Before we even start today’s blogpost, I want you to appreciate the striped pants I wore during my third day in Paris. They were both comfortable and made me feel more Parisian, two very important characteristics in a pant.
Looking back at my trip, I often wonder how in the world I managed to cram so many experiences into just a few hours, without feeling stressed at all. In the moment, everything flowed naturally, and while I was pretty tired at the end of each day, I felt this revival of energy and joy during each day, excited for each next item on my list of things to see, do, and eat. In hindsight, however, I’m not certain how I managed to get to all of the things I did each day. My third day in Paris is one such day. You could say that visiting all of the sites I did was quite the…triumph.
Speaking of triumphs.
I woke up bright and early to check out the Arc de Triomphe, which was a great idea, because there was almost no one else there. I appreciated the quiet moment with the monument, before the Parisian traffic began coming through and my brain began hurting, wondering how they were not crashing into one another at any given moment, as they seemed to not be driving in any lanes and cruising pretty much wherever they wanted to.
I neglected to go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, which I regretted later – but there’s always next time.
After I’d had my fill of the monument, I strolled down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, looking at all of the stores much too fancy for my bank account!
After my brief walk, I called an Uber to bring me to the Conciergerie, a former courthouse and prison.
In fact, the Conciergerie was one of the primary prisons during the French Revolution, and was the last prison to hold Marie Antoinette before her execution. An interesting detail about her time here includes a plan to break her out – a gentleman came to visit her, dropping a white carnation that contained a secret note about a plan to set her free. On the night of the escape, Marie Antoinette made it out into the courtyard with her rescuers, however, a guard (who had already been paid a bribe to look the other way during her escape) stopped them and insisted she return to her prison, or he would call the rest of the guard.
Marie Antoinette, as we know, was never able to escape and was beheaded in 1793. Her cell at the Conciergerie has been dedicated to her memory, and you can tour the space and the Conciergerie – however, I decided to save that for my next trip, and instead was satisfied by appreciating the history of the building and the beauty of its exterior.
Next on the docket was a visit to Angelina, a famous teahouse and café in Paris. Angelina is famous for its hot chocolate and for being the location of choice for Coco Chanel and her friends to gather. With the original location on Rue de Rivoli, Angelina has grown in popularity to the point of expansion across Paris.
I hadn’t had breakfast yet, but I did have a strategy. I’d walked by the original Angelina several times at this point, and knew that if you wanted a seat, you needed to make a reservation in advance. So, I decided the best way to experience the critically-acclaimed hot chocolate was to try a different location.
It seemed to me that the best bet was the location at the Musée du Luxembourg, which happened to be a brief walk away from the Conciergerie.
I was convinced that most people would try to go to the original Angelina location, and if they couldn’t swing it, would try the next regular location. This particular Angelina, however, was located in the Musée du Luxembourg – while it is still open to the public, even those not visiting the museum, I thought it might deter a few folks from visiting it. I was right! It was pretty quiet the entire time I was there.
The place was extremely cute, and myself and my empty stomach were very excited to try the old fashioned hot chocolate and croissants.
I ordered the Parisian breakfast, which included three small croissants, butter, jam, my choice of juice, and the famous old fashioned hot chocolate served with a tiny bowl of whipped cream.
The old fashioned hot chocolate is the drink Angelina is most-known for, and it is certainly for a reason.
I have a sweet tooth.
A huge sweet tooth.
Never in my life have I met my match like with this hot chocolate. The drink is extremely thick, and very sweet. I was able to drink about one third of the cup before questioning my identity as a self-proclaimed sugar-addict. I stirred in most of the whipped cream, hoping it would tone down the thickness of the drink – it did, to an extent, but the end result was still quite thick.
I was glad to have ordered the Parisian breakfast, as the light, airy croissants were a good compliment for the hot chocolate.
I enjoyed my breakfast slowly, and took the time to appreciate the Polaroid photos I’d taken that morning.
I’d second-guessed my decision to pack my Polaroid before I left, but I was incredibly glad to have brought it and captured those shots, among others.
Before I left, I went to the pastry counter, with the goal to order the other infamous Angelina treat, the Mont-Blanc, a chocolatey meringue and whipped cream treat. However, they were selling a pistachio version of the treat, and as an absolute sucker for pistachios, I couldn’t resist. I also picked up quite a few canisters of tea (the chocolate tea from Angelina’s is to die for, and I truthfully much prefer it over the hot chocolate) and hot chocolate to bring back as gifts for family and friends.
When I approached the counter, I asked the young woman, in French, if she spoke English. She looked excited and relieved when I asked the question, and exclaimed, “Yes!”
After she had helped me with my purchases, I asked her if she was French, because her English was extremely good. She told me that she was actually from Scotland, and had moved to Paris just before the pandemic began. She’d learned a bit of French before moving, and was continuing to take lessons even now – I was impressed as she told me that working at Angelina was good practice for her. I think my social anxiety would utterly cripple me if I had to learn another language while working in a customer service job, but her French was very good and she seemed to take it all in stride.
We talked about how lovely of a language French is, and I said I only knew a little conversational French, but wanted to learn more and take classes when I returned stateside.
“Don’t you hate it when you start talking to someone, and they immediately recognize that you speak English so they transfer over?” she asked me. “I want to practice, but they think they’re being nice by switching to English!”
I laughed, but I had actually not had that experience! I felt even more encouraged to take French lessons when I returned home – I kept being told that my French accent was very good, and during my entire trip, not one person swapped to English or asked me if I was an American. Instead, people told me I sounded French, and asked me how long I had been studying it.
After my delicious stint at Angelina, I returned to my hotel to drop off my treasures, and then embarked on the only walking tour I’d booked during my trip – Writer’s and Legends of the Left Bank. I found this experience on AirBNB, and as a literary nerd, I could not resist. I happened to be the only person who booked the tour that day, which ended up being really fun! The host, Eileen, asked me about my favorite artists, and tailored the tour to my interests. She also mentioned that she enjoyed bringing the women of the Left Bank back to the light, as they played large roles in the world of art at the time, but never received the same accolades as the men. I loved that she incorporated that aspect into the tour, it was extremely refreshing!
We began at the Church of St. Germain de Prés, one of the oldest churches in France.
I won’t spoil the entire tour for you, but will share a few of my favorite locations.
Here, the hotel that Oscar Wilde lived and died in after he was banished from London. I think Wilde is one of the most interesting literary characters, whose vibrant spirit and voice can still be vividly felt through his work. It was interesting to see the place he ended up living after his imprisonment.
There was quite a bit about Hemingway on the tour, including this fountain he used to stop at each morning. He would feed the pigeons here before heading to Les Deux Magots, his informal office, to write.
Hemingway wasn’t the only one to frequent Les Deux Magots – many writers of the Lost Generation, the group of expats who flocked to Paris to pursue their creative works, also visited the café.
Right next door is Café de Flore, another hub for the creatives in the Lost Generation.
I was dying to spend time at both cafés, but that would be for later! The tour continued by stopping the the apartment Hemingway lived at when he found out his novel, The Sun Also Rises, would be published.
And lastly, my favorite spot on the whole tour – the building that F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald lived in during their peak while in Paris.
Like with most F. Scott Fitzgerald sites, I felt the importance of the place before we stopped. I called it out as a beautiful building as we approached, and Eileen told me to get comfortable, because it was our next stop. After the tour, I returned to a bench outside of the building to rest, reflect, and people-watch.
I was beginning to get a bit hungry, but I had dinner plans, so I decided to get something small. It had been several days in Paris, and I still hadn’t had a crepe, which may be a cardinal sin. However, I was more than prepared to do my penance.
I ordered a Nutella crepe in French, which I was very proud of. The crepe itself was *chef’s kiss.*
I had some time left before my evening plans, so I decided to head to Shakespeare & Company again, as I still had a few gifts I needed to pick up for friends and family.
On the way there, I stopped at a Laduree for some macarons, because of course I did. I ordered enough to bring home to share with my family, because everyone needs macarons from Paris.
I also perused a few additional bouquinistas along the Seine. I cannot get over the copious amounts of beautiful antique books.
I had to get another suitcase to bring all the books I bought from Shakespeare & Company back home with me. That is not an exaggeration, and I am not sad about it.
I had it on my list to stop at Odette, another famous stop for Parisian pastries, but after consuming the dense, sweet hot chocolate from Angelina, followed by a crepe and some macarons, I couldn’t even fathom purchasing something from Odette. Another item on my list for next time.
With another bag of books in hand, I returned to my hotel, where I put on my finest flapper dress, keeping with the 1920s theme of the day.
I was very excited to have had reservations at the one and only Moulin Rouge that evening!
Let’s get a better look at the infamous windmill.
The interior of the building was also very cool – check out this sweet chandelier!
The ceiling is almost opalescent.
When I was seated, I was brought almost directly to the stage. I was seated at the tables directly next to the stage, with a bunch of strangers.
Since I was by myself, I figured they would seat me at a table with other people, and I’d previously been seated at a bachelor’s party table in New Orleans for no apparent reason, so I felt like that had prepared me for really anything when it comes to having dinner with strangers. I was a little nervous about being so close to the stage, because as you can see, there were stairs immediately in front of me, and I do not enjoy audience to performer interactions.
What I did not know at the time was that the stage right in front of me was actually filled with pythons! That doesn’t seem okay!
I purchased the dinner + show ticket, so we were served prior to the performance.
I enjoyed the foie gras, because when in Paris, and it was delicious.
I also had more scallops. Hell yeah!
All of it was amazing.
After the dinner, they brought out buckets of champagne, and guests arrived who were just attending the show. As they filtered in, a man from Australia was seated across from me. We chatted awhile about the strange plethora of Five Guys locations across France, and he told me his favorite place in Paris was the top of the Arc de Triomphe. I wished that I’d taken the time to go to the top, but again, added it to my list for next time.
The show was interesting – they haven’t changed the show since 1999, and it evidently pulls together scenes from some of the most popular shows that made Moulin Rouge famous. There were a few things that I felt were a bit questionable, including when the stage rolls back to reveal a giant pool of water filled with pythons, which were incredibly close to myself and the other guests at our table. A plastic shelf kept the pythons contained in the pool, but for the entirety of the scene, they were trying to jump out. Then, one of the performers, who in the scene is being “sacrificed to the snake god,” is thrown into the pool of pythons, where she proceeds to pretend to try to escape, all while dancing. As the scene concludes, they simply lower the pool back below the stage, including with the girl in it. This performer has not only been dancing with pythons in a pool, but she’s lowered into darkness below the stage while still in the pool with them. I don’t love that for her, and it also feels like there are some questionable animal cruelty things going on here.
Going to the Moulin Rouge was one of those things where now that I’ve done it, I can say I’ve done it and probably won’t go back again. It was entertaining for sure, but the show felt a little outdated to me, and there are plenty of other ways to spend your time and money in Paris. I’m glad I went, I enjoyed the experience, and if I went to Paris with a friend who insisted on going, I would probably go again, but I would certainly not go out of my way to scoop up another pair of tickets.
From there, I was pretty tired, and it was late, so I took an Uber back to my hotel, ready to rest up for the next day’s adventures. It would finally be time to do my photoshoot!
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