When I left the hotel in Amsterdam this morning, it was (surprise!) raining again. I took a cab to the train station, but the cab driver wouldn’t or couldn’t take me all the way to the actual entrance of the station, so I had to schelp my stuff about a block in the rain. I really wanted wet shoes on a three and a half hour train ride. I truly did. Other than that, though, the train was uneventful, so I was completely unprepared for the complete chaos that was Paris.
My bags at this point in the trip are really freaking heavy; they’ve been getting a bit heavier each day with the stuff I’m collecting. So rather than haul my bags up and down the steps of the Metro, I waited in a loooong taxi line. But when I finally got in a taxi, he took me about halfway to my hotel before pulling to the side of the road and telling me repeatedly that it was impossible. Impossible may be the most obnoxious word with a French accent. Eeemposseeeble. So mocking. But honestly, the cab driver didn’t deserve the pissiness that I piled on him; it truly was impossible. Apparently, I booked a hotel right on the Pride route, and all the streets were closed. So I was stuck hauling my bags up and down the Metro steps after all, and just to salt my wound, I came up the steps on the wrong side of the street. In order to get to my hotel, I had to CROSS THE PRIDE PARADE with a massive suitcase and a giant backpack. I wish someone had been filming it.
Obviously, by the time I reached the hotel, I was pretty pissed. I had a lot of time to think about it during my trek, and I concluded that I was really angry at the hotel. It certainly would have been nice if they’d sent an email letting me know about the event and the street closures. So when I checked in, and the desk clerk asked, “So was it difficult to get to the hotel?,” I came very close to reaching over the desk and slapping him. Yeah. It was difficult. I was especially angry because I love Pride, and I didn’t want to be irritated about it. But seriously, it was obnoxious.
I rested for a bit to the sounds of Katy Perry and Lady Gaga coming through the window before braving the streets again. The parade had largely past by this point, though, and I really had to applaud my precise timing. I had dinner reservations near the Eiffel Tower, so I Metroed over to that general area. As an aside, the last time I came to Paris, I was 20 and completely confounded by the subway. Now I’ve been on trains in New York, DC, Boston, Chicago, Barcelona, London, Brussels, etc., and I feel very happy to be able to zip around the city so much more easily than I did seven years ago.
I popped into the Musee Rodin just about an hour before it closed; it’s small enough that an hour is plenty of time to see all of the permanent collection. This was my first time at the museum, and I really loved it. There’s a beautiful garden that holds many of Rodin’s most famous sculptures; you can visit the garden for just one euro. To the left is a photo of The Thinker and the Eiffel Tower–very well placed, that statue is. It’s worth paying for the museum, too, though, to see sculptures such as The Kiss (rather disturbing to watch a six-year-old photographing that one).
After the museum closed, I walked to the Eiffel Tower. I didn’t have time to go up before my dinner reservations, but I sat in the grass for about an hour and people-watched. Seeing the annoying men hocking miniature Eiffel Towers run from the cops was particularly entertaining.
Dinner tonight was at Il Vino, a really unusual restaurant where you select wine for each course instead of food. The food brought out is designed to pair best with the wine, and it’s a surprise to the diner. I opted for the four-course Tour of France tasting menu, but before that began, I had a glass of champagne with a somewhat forgettable amuse bouche–some type of green foam with zucchini and fish infused with Earl Grey. The first course was a light, crisp white wine paired with white asparagus pieces sitting in a green asparagus puree, which was clever, but it could have used some more flavor. The second course was a more substantial chardonnay with sea bream prepared two ways, seared and raw as sushi. As I said yesterday, fish isn’t my favorite, so I was surprised at how delicious I thought this course was. The sushi pieces were especially tasty. There was a slight delay before the next course, so one of the waiters came by to refill my wine. The service throughout the night was excellent. Then we moved to red wine and a yummy lamb course. The lamb was a bit more done than I would have liked, but it was very flavorful. Finally, there was dessert wine with a strawberry and cream concoction with rhubarb ice cream and (because one dessert just isn’t enough) a sort of side dessert with a pastry and cherries. Both desserts were very good, though I was honestly a bit confused by the big and small dessert concept–not that I’m fighting it. My favorite sweet thing, though, came with the check; they brought a small plate of bites, which included a fantastic strawberry-basil macaron. I love savory desserts. Despite the difficulty I had getting to the hotel, Paris–my final city of the trip–is off to an excellent start.
Tags: Eiffel Tower, Il Vino, Musee Rodin, Pride
