drop off Chris's stuff, and even though the neighborhood was pretty foreign and mostly minority-populated, it was interesting to step off the beaten path and enjoy the ethnic communities that are over overlooked in Paris. Afterwards, we headed to the Sacre Coeur, and climbed all the way to the top. It was super tiring, but worth visiting a second time. We went inside the basilica this time, and while it was no Duomo, it was still really beautiful. I got to lit a candle and prayed a little as well :)

We walked down towards Montmarte and Chris got to see the seedier 18th arrondisement near the Moulin Rouge. La Rue de Clichy is pretty nice, but there's a long section of it that's covered in sex shops and other weird places. I felt pretty uncomfortable walking through it even during the daylight, but it was something that's pretty well-known in Paris I guess. We were tired after all the walking, so we went to a Tunisian bakery and rewarded ourselves with some random ethnic pastries that tasted kind of funny but were strangely addicting. We took the metro at Place de Clichy and got off at the Tuileries. We hadn't planned on visiting the jardin or the Louvre, but we had so much time so we ended up strolling around that area and taking photos before walking all the way to St. Paul. I REALLY wanted Chris to try L'as Du Fallafel but it was closed again. I tried going there with Paul last time and it was closed too HAHA must remind myself that it's closed on Fridays and Saturdays**! We ended up going to King of Fallafel again, and it was actually pretty good so I left satisfied. I wasn't sure if I wanted to drink a lot this weekend, but we figured we might as well take advantage of a happy hour sign we saw on our way there, so we went to a pub to grab some happy hour cocktails and drinks. And then Pozzetto happened. So great, always.

It felt like so much time had passed, but it was only 6:30pm, so we decided to walk to the Notre Dame and then go to the Eiffel Tower. Originally, we had planned on taking the RER to the Eiffel Tower, but we were so full we ended up walking all the way there. It was a long walk, and took us almost an hour, but we luckily made it just in time to watch all the shimmering lights go off at 8pm. Of course, I couldn't bring someone to the Eiffel Tower without getting churros, so we ordered some chichis avec chocolat noisette, and the guy serving them made them fresh just for us. It was heavenly. I felt like snorlax and had the worst food coma afterwards, but I think it was quite worth it. We were supposed to get more drinks at his hostel's bar before going home, but we were so tired that we ended up just going to a brasserie and getting some fruit juice before calling it a night. I think we're getting old.. are we?

Saturday

Today was supposed to be dedicated to Versailles, but we had planned our timing pretty poorly, so it would've been super hectic for us to go at such a late hour. We decided to have another chill day instead, which was perfect. I went to go pick Chris up at Crimee, and there was a cute little flea market going on, so we walked around it for a few blocks. We wanted to save money on lunch, so we went to Marche Franprix, and I got my FAVORITE TUNA SANDWICH EVER hehe. I wanted to go to the Picasso museum which just reopened this month, so we headed there but the lines were too long so we just ended up eating our sandwiches at a park in the Marais, which was equally nice. The weather was really on and off this weekend, but for the most part it was pretty nice, so we ended up walking all~ the way to St.Germain, with a quick bathroom break at school. After visiting Monoprix to buy some things for Steve's midterm care package (hoho), we went to Pierre Hermes. The line was surprisingly long and we waited for almost 30 minutes, but as per usual, it would've been worth it ten times over. I don't know how Pierre Hermes does it. My budget is basically non-existent at this point, but I can't stop going. It's too good. As if the day wasn't good enough already, we met with Jenn at Belleville to have some pho to warm our hearts and our bodies hehe. I usually never ever get pho, but I was craving it for some reason today and it hit the spot so nicely. We walked home to digest, and picked up some wine, cheese, and crackers along the way. Chris had been raving to us about House of Cards all weekend, so we decided to watch an episode before he left. I'm not really one for t.v shows and stuff, but it was kind of captivating. I think I'll give it another go when I have some time! I dropped Chris off at Bercy, and now I'm currently in my bed melting into my blanket and trying to plan some work out for next week. I had a very fatty and kind of pricey weekend, but this is my third to last weekend in Paris, so I'm glad I got to enjoy it the way I did!

Some photos~