January 6

Got up really tooo early so we could get our 5 AM cab to the airport. Amusingly enough, the cabbie scarcely spoke English, but we listened to English music the whole time. Unfortunately, the cab was 60 or so Euros.

Checked in our too heavy bags and headed out on our plane to Dusseldorf. Once there, we had to figure out how to get our next boarding pass to go to Atlanta (we were switching from Air France to Delta) and they did not make it easy! We had to totally exit the terminal and then get in line at Delta and we were stressed since the layover was only an hour. Finally, we got back checked in and they copied down our bag numbers by hand - eeek don't lose my bags! I do not recommend making these kinds of transfers! We were some weary travellers!

Hopped our plane to ATL and in about 10 hours, we were back! It was a great trip, but it felt like time to get home...besides, all my clothes were dirty!

Well, I guess that is the end...thanks for reading! Feel free to comment! And see more photos here!

January 5

Our last day...le sigh! We slept in a bit and let our feet recover from the previous days. Heading to the Metro, we picked up a couple sandwiches...the curry chicken on a baguette was sooo good! We munched on the street and went to the Musee Picasso. They had so much of his work...very large collection! It was cool to see some early works before he started in with the cubism. He was a very talented sculptor as well.

We were ready for another bite to eat when we left the museum, so we went to a Thai place that we saw walking over. Brendan managed to order the Pad Thai which wasn't called that on the menu. We also had a bit of coffee to wake up. *Yawn*

From there, Brendan wanted to look for technical books in a bunch of book stores near St. Germain. While he was perusing, I stepped in the street and bought a cheap pink scarf.

Next up, we crossed some bridges and headed back over to Île de la Cité. We headed over to Sainte Chapelle which was built in 1245. First we entered through the lower chapel (and Brendan bought another book).

From there, we went up some narrow steps to the spectacular upper chapel. It seems like the entire structure is stained glass!

After enjoying the chapel, we walked around a bit more in the island and bought a "hot dog." It was basically a hot dog in a big roll with cheese melted over it, and potato chips stuck on top. Actually very good!

We hopped back on the RER and went to the Tour Eiffel. The lines were much more manageable this time around, so we jumped into one. I noticed the couple in front of us eating cotton candy, and I had to get in on that, so I went to a little carnival across the road and bought some...it was huge and very sticky, but yummy. We decided, since we were there, we were gonna go all the way to the top, baby! We bought our tickets and got on the elevator. After a stop at the first level, it took us straight to the second level. The views were really good, though it was getting dark out.

On the second level, we had to get in another line to take one of the four smaller elevators to the top. While waiting, we got to see the tower sparkle, as it does the first 10 minutes of every hour.

About 30 minutes later, we were on top! It was quite windy and chilly, but really cool to see so far into the distance. There were photos facing all the directions that you could look at to help yourself identify the landmarks. It was fabulous!

We went back down to the first level and saw a few exhibits. There was also this totally pointless maze of Christmas trees with really scary music playing in it. We thought maybe something would jump out at us, but no, nothing happened. ANYway, bought some tchotches at one of the many gift shops, then headed back to the hotel.

Decided to get a bite to eat at the grocery store so that we could eat in the room and pack for our early morning. Unfortunately, we had to reserve a cab and didn't have the option of the shuttle or Metro because our flight was so early. So we pretty much got packed up and got a tiny amount of sleep.

January 4

Actually got up quite early and headed to the Metro, stopping for a croissant on the way. We got to the Louvre about 8:40 and got in the little line to wait for the gates to open at 9 AM. While waiting, we got to admire the inverted pyramid (AKA the location of the holy grail, according to Robert Langdon).

I bought a Da Vinci Code audio tour and dragged Brendan around with me. It took me by lots of the highlights, especially along the Grand Gallery in the Denon wing. We saw Mona Lisa, which was impressive in person, despite being all glassed up and barricaded. Also, The Winged Victory of Samothrace, which was amazing.

We covered A LOT of ground. We walked by all the wonderful Flemish and Dutch paintings, and the amazing Rubens room. Then we stopped and went to eat lunch in the food court...it was very crowded, but we needed substinence. I had a 3 cheese panini...yum!

Heading towards the Egyptian wing, we saw the medieval Louvre excavation, which is the fortress that the castle was built upon...very interesting.

Next up, we visited all the Egyptian antiquities. We were greeted by the sphinx.

It was unbelievable how many artifacts there were! They probably have sarcophagi piled up in their storage rooms! So much to see...very cool. We detoured back by Venus de Milo...beautiful.

From there we went to look at the Mesopotamian artifacts, including the Code of Hammurabi and the amzing Winged Bulls from the palace of Sargon II.

We were getting pretty tired from all the walking around, but I did want to make one more stop and see the Napoleon III Apartments, a series of fancy rooms that were preserved in the Richelieu wing. It was close to 6 PM and closing time, so we headed back to the hotel to rest a bit.

We decided to take the Birmingham girl's advice and visit a restaurant called le "Relais de l'Entrecôte." There was a little line, but were were seated pretty quickly since there were only two of us. All they ask you as you order is if you want your steak rare, medium, or well done. Then they bring you a salad and bread. We also ordered a half bottle of the house red wine, which was nice. Next up comes a plate with steak and frites. I swear, everything comes with fries! We decided to get a dessert and took the waitress' recommendation. We had a stacked dessert with merengue and ice cream...very tasty!

The night was still young, so we went to a place called Academie de Bieres. We tried a few good Belgian brews. Seemed like a cool college place.

Headed back to the hotel to catch some ZZZs.

January 3

This morning, we slept in a bit, then packed up and moved our bags to our next hotel, in the Latin Quarter. While we were waiting about 20 minutes for our room, we walked down the street and bought a sandwich at the boulangerie, then some other snacks at a fancy grocery store. After munching in the room, we walked to the Pantheon.

We bought a ticket and walked in to find a very strange art installation that was still in progress. They were basically pouring these lightweight plastic pellets into huge white pantyhose and hanging them from the ceiling. Umm okay...

Then we went into the crypt downstairs and some tombs of Voltaire, Rousseau, Braille, LaGrange, and others.

We walked out and hopped the Metro to go check out Île St. Louis. It's the smaller island, and it had lots of cute shops. Our first stop was in a café to warm up with a drink. I had a hot chocolate and it was delish, while Brendan did a café-au-lait. We wandered down the street and looked in lots of the shops and made some little purchases.

We strolled along the Seine and went to the Bastille, or so we thought. I guess Brendan and I aren't too well versed on French history, because we were expecting some kind of old building we could take a tour of. But no, not only was the Bastille stormed in the French Revolution, it also was torn down. Good to know. There is a monument there, as well as a modern looking opera house.

We decided to do a bit more shopping so we went to the Opéra Metro stop to see the beautiful classical Opéra de Paris Garnier. Just across the street were the big department stores Printemps & Galleries Lafayette. We headed into the latter which boasts a spectactualr blue dome, conveniently located above the tons of cosmetic counters.

We were pretty worn out and had sore feet, so we headed back to the hotel for a little nap. Of course, a little nap turned into several hours. I woke up and was pretty hungry around 10 PM, so I dragged Brendan out to a pizza place around the corner. We had pizza with chorizo sausage...very tasty! From there we went back to bed, planning an early morning the next day.

January 2

Versailles day! We got up pretty early and bought some food to pack in Brendan's backpack. Then we took the double decker RER train to the Versailles station, which took about 30 minutes. We walked about a half mile up to the chateau, along with a big crowd of people.

We jumped in a big line and waited about an hour to get in to buy the tickets. It was very chilly, but not too unbearable. We decided to sign up for a guided tour, but we had a little free time first, so we toured the dauphin's chambers. Then we looked for a bathroom, but the one at the chateau had a super long line, so we wandered into the garden, going to the bathroom symbol on the map. It was super rainy at this point, so we got all wet, and then, the bathroom was closed. Grr! Oh well...we went back up to the chateau and found a dry spot inside to wait for our tour.

Our tour had about 20 other people, and the guide was a young French woman. Her English was very good. We went through the kings and queen private quarters and then ended in the beautiful Opera which was built for the marriage of Louis XVI to Marie Antoinette.

From there, we jumped right into the public tour. We saw tons of rooms...can't remember them all now! The photos below show the Chapel and the Hall of Mirrors. Part of the Hall of Mirrors was closed off for restoration.

We stopped in the shops as the tour was winding down. We headed back outside where it was quite cold & damp and took the little bus to the Trianons. First stop was the Petit Trianon, but we were low on time, so we just went to the Grand Trianon and hopped off there. When we got inside, we only had 15 minutes left, but that turned out to be enough time to look around.

We had to wait a while for the bus to come back around, so we snacked on some bread, cheese, and salami. The ride back to the chateau was bitterly cold, and we were excited to get back to the hotel. We met up with Ginny and Sara. Sara decided to stay in and pack up, since they were leaving the next day.

Ginny, Brendan and I all headed to Bofinger (that's bow-fawn-jay, y'all) for dinner. I had made a reservation and we were promptly seated. We had a really good meal, which is how it should be since the bill came in at €160! We had some oysters which were served with little pieces of bread, butter, vinegar and lemon...I have to say, I missed the saltines and cocktail sauce. Ginny and I also shared a huge chafing dish with sausage and sauerkraut and potatoes...so yummy! After a tasty mousse for dessert, we all headed back to the hotel.

January 1

It was supposed to be an early morning, but we slept in a bit, and then got on the internet to see what was open today. Ginny & Sara had headed down to get some breakfast, but we were being slow, and couldn't find them once we were ready. Brendan & I bought some croissants and juice and headed toward the Eiffel Tower. The line to go up was snaking all over the ground and so we just took a few pictures and decided to come back another time.

We hopped back on the Metro and went to the Jardin du Luxembourg. Before entering the gates, we munched on a burger at Quick, which is the big MacDonalds competitor. The burgers were very tasty. We entered the garden, which was still lush and green despite the chilly winter weather. We followed a recommended path in my map book. A small tangent...I carried "The Paris MapGuide" with me everywhere and it was very useful. Follow this link if you are interested. We started by walking by the Medici Fountain which was beautiful, then we got a good view of the Palais du Luxembourg. Also saw a bust of Beethoven and a mini statue of liberty. It was neat how hundreds of Parisians were exercising and sunning themselves in chairs, though it was chilly out. We also saw a game of petaque being played.

We hopped the Metro again and headed to the Centre Georges Pompidou. It's a really neat looking building with these hamster-tube-looking escalators on the outside. Though it was crowded inside, the line was not too bad. We saw a Rauchenburg exhibit that was very extensive, then a restrospective of Yves Klein. I don't really have an appreciation of Klein...I mean he was obsessed with the color blue and painted several plain blue canvasses. I guess it was special at the time!

We headed to the hotel and met up with Sara & Ginny. They were getting some take-out sandwiches and chilling at the hotel, so Brendan and I headed out to a Chinese restaurant we saw in Fodors. It was right off the Champs-Elysees. I had some yummy coconut chicken that was served in a coconut. Steamed rice was extra. It was my favorite meal so far. We also ran into this loud girl from Birmingham...she gave us some good restaurant tips. We headed back to the hotel and hit the sack.

December 31

Brendan had to catch up on sleep after the night of partying with crazy Ginny & Sara. :)

We headed out around 2 PM and took the Metro to the base of the hill that leads up to the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur. The street was full of people and we stopped for a soda. We started up the many stairs to the basilica.

We were able to walk right in to see a mass in progress. A chorus of nuns were singing beautifully. We looked all around, then headed back down the hill. A group of men tried to stop us to give me some kind of bracelet, but we got by them. They were probably hustling for money...have to watch out for that sort of thing. We went into a really cute little design store, then kept walking back and shared a crepe with apricot jam. Yum! We walked by Moulin Rouge as well.

We headed back to the hotel and rested for a while. Somehow, we got a very late start on the evening. We went and ate a quick dinner at the corner bistro. I ordered lamb, and I think it would have been tasty, but I could barely eat it since my stomach was turned off to it. We quickly picked up some beer and vodka at the grocery, then jumped on the Metro to head to the Champs-Elysees. It was so late, we had to celebrate midnight on the Metro platform.

We exited the Concorde metro stop and the street was full of energy and tons of people. There were lots of novice fireworks being shot into the air. Almost everyone had a champagne bottle in hand. We headed up the street by the Grand Palais and continued by all the shops. Ginny & Sara really needed a pit stop, so we tried to get into a few clubs and bars, but they were all full. Eventually, we broke apart, and Brendan and I kept walking up to the Arc de Triomph.

From there, we hopped on the Metro and headed back to the hotel.

December 30

Not feeling too fabulous after last night's events, but we wanted to get out. Brendan and I had a little yogurt and a croissant on the road, then Metro'd to the Musee d'Orsay. We waited in a serpentine line outside for about an hour. I was feeling very weak, but we saw lots of fabulous stuff. I especially enjoyed level 5 which had Van Gogh, Monet, Seurat, Renoir and many more. The whole museum was really neat inside...naturally, it used to be a train station, but the way they converted it to a museum was very cool. There was a special exhibit of Maurice Denis which was interesting.

We got back, but I opted not to go to dinner, but just have some more yogurt. Brendan and the girls came back very late!

December 29

Feeling so much better today. We all decided to walk down to Île de la Cité to visit Cathedrale Notre-Dame. On the way, we passed Notre-Dame de Lorette and lots of shops and grcery stores. We stopped at a café and stood at the bar having a café-au-lait. Continuing on, we walked through Forum des Halles, where we saw the Bourse du Commerce dome & St. Eustache. Also, a big head.

We all stopped off for lunch at a little place that served gyros. We came to the island and got into a big line to go up Notre-Dame. We waited quite a while in the very cold weather when we realized they were only letting in 20 people every 10 minutes. It took about 2 1/2 hours and my feet were absolutely frozen! At least we had a nice view...

We walked up hundreds of stairs to the gargoyle level (the very top towers were closed) and we were rewarded with some great views of the city. We went into the belltower to see the largest bell on the cathedral.

We came back down and assumed we would be able to go right into the cahedral, but NO. We had to wait in another damn line for 30 minutes or so. Oh well, it was worth it when we got inside. Brendan and I got the audio tour which filled us in on some of the history, and also got us into the treaury which had lots of very ornate reliquaries & such on display. We lit a candle for a euro and put it with the thousands of others. Brendan also bought a couple rosaries.

From there, the group split up. Brendan and I tried to go to Sainte Chapelle, but it had just closed, so we walked over to the Musee Cluny instead (the museum is all about the Middle Ages). It was only open about 45 more minutes until 6 PM, but we decided to check it out. The museum had the collection of Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, which were gorgeous. There is a different panel for each of the senses...smell, sight, sound, touch, taste, and the final one is for something like the sense of faith. We also saw some of the original heads of the king statues off Notre-Dame, among other things.



We Metro'd back to the hotel and met up with Ginny & Sara to go get some dinner. We tried a couple of Zagat rated restaurants, but they we all full (apparently reservations were a must), so we ended up at a nice looking place displaying oysters on ice out front. We all had a couple bottles of wine and the prix fixe 3-course dinners. I went for duck terrine (feeling adventurous), salmon ravioli, and finely sliced pineapple with coconut sherbet for dessert. We were there probably 3 hours or so. My stomach started feeling pretty uncomfortable at the end of the meal, and we all headed back to the hotel. Poor me, I ended up throwing up my whole dinner. I have a hunch that the duck terrine did it...so much for being adventurous!

December 28

Came into Paris about 5:30 AM. Unfortunately, Brendan and I both had very upset stomachs...not sure if it was the airport food, or some sort of 24-hour bug. Very unpleasant at any rate. We all managed to get onto the Metro for the first train at 7:15 or so.
We transfered about 4 times to get to our stop, St. Georges in the 9th Arrondissement.

It was just about 8:30 when we got there, and naturally check-in was not until 2 PM. Brendan parked in a chair in the lobby, while Sara, Ginny, & I checked out a cafe on the corner of our street. We had the fixed price breakfast which was a croissant, some baguette, a yogurt, orange juice, and tea for 5€90. It was tasty, but I was so tired and sick to my stomach. I joined Brendan sitting in the lobby and napped in the chair. At around 11 AM, the hotel clerk helped us out by letting us into our room early, since Brendan had explained how alful he was feeling. (See the nice garden view?) We slept straight until 6:30 PM or so. That didn't really help us adjust to the right schedule, but it felt great. After awaking, we walked up to a phamacy in Pigalle and picked up some Maalox, then went to a quaint grocery for some yogurt and apples.

For dinner, we four all ventured out towards Pigalle again, and ate at a little place called La Pied de Montmartre. My stomach was still really churning, so I just ate a soupe d'oignon and some bread...very tasty! I opted to stay in the hotel room for the evening, while everyone else ventured across the street for a nightcap.

I was sad we didn't do any sightseeing, but at least by the end of the day, I was feeling much better and so was Brendan.

December 27

Today, we began our journey with a 3:30 PM flight directly from Atlanta to Charles de Gaulle in Paris. We left about 12 PM for the airport...since ATL and O'Hare are neck in neck for the busiest airport in the US, you have to allow lots of time. We saw Ginny and Sara just a bit ahead of us in the line when we started towards the desk to check-in. Unfortunately, Brendan and I both ended up have overweight bags, and it was just too difficult to transfer a bunch of stuff over, so we paid the $50. After the security line, which wasn't too bad, we got a bite to eat at the food court in the International Terminal E.

From there, we four went to exchange some dollars for euros. The flight was delayed about twenty minutes for a security sweep, then we boarded. We were on a 767 with 3 seats in the center and 2 on either side. Brendan and I sat in one of the 2 seat sections with Ginny and Sara in front of us. As we started across the ocean, we faced south and I could just see a sharks fin shape of the very bright moon on the horizon. We watched Little Miss Sunshine, which I had seen in the theatre, but was glad to see again, especially the dancing bit at the end. I was totally vainly attempting to work those moves at Halloween!

Anyhow, tried to nap as much as possible, but Brendan and I both started feeling pretty crappy when we were coming into Paris. The sky was very cloudy, so all we could see coming in was a dim glowing blotch where the city lay below.

What's new...

Well, yesterday I bought a new coat for the trip. It is grey wool blend, trench style, mid length. I am a dork, so I actually reseached as best I could on the internet and found out that trench styles are popular in Paris at this time.

Other than that, I have been trying to work on the French a bit, but my dedication level is low. Now I have some CDs in the car, so hopefully that will make me be better!

I've just been searching the web a lot for info about Paris...definitely excited!

Oh look what I just found...
Hard Rock Cafe Paris
14 Boulevard Montmartre
Paris 75009, France
I know, HRC, so lame, but we might just need a taste of America one night.

Another Good Article

Affordable Europe: Paris

By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Published: April 23, 2006

Now that the French government has withdrawn a disputed youth labor law, tourists can visit Paris without worrying too much about the disruption of massive protests and strikes. And no matter how expensive Paris can seem — especially with the weak dollar — there are endlessly creative ways to save money.

Where to Eat Cheaply

Around every corner is another bistro, where all day, every day, one can find good food, good wine and good value (for Paris, that is). A jewel, hidden in an unremarkable part of the 15th Arrondissement, is Le Troquet (21, rue François Bonvin; 33-1-45-66-89-00). Lively, Basque-inspired, sometimes smoke-filled, it has a 38-euro ($47, at $1.24 to the euro) six-course — yes, six-course — tasting menu that changes every week. One sample menu includes cream of cauliflower soup, vegetable barigoule with bacon and country ham, shellfish ravioli, confit of lamb shoulder, madeleines with a pot of vanilla cream, and macaroons with praline-dusted mousse and roasted banana. A three-course menu is 30 euros ($37), without wine. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Lodging for Under 100 Euros

Damp in winter, stuffy in summer, dark all year round. That pretty much describes the world of cut-rate hotel rooms in Paris. An exception is the 30-room New Orient Hotel at 16, rue de Constantinople in the heart of the Eighth Arrondissement (33-1-45-22-21-64; www.hotel-paris-orient.com). A 10-minute walk from the Parc Monceau, the antiques-filled hotel feels, well, very French. The rooms are small but comfortable and clean, and 16 have small balconies. Rates: 82 euros for a single room (with shower), 105 euros for a double (with full bath).

Best Deal on a Cultural Event

Museums in Paris are expensive. The two-, four- or six-day museum passes (38, 55 and 72 euros, respectively) make it less pricey — but only if a lot of museums can be crammed in. However, a number of Paris museums are free, including the newly restored Musée du Petit Palais. Just off the Champs-Elysées, the museum, with its sweeping staircases and collection of ancient sculptures, medieval tapestries and paintings, reopened last year after a five-year renovation. The garden of the Musée Rodin, which has many of his sculptures, costs only one euro (a visit to the museum's permanent collection is six euros).

Visitors who have had enough of museums can go to the free, half-hour haute couture and prêt-à-porter fashion show on the seventh floor of the Galeries Lafayette department store every Friday at 3 p.m. Both men's and women's fashions are featured. Reservations are a must (33-1-42-82-30-25; www.galerieslafayette.com ). Le Printemps department store across the street offers a similar free fashion show on Tuesdays at 10 a.m.

Best Things to Do Free

Every Friday night at 10, traffic is stopped for a three-hour in-line skating run through the capital. The 12-mile trip starts and ends at the Place Raoul Dautry, in the 14th Arrondissement. A gentler run that starts and ends at the Place de la Bastille takes place on Sunday afternoons. For the itineraries and more information, see www.pari-roller.com for Friday and www.rollers-coquillages.org for Sunday.

Best Money-Saving Tip

The cheapest way to see Paris is with a one-hour one-way ride on the No. 69 public bus (1.40 euros). The bus starts and ends at two tourist destinations — the Eiffel Tower in the west (at the Avenue Joseph Bouvard) and Père Lachaise Cemetery in the east. Along the eastward route, the bus passes Les Invalides, the Seine, the Louvre, the Hôtel de Ville, the Marais, the Place de la Bastille. And you mingle with French people, not tourists.

I'll have to visit this place!

Deyrolle
Taxidermy heaven in Paris

When we were in Paris last year, a large number of transit and public utility workers were on strike. I am reliably informed that strikes of this kind are extremely common in France; a week when no one is on strike would be considered strange. In any case, a lot of people weren’t showing up for work, either because the subways weren’t running or because they were participating in demonstrations on the streets. As a result, museums and other attractions were forced to scale back their hours of operation. After leaving the Musée d’Orsay early, we had some time to kill on the left bank, and we took the opportunity to look up a nearby shop Morgen had read about.

In Paris to the Moon, Adam Gopnik describes the five years he spent living as an expatriate in Paris along with his wife and young son. One of their favorite places to go on rainy days was a strange and fascinating shop called Deyrolle on the Rue du Bac. Deyrolle could be described as a taxidermy shop, but that doesn’t begin to do it justice, and besides, taxidermy shops are not exactly a dime a dozen—especially in Paris.

The Dead Zone

When we arrived at Deyrolle, we couldn’t determine if it was even open for business. At street level, there are large glass display cases on either side of the door; beyond that, a dark foyer. There was no sign saying “Ouvert,” no lights on, no people, no signs of life. In fact that last point should have been the tip-off that everything was normal. We tried the door; it opened. There was a creaky old staircase ahead of us, and we tentatively mounted the stairs. When we got to the top we were greeted by the reassuring glow of fluorescent lights, and the somewhat less reassuring sight of a moose staring at us.

I had always thought of taxidermy as a craft marketed rather narrowly to hunters wishing to display their prized trophies. At Deyrolle, no animal is too exotic, or too ordinary, to be stuffed. You’ll walk past a zebra, lions, tigers, and a giraffe, not to mention a polar bear, a warthog, a chimpanzee, and a kangaroo. But you’ll also find every imaginable barnyard animal, as well as birds, deer, rabbits, and—most surprising of all—quite a few dogs and cats. The animals are scattered throughout the store as though they were customers, and they are for the most part extremely lifelike, sometimes eerily so. Some of the more exotic animals are for display only, but most are available for sale or for rent. That’s right: you can rent a dead zebra, elephant, or bear for your next party.

Take This Pet and Stuff It

The shop was founded in 1831 by Emile Deyrolle, and it moved to its current location—the former home of Louis XIV’s banker—in 1881. It is now owned by a company called Le Prince Jardinier that runs a number of specialty household goods stores. Most of the people who walk into Deyrolle are there mainly to browse, though the store does a fairly brisk business in mounted butterflies, beetles, and other insects, as well as rocks, fossils, and a variety of educational products. It is, however, a functioning taxidermy operation, and for a few hundred euros you can have your household pet stuffed when it expires. (The cats and dogs around the store were for the most part abandoned by their former owners, who sent them to be “reanimated” and then never returned to claim their pets.) Deyrolle politely declines requests by humans to have their mortal remains stuffed and mounted; I heartily agree with the wisdom of this policy.

Deyrolle looks as if it has changed little in the last hundred-plus years. Like its products, it seems to be in a perpetually immobile yet lifelike state. Current laws make it virtually impossible for a taxidermist to obtain the kinds of large, exotic animals that were once Deyrolle’s main trade. That’s probably just as well; it’s a rather discomfiting notion given modern sensibilities about wildlife preservation. But the store is still well worth a visit for the sheer strangeness of it all.
-Joe Kissell


I saw another article mentioning this place in Vogue...may be a bit morbid, but I am interested!

Good Article

Barefoot Contessa - An Insider's Guide to Paris

"I never had a day in Paris that I didn't like," says Ina Garten, the personality behind the bestselling Barefoot Contessa cookbook series and popular Food Network show. The "easy entertaining" guru is so enamored with Paris that she bought an apartment there five years ago and has since tasted her way through France's capital city, producing a cookbook -- Barefoot in Paris -- along the way.

While the book covers French cooking at home, the intrepid travel editors at Fodor's pined for the story behind the recipes -- the insider scoop on where to eat and what to buy. From organic produce markets to bargain cookware shops, here's Barefoot Contessa's guide to Paris.

Fodor's Travel: What do you love about Paris?

Ina Garten: When I used to go there just on vacation for a week, I'd always go to the street markets and I wished I had an oven, so I could just take a chicken home and roast it. As Adam Gopnik said in one of his books, "Everyday things in Paris are wonderful." It's walking down a tree-lined street; going to the parks, the street markets, and the places to buy bread; sitting out at a café; going to the museums; or just taking a walk along the Seine. It's just an incredible city.

What street markets do you like to visit?

The one in front of my apartment on Boulevard Raspail. It's called Le Marché Biologique. Three times a week I go to the Boulevard Raspail market. It goes from Cherche-Midi to Rue de Rennes. Biologique means organic. On Sundays, it's an organic market. There's a guy who makes potato pancakes. They have all the produce and cheese and everything you can imagine in a market, including an American guy who makes muffins.

Where do you live in Paris?

I live on the border of the 6th and 7th arrondissement, between three things that I think are the best things in Paris: the bread bakery Poilâne (8 rue du Cherche-Midi), the cheese shop Fromagerie Barthélemy (51 rue de Grenelle), and Bon Marché (38 rue de Sèvres), a huge specialty food store that's amazing. I'm also near Marianne Robic (39 rue de Babylone), a great flower shop. It's great because there's everything you could possibly want for giving a dinner party within a few blocks, and I love to give dinner parties in Paris.

Are there any hotels that you would recommend?

I'm a pushover for Le Bristol, which is just a deeply wonderful hotel. It's very French. I think Americans think of French service as very haughty, but really good French service is very warm. And I think that's what the Bristol is. It's one of the best hotels in the world. The restaurant there [Le Bristol Restaurant] is fabulous. For lunch, on a nice day, they serve lunch in the courtyard. It's just dreamy.

What are some of your favorite things to during the day?

Spend an afternoon at the flea market (Marché aux Pouces, Porte de Clignancourt). Take a taxi there in the middle of the day, have lunch at Le Soleil (109 avenue Michelet, 93 Saint-Ouen). It's a very earthy French restaurant, very good. And it's right in the flea market. While you're there, go to Muriel Grateau (37 rue de Beaune), a discount outlet at the flea market that has markdown tableware, mostly dishes and glasses.

Go to the Louvre. Go to the Museé Des Arts Décoratifs (107, rue de Rivoli) and then have lunch at Café Marly out in the sun. It's on the terrace of the Louvre. Walk down Rue de Rivoli to Galignani (224 rue de Rivoli), an English and French bookstore. And then take your new book to the Tuileries and sit down in one of those chairs and read.

Or have a picnic. Stop in to Gerard Mulot (76, rue de Seine), a specialty food store right down the street from the Luxembourg gardens. Get a picnic and take it into the Luxembourg gardens. For shopping, there's a cookware store called E. Dehillerin that has every imaginable piece of French cookware.

For cocktails and evenings out, what would you recommend?

Au Bon Accueil, near the Eiffel Tower. You go to dinner and after you walk out of the restaurant, you're at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. It's just fabulous. And you just go walk down the Seine after that.

Or for a Parisian café experience, Café de Flore is really quintessential. My idea of the perfect meal in Paris is an omelet and a glass of champagne at Flore. To just sit outside at 10 o'clock at night is wonderful. You can just do that and go home satisfied.

Any suggestions for travelers who don't speak French?

Most people in Paris speak some English. I speak enough French so that I could get by easily. But I think it's changed dramatically in the past 20 years. Before, if people did speak English, they wouldn't speak English to you. Now it's not really a problem. I find that French people really are welcoming. My experience there has been lovely.

What about side trips from Paris? Any spectacular itineraries to recommend?

Rent a car and go to Reims. That's where all the champagne is made. It's a wow -- a total wow. And then you stay over, right up the street, there's a hotel called Les Crayères -- it's one of the most luxurious châteaus I've ever stayed in. You drive there on the super highway and you drive back through champagne country. It's glorious.

--Erica Duecy