Minajin’ in Paris

I’ve put off writing about our last day in Paris, because then I felt like then the trip would really be over…But I want to document every minute of this special experience, so as the cliché goes, all good things must come to an end…

We woke up early, hoping to get to the Eiffel Tower right when it opened and before it was too crowded to summit the tower. We took the Metro and arrived about 15 minutes after it opened. The line was already a mile long as hundreds of people were waiting to take the elevator to the top. I held our place in line as Kyle went to explore the various entry points to see if there might be a shorter wait elsewhere. Sure enough, he came back five minutes later and told me he found an entry point where we could take the stairs to the second level, and from there take the elevator to the very top. We had been training for weeks leading up for this moment—stairs to the second level would be a piece of cake!

We walked right up to the ticket counter, purchased our tickets to climb the stairs and take the elevator to the top, and went on our way. It was surreal to climb the stairs inside the Eiffel Tower since we had spent the last few days admiring the outside of it from a distance. We reached the first platform relatively quickly and soaked in the sites below. We saw the spot where we enjoyed our Fourth of July picnic and the various locations we rode past on our bike tour. We then climbed our way to the second-level platform. Here the ground below looked even smaller and the views of the city expanded beyond what we had seen the night before at the Arc de Triumph.

Then we waited in line to take the elevators to the very top (there wasn’t an option to take the stairs all the way up, otherwise knowing us we would’ve done it!). After about a 15-minute wait, we crammed inside the elevator, which dropped us at the highest viewing point in all of Paris—324 meters above ground! We walked around inside the observation deck, looking at the comparisons between the height of the Eiffel Tower and other major landmarks around the world. We were amazed to see that the Burj Khalifa in Dubai was more than twice the height of the Eiffel Tower at 828 meters!

We walked along the outside of the platform and took pictures of the spectacular views below. What an incredible feeling to be 324 meters above ground on top of one of the most beautiful, iconic structures in the world looking out at the gorgeous, sprawling city below! After basking in the moment, we began the descent down by elevator and then by stairs.

The whole experience took about two hours (it would’ve taken much longer if we had waited in that long line for the ground-level elevator!). Since we had skipped breakfast in order to book it to the Eiffel Tower, we decided to enjoy a late-morning croissant and coffee at a nearby café. Just as we took a seat under an outdoor patio awning, it began to pour cats and dogs. What perfect timing for us! We could’ve been on the outdoor platforms getting pelted by rain, or even worse, been one of those people still standing in line!

We waited for the rain to subside before setting out for our afternoon adventures. Our friend, Alexis, told us about a restaurant called L’Entrecote, where the only thing on the menu is steak and frites. While I don’t eat steak, I couldn’t deprive Kyle of this culinary experience, so we set out to find the restaurant on Rue de Marbeuf. When we arrived, there was a line stretching out into the street. The restaurant was only open from lunch from noon to 2 p.m., so we kept our fingers crossed that the line would move fast enough for us to get a table before they closed.

It took about 30 minutes for a table for two to open up. While waiting outside, I practiced saying “no beef” (or “no boeuf”) for me. As soon as we sat down, the waitress came over and since there is literally no menu, she just asked “How would you like your steak prepared?” Kyle said “medium rare,” and when she looked at me, I said “No boeuf.” She replied, “No eat?” She looked annoyed as I replied “No,” and immediately grabbed my place setting. As Kyle ate his appetizer salad, I asked the waitress for water. She shook her finger at me and said, “NO! Not for you!” I felt like I was on the “Soup Nazi” episode of Seinfeld!

Despite me pissing off the waitress with my non-beef-eating ways, Kyle thoroughly enjoyed his meal of filet mignon with a delicious sauce (we couldn’t figure out what it was made of—Kyle guessed pesto was an ingredient, but whatever it was tasted amazing!) and a pile of French fries. When the waitress turned her back, I snuck bites of Kyle’s fries soaked in the green sauce. It tasted so good that I even tried a bite of Kyle’s steak, which tasted great! Kyle fell even more in love with the meal, when the waitress came around and gave him a second portion of steak and fries! Not only was this steak scrumptious, but for just 28 euros you also get seconds! If you eat steak, this place is a must visit on your next trip to Paris! (And if you don’t, sneaking French fries is allowed as long as you don’t ask for water.)

By the time we got the check it was now after 2:30 p.m. and I had yet to do any shopping in Paris! Fueled by French fries, croissants and coffee, I led us back to the Champs-Elysees to do some shopping. (Kyle thought I may have buttered him up by taking him out for a steak lunch before spending the rest of the afternoon shopping. I will never admit to this coincidental timing!)

Our first stop was the Laduree, or macaroon store, on the Champs-Elysees. The smell of fresh cookies was intoxicating as we stepped inside the door. I took out my camera to take a picture of the brightly colored little wonders, and was yelled at for the second time today, “No pictures!” What a terrible tourist I was being today! Putting away my camera, we ordered a dozen macaroons, which we immediately delved into after stepping out of the store. The cookies were light, airy and full of flavor. We shared a raspberry macaroon and a salted caramel one. There was so much flavor packed into such a tiny treasure!

Since the stores along the Champs-Elysees rival those of Rodeo Drive, we set out for a different part of town that would, hopefully, offer more affordable stores. We stumbled upon the Galeries Lafayette on Haussmann Boulevard—a giant department store that was having a huge sale. Thousands of people filled the store searching the sale racks. I set out to look at French designers like Zadig & Voltaire, Antik Batik and Comptoir des Cotonniers. While I admired the beautiful clothing, I couldn’t find anything I liked in my size, so sadly I was about to leave the department store without purchasing a thing when I found a section called COS. Here I found a bright yellow, summery top that I couldn’t pass up. And we had acquired so many keepsakes and trinkets along the way that we purchased an extra suitcase to bring back all of our goodies!

After stopping at a creperie for a savory poulet, fromage, and oeuf (chicken, cheese and egg) crepe, we went to the hotel to change. I took my time getting ready, as the concert was scheduled to start at 8 p.m., but we all know how concerts work…The opening act usually doesn’t come on until after 8 and then the main act doesn’t come on until after 9 at the earliest. Kyle looked up a subway route to the concert at the Zenith—a part of town we had not yet seen.

It took 45 minutes to get to the venue by subway and by now it was nearly 9 p.m. We arrived at Will Call with our fingers crossed that the tickets would be waiting there under my name. Sure enough we got our two tickets and walked right in to see that Nicki Minaj was already on stage! We weren’t sure how long she’d already been performing, but it’s good thing we didn’t show up much later!

The usher showed us to our seats, which were dead center above the standing-room only, general admission crowd. We had a great view of the stage, and the sound in the venue was excellent. The place was packed with thousands of people, all excitedly dancing and singing every word of every song. We were stunned to see how much the crowd loved the show—they knew way more songs than we did!

Nicki Minaj said that this was her first concert in Paris, and that she was so impressed that the crowd knew all of her lyrics. She threw T-shirts into the crowd and even brought three teenage girls on stage to take photos and dance with her during one of her songs. The girls were all from Paris and were so thrilled to be on stage with Nicki. The atmosphere felt like a huge party, as Nicki rapped the lyrics, “Put your drinks up. It’s a celebration every time we link up.” What a fitting way to end our trip with the Nicki Minaj concert, considering this was the reason we were in Paris in the first place!

As she performed “Moment 4 Life,” the words rang true as we soaked in these last few hours in paradise: “No, I’m not lucky. I’m blessed, yes.” She played until 10:30 p.m., and as the crowd moved from the venue back to the Metro, Nicki Minaj’s lyrics summed up not only this moment, but how I felt about our trip in general:

“I wish that I could have this moment for life. Cause in this moment I just feel so alive. This is my moment, I’ve waited all my life I could tell it’s time. Drifting away I’m one with the sunset, I have become alive.”

(This is one many videos we filmed—slowly starting to post them on my YouTube channel.)

Parisian Paradise

The bed at Hotel 7 was the most comfortable we’d slept on the entire trip, but despite the good night’s rest, Kyle woke up not feeling well. Perhaps it was our constant activity (yes, we know we’ve squeezed a lot in to this trip!) or lack of sleep, but I knew it wasn’t good since Kyle doesn’t get sick often. He had a slight fever, his lymph nodes were swollen and his mouth hurt, but being the trooper that he is, he said he’d take some Tylenol, drink some water and keep going. He decided that if he was still feeling sick, he’d go see a doctor when we went home in just a couple of days.

Powering on, we walked to the nearby market to get croissants from the boulangerie. The croissants were light, flaky, and buttery all at the same time. They practically melted in our mouths. Like the sandwiches we had in Florence, these first croissants in Paris are a food memory we will always cherish.

Over coffee Kyle asked what I wanted to do while in Paris, and I immediately rattled off a list of 10 “must dos.” A bit overwhelmed, we prioritized the list knowing that there’s no way we could do everything in just the 3 days we had left—we already knew we’d just have to come back!

At the top of the “must do” list was the Louvre. We took the Metro (which would soon become our best friend in Paris) and waited in line with thousands of other tourists to get in. This would be the first of many long lines we would wait in, which led Kyle to deem Paris as “adult Disneyland.” Once inside, the museum was completely packed. We went straight to the Egyptian art section to see the many artifacts and sarcophagi.

As we made our way to the section housing the Mona Lisa, we walked by a stunning statue called “The Winged Victory of Samothrace.” We walked through the Greek and Roman antiquities and Italian paintings where we arrived at the Mona Lisa. We were forewarned that the painting was smaller than you’d expect, and it definitely was! The room was filled to capacity with onlookers snapping photos and pushing their way to the front to get a better view of the painting. The experience was not as sublime as I expected as there were far too many people crammed in the room to really enjoy the moment.

Soon after we left the Louvre, we went off the beaten path to find a place to eat lunch. We stumbled on a small café filled with what appeared to be locals. We sat down and knew we’d picked a good spot when everyone greeted one another just like Cheers in the U.S. The menu was in French, so thumbing through our guidebook, we guessed at what we were ordering. We were delighted to be served an unbelievably tasty meal of a cheese plate appetizer, a green salad with smoked salmon and caviar, and grilled salmon with roasted potatoes. While completely different from Italy, the food in Paris was already proving to be equally outstanding!

The two-day Museum Pass we purchased would give us access to more than 50 museums and attractions in the city and cut the line at certain places (much like a fast pass at Disneyland). The next spot on the “must do” list was Sainte-Chapelle to see the stained glass windows. This 13th century Gothic church was commissioned by France’s King Louis IX to house his collection of the Passion relics, including Jesus’ Crown of Thorns. The church was breathtaking inside, with more than 15 nearly floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows in the upper chapel. The details on the windows were so precise and intricately painted. When the sun shone through, it reflected the most gorgeous colors on the hardwood floors.

Next we headed to Notre Dame. We had seen the church from the outside the night before, but the inside of this Gothic church was gorgeous. While much darker than the illuminating stained glass of Sainte-Chapelle, you could feel the rich history of Notre Dame. Praying in the pews felt like connecting to spirits of the past.

Our pass also included access the towers of Notre Dame. We waited in line again (are you sensing a theme here?), where we met a couple from Huntington Beach, California. It turns out that the man works for Aerospace Corporation, directly across from Kyle’s building in El Segundo. What a small world yet again! We climbed the steps of Notre Dame where at the top we could see the gargoyles up close and amazing views of the city. What a surreal experience to be on top of Notre Dame looking down at Paris below! We visited the bell tower before descending the narrow spiral staircase.

By now it was 6 p.m. Paris time on American Independence Day. Normally at this time we would be biking down the boardwalk to Redondo Beach for our annual Fourth of July barbeque at our dear friend Sandra’s house. We decided we’d celebrate the holiday by having a picnic at the Eiffel Tower. We stopped at little specialty shops along the way where we picked up a baguette, grapes, a cucumber and tomato salad, salami, roast beef for Kyle and roast chicken for me. We brought the bottle of champagne the hotel had given us for our troubles the night before and set out for our Fourth of July picnic.

We found a spot on the grass just south of the Eiffel Tower and set out our spread. We sat and took in the view and munched on our meal for over an hour. The lawn soon filled with other picnickers, travelers and locals alike. We relaxed here until the sun set after 10 p.m. so that we could see the twinkle lights of the tower (up close this time!).

After relishing in the light show, we packed up our picnic and decided to round out our Fourth of July celebration by going to visit Harry’s Bar that American writers F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway frequented in the 1920s. Stepping inside brought me back to my English major days of undergrad, studying The Great Gatsby and In Our Time. Knowing that these great American authors had once clinked glasses here gave me chills. The dark wooden walls of the bar were decorated with at least a hundred pennants from American universities. Kyle said that next time we come to Paris we should bring one from USD to hang on the wall.

We only had time to stay for one drink as the last train was leaving at 12:30 a.m. We ran back to the station just in time. Although we didn’t have fireworks or apple pie, we still managed to have a very memorable Fourth of July celebration!