Day 1 (21 May) - Recap

After an uneventful plane ride in which the passenger in front of us pretty much yelled at the flight attendants the whole time and at least once threatened to mess everyone in the plane up, we landed safely in Paris. The van ride (when it finally came) was extremely long, but at least we got a scenic tour of Paris, since we were the last ones dropped off. Got into the hotel (where we finished our honeymoon last year) at around 2pm and checked in. There were flowers and champagne (Devaux - Champagne Brut Grande Réserve) in the room waiting for us (where did those come from?). Got settled in for a while and tied up some loose ends work-wise. We then walked around the neighborhood where our hotel is (loosely, the quartier “Martyrs”) as well as nearby neighborhoods looking for some delicious food. Mission accomplished: We started out with some Tabouli, smoked side of pork, saucisson, and duck terrine with white pepper (with wine, of course, to wash it down) at a charcuterie on Rue des Martyrs. While there, we met a hairdresser named Thalueix who had strong opinions on where to eat. Upon his suggestion, we headed down to Rue Des Italiens (stopping along the way at the Sushi Shop for delicious salmon and Kirin) and ended up having beer at a Belgian café (Léon de Bruxelles), tartare and onion soup at Le Grand Café Capucines and crepe at Le Venetien before returning to the 3p for a couple of seize cent soixant quatres in the courtyard.