Summer in France: Paris

Bailey and I made it all the way to France! I think I’ll write a separate post on the process of getting over here, since that’s another story in itself. But we landed early in the morning, after Bailey held her pee for about 13 hours straight. What a trooper. We took an Uber Pet straight to our Airbnb for early check in.

This was my third visit to Paris, so I had hit a lot of the main tourist attractions before. This trip was more about finding dog-friendly activities, trying a few new things, and hanging out with my friend, Karina, who has been living in Paris for about six years. I found the perfect Airbnb in the Jourdain neighborhood. It was quieter and off the beaten path, so it let me feel like a local while still having easy access to public transportation. It was nice having a kitchen to cook my own meals and a communal patio to eat outside.

On our first day, Bailey and I met Karina at the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont and caught up over drinks and snacks at The Puebla Pavilion. The park ended up being one of my favorite places to walk with Bailey during the trip. It’s a huge, beautiful green space with lots of trails and spaces to lounge. Afterwards, I stocked up at the grocery store, ate dinner at home, and called it an early night to try to ward off my jet lag.

I needed the rest to prepare for the holiday ahead. Bastille Day was approaching, and Karina let me know that celebrations usually happen the day prior. We’d been planning to attend the Firemen’s Balls, when the local fire stations open up at night for music, drinking, and dancing, but unfortunately they were canceled this year due to the intense heat wave.

Instead, Bailey and I started the day with a long walk to Le Bone Appart, a dog cafe that became another one of our favorite stops on the trip. It’s a little shop with coffee and treats for humans and dogs. They have French-themed toys and berets for sale, and there are usually plenty of dogs and dog-friendly humans to play with. Bailey recommends the VIP pup cup.

Later that day, we met up with Karina and friends at the Square du Vert-Galant for a picnic. Bailey braved the metro with her mandatory muzzle, then it was a gorgeous walk along the Seine to get down there.

We feasted on charcuterie, then trekked back to the Airbnb to feed and drop off Bailey for the evening. We had a Bastille Day boat party to attend. Karina and I rented city bikes to race back to the river in time for the boat’s departure.

We made it just in time and set off for a sunset river tour of Paris, DJ, drinks, and dancing. Once it got dark, we were treated to one of the best fireworks displays I’ve ever seen, a drone show, and the twinkling and sparkling Eiffel Tower herself. It felt like a truly special experience to be there for the celebration.

The return boat ride was interesting, since the police closed the Seine due to traffic, and our boat captain said we might not be able to leave until 4am. I was slightly panicking with Bailey at home and my tired, jet-lagged body stuck on the boat. I attempted to go with the flow, holding onto the railing to support myself, and we ended up getting back by 2 AM, two hours later than planned. Bailey was sleeping soundly at home when I arrived.

The next day I slept in as late as having a dog would allow. We had a pretty lazy day of lounging before I worked. In the evening, I met up with friends to watch France play Spain in the World Cup. As you can see from the subdued crowd, it was sadly not a victory.

At that point, Paris was still in a heat wave, and my apartment had no AC. I trekked around the city looking for a fan. Most of them were insanely marked up, since the city had run out of fans during the last heat wave. I finally found one (for an outrageous 37 euros!), and when I got it home learned that I would have to assemble it myself. It was simple enough, but I didn’t have a screw driver to do the final tightening of the frame. In spite of the shaking and rattling, Bailey and I got some relief. The apartment wasn’t too terribly hot, since French buildings are designed to stay cool, and the people have a system of leaving the shutters and windows closed all day until the temperature drops below 80 F, then opening them for a breeze through night and morning.

That worked pretty well, but the Parisians like to stay out late, so opening my windows through the night made it difficult to sleep with street noise. I got into a routine of staying up late until the air cooled down, waking up early for Bailey, and taking sticky afternoon naps on the couch with the fan running full blast.

Day four was my biggest tourism day. I took the train into the city center to visit the Musee de L’Orangerie and see Claude Monet’s water lilies. I didn’t reserve my slot in advance, so I waited about forty-five minutes, which wasn’t too bad, other than that I chose to wear pants in the July heat. The room with the water lilies painting was small but lovely and impressive.

Downstairs, there is a bigger collection of paintings by Paul Cezanne and Henri Rousseau that makes the whole experience really worth it.

I was in the center of it all. I visited the Louvre years ago and found it overwhelming, but I enjoyed walking along the promendade.

In my previous visits, the inside of Notre-Dame was closed, so that was a priority stop this time. The line (still hot!) moved quickly, and I was in and out of the beautiful cathedral in no time at all.

I headed back to walk Bailey through the mosaics of the Belleville neighborhood to find a view of the Eiffel Tower at a distance. Then I had my first and most delicious croque monsieur of the trip at La gueule enfarinée. It’s been awesome to find that dogs are welcomed outside and even inside of almost every restaurant in France.

My interrrupted sleep schedule caught up with me the next morning. I’d booked a croissant-making class that started at nine, knowing it would take an hour to get there on public transportation. I either slept through or turned off my alarm, and woke up startled at exactly eight. There wouldn’t be time to do dog chores and make the train. So I texted the organizer that I would be late, quickly looped Bailey around the block and fed her, then grabbed a last-minute Uber to somehow arrive to the class on time.

Luckily, there was a steady flow of coffee in the classroom. In the expertly-led workshop at Maison Fleuret, we learned to prepare, fold, and shape the dough to make the perfect croissants, pain au chocolat, and pain aux raisins. I hope I can replicate my newfound skills at home, but if not, at least I had some yummy treats for the rest of the week.

That night, I met up with Karina and her boyfriend for a documentary movie at a bar and outdoor cinema (La Recyclerie). The venue was amazing—they’ve built these garden bars on the old abandon train tracks throughout the city. Of course, the documentary was in French and the visuals weren’t very appealing, so for my sake, we only stayed for half, then headed back to the bar to have some beers. We went out in the city afterwards, but I departed early to get back to Bailey and try to fix my sleep schedule.

On my last day in the city, Karina met me at the Saint-Ouen flea market. We walked through the massive assortment of antiques and thrifty items that wrap through rows and rows. I wished I had a french home to decorate, because there were so many cool, vintage finds.

Afterwards, we met up with another of her friends who is a fellow world traveler and exchanged stories at a diferent garden bar along the old railroad tracks.

That night, the three of us had dinner at my favorite brasserie in Paris (well, maybe the only one I know, but it’s really good!): Brasserie Bellanger. The beef tartare (with frites, of course) and paris brest for dessert were outstanding.

Then suddenly, it was my last day. I learned by the last night once the heat wave cooled off that if I kept the windows closed, I could sleep much better through the night. A major shout out to Miliki Cafe for keeping me caffeinated through the week and for brunch on the last day.

It was time to meet Bryan at the airport for the next phase of our French adventure…