Part 1
So I had a lot of dreams as a child. Some were a little crazier than others and some came and went, but there were a few that stuck with me. Moving to another country and buying a Smart car were 2 of those. But even before those became dreams, I dreamt of Paris. I remember watching a soap opera when I was younger and one of the characters moved to Paris. I can’t for the life of me remember who or what soap, but I remember falling in love with everything I saw. My obsession with Paris continued to grow because it just seemed like the most magical city. So when we started planning out our move, our goal was to get to Portugal by my 38th birthday. When we realized we would get here sooner, I asked Karl if we could go to Paris for my birthday, and being the most amazing husband, he said “Of course.” So we did it. And it was absolutely everything I dreamed of and more.
Getting there from Tavira-
Plane tickets were considerably cheaper to go a week after my birthday for some reason so we pushed it back to save a considerable amount of money. Our round trip tickets from Faro to Paris Orly were about 100€ each including 1 carry on each on Transavia. We live about 30 minutes from the Faro airport so we just drove. I had never been to that airport before so I didn’t know what to expect. It is a really easy airport, even parking is easy. Since it’s traveling within the EU we didn’t have to do any special check-ins or anything. Just straight through security and to the gates. If you have never flown budget airlines in Europe, they are comparable to Spirit or Frontier. They aren’t very spacious seats and they can sometimes be strict on baggage size so be aware of that. But they are very affordable and the flights aren’t too long so it’s worth it.
Day 1-
From Orly airport, we took a cab to our hotel. There was a decent amount of traffic because there was a strike so it took about an hour to get there. But along the way we got to see some great sites. And I got my first glimpse at the Eiffel Tower. We drove pretty close to it and the second I saw it out of the window, I literally cried. It was so stunningly beautiful.
One of the best parts of traveling around here, since everything is so close, is that there isn’t jetlag! We took a flight at about noon and got to our hotel in a few hours. After we checked in we were able to head out exploring. I wasn’t exhausted from a long day of traveling and changing time zones so we just hit the ground running.
We stayed at the Best Western Hotel Mercedes. It was a super cute, boutique hotel. It was about 100€ a night and was in a pretty decent location on Ave de Wagram. The bed was comfortable, the room was clean and it had a decently spacious bathroom. The staff was friendly too. There was a bar at the hotel that looked nice but we surprisingly never went to it.
Our first evening we went out for dinner at Brasserie NaÏ, a Lebanese restaurant. The server there was wonderful and helped me order something that would be gluten free. Unfortunately, I don’t remember what the full dish was, but I remember it had chicken and hummus and it was delicious. I also had a glass of Rosé, because duh. After dinner we headed towards a spot where we could watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle. It sparkles for the first five minutes every hour after nightfall and the last sparkle is at 11pm. I cried again 😂. It was such an emotional moment. I had wanted to see this in real life for about 30 years and I had just accomplished 2 of my other life dreams, within a few months of each other so it was a little overwhelming. Along this walk we also walked in front of the Arc de Triomphe which is also stunning. On our walk back to the hotel, we stopped for a drink at Sir Winston. We thought it was just a casual bar but it was actually a little fancier than we expected… oops. I had a good cider though!
Day 2-
On our second day, we headed out to explore the city and attempt to find the best gluten free croissant in Paris. I actually went to Pastry school in my former life and I love French desserts and pastries. Finding out I had celiac was actually extremely hard for me because I had to change my entire career and life plan. I wanted to be a Pastry Chef, that’s actually why I moved to Vegas, but then life happened. Anyway, back to Paris. I had researched all the gluten free bakeries in Paris and planned to hit as many as possible while I was there. I was hoping that I would find a croissant that would taste as good as a regular one. I had always said that there are only 2 things in the world I would purposely eat gluten for, 1 being a corndog at Disney and 2 a croissant in Paris. ( I DO NOT RECOMMEND EVER INTENTIONALLY EATING GLUTEN IF YOU ARE CELIAC!!!) I really wanted to find one that would satisfy me so I didn’t have to get sick so off we went!
Our first gluten free spot was Helmut Newcake. We each got a croissant as well as a couple other pastries. We talked to the owner for a while about everything they had in their store. He was super friendly and could commiserate with my struggles of having celiac and how it affected my life and dreams. The croissant was good, however it was heavy. It didn’t have the fluffy layers that I so desperately wanted. But that’s the struggle. Gluten free baking is hard.
From Helmut Newcake we walked towards Champs-Élysées, which is known as the most beautiful street in Paris. It’s also where the shopping is. I had one plan for this street… Sephora! I hadn’t been to Sephora in months. We also popped into the L’Occitane cafe for coffee and a macaron. Macarons are also on my list of favorite desserts but luckily they are regularly gluten free! We also stopped in at the Disney Store since going to Disney in Paris wasn’t going to be possible on this trip, hopefully next time!
As we were wandering around we saw signs and the entrance for the Stranger Things Store Experience. We love the show so we decided to check it out. It was so cool! It was literally like walking into Hawkins. There were multiple levels and rooms, all completely set up like the show. There was the living room with the Christmas lights and letters, the Starcourt from the mall, and of course the Demogorgon. It was a really cool experience. It’s a Fever event and I just recently learned they are opening one in Las Vegas. If you like Stranger Things, you should check it out! Fever does events all over so maybe there is one near you.
After escaping from the Upside Down, we explored some more. We were making our way towards Canal St. Martin, but decided to see what we could find along the way. Paris is so stunningly beautiful so I loved walking everywhere. Every direction you look there is just beauty. Unsurprisingly, our feet took us to a bar, as they often do. We stopped at Le P’tit Piano Bar. I still have to rest often because of my long covid, so a drink sounded like a good rest break! I had a glass of wine and we talked to the owner/bartender. He was very nice and had recently moved to Paris and opened the bar. So we talked about our experiences with moving to a new country to change our lives. We had very different backgrounds and lives but could understand each other’s need for a better life. After our drinks and nice conversation, we ventured out again. We stopped along the way for more gluten free pastries. This time was a place called Boulangerie LIBERTE. They had beautiful desserts and a couple gluten free options.
After stuffing our faces some more, we headed towards the Canal St. Martin area. We heard it was a super cool neighborhood and it did not disappoint. There were cool shops, bars and restaurants. I found a cidery there called La Cidrerie du Canal. We got 2 flights of ciders so we could try as many as possible. I was so happy, I love trying new ciders. We also had dinner at a great Mexican restaurant called Tigermilk. They had amazing food! It was the best Mexican food I had had since leaving the U.S. After dinner we walked around some more and ended the night at an Irish Pub.
It was such a wonderful day and we knew there was still so much to explore, but this trip was already one of my favorite vacations of my life. So far, Paris had far beyond exceeded my expectations and I was in love with the city.
Stay tuned for part 2…
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