Kevin

Paris – Day 5 – September 13th – EMMANUEL’S HIDDEN GEMS!

My 57th Birthday! In Paris!

We started my birthday off under the rainbow umbrellas of Le Ju’ in the Marais again. We visited this place a few times during our two weeks. They had the perfect quick breakfast of coffee, orange juice, baguettes and pain au chocolat!

The highlight of our day was to be the two tours we booked with Emmanuel’s Hidden Gems. We had heard so many great things about Emmanuel’s tours and we were excited to experience them ourselves!

EMMANUEL’S HIDDEN GEMS FACEBOOK PAGE is the best way to contact Emmanuel. There’s a MESSAGE button at the top of the page. Emmanuel also has a Facebook Group, which you can find here.

Throughout our two week trip, we booked 4 of the 6 tours Emmanuel offers. For my birthday, we had 2 of those tours— The Marais in the morning and Montmartre in the afternoon. It doesn’t get much better than that!

As the name of Emmanuel’s tours suggests, these are carefully curated tours that will show you the hidden gems of the areas specific to each tour. You’ll see things you might otherwise walk past or miss all together. And there are stories to go along with the places Emmanuel points out along the way. I’ve been to these areas in the past, but these tours opened them up to me in new ways. I loved the details of the stories shared, and I really did feel like we were discovering hidden gems.

I’ll share a couple photos from each tour, but I wouldn’t want to give it all away by oversharing photos of everything we saw.

The Marais is rich with history and Emmanuel’s knowledge of the area gave us a wealth of information we would have otherwise missed. He brought the Marais to life for us.

Emmanuel took us to so many special places on his Marais tour that we might have simply passed by without being shown. Truly hidden gems!

The Marais tour also has a couple well curated food stops, as well. Be prepared for some awesome delicacies!

After an amazing morning discovering some secrets of the Marais, Michael and I made our way to Montmartre. Reluctantly, we decided to take the Metro. We very rarely take the Metro. It’s excellent and extremely easy, but we prefer to walk. Walking in Paris, the journey is as exciting as the destination.

When you come up out of the Metro at Abbesses station (there are a LOT of stairs out of this station, so you might want to take the elevator up), you will see the Wall of Love directly behind the Metro exit.

We took a peek at the wall while we waited for the Montmartre tour to begin. We visited this sight when we were in Paris in 2021.

Emmanuel walked us around the neighbourhood of his childhood, entertaining us with amazing stories and more of the hidden gems an outsider might not notice on their own. The way he peppered stories and memories into his walking tour was perfect. It made the place open up to us and made us feel a deeper connection with it.

Another great thing about Emmanuel’s tours is that once he’s finished showing you the details off the beaten path, he ends the tours in the heart of the area. The Montmartre tour ended at the back of Sacré-Cœur Basilica, a perfect place to begin to explore the area on your own after learning so much of the neighbourhood’s history! HUGE thank you to Emmanuel for making my birthday such an extra special day! We saw so many amazing things on these two tours!

The Instagram famous La Maison Rose, in the heart of Montmartre.

Our expectations for Emmanuel’s first two tours were met and exceeded! It was the perfect way to spend my birthday.

After the Montmartre tour, and a little walk around the Basilica, we were off in the direction of our next stop! We chose Bouillon Chartier for my birthday dinner. We’d eaten there during our 2021 visit and enjoyed it very much. Time for a redo! It was just as wonderful as our memories suggested.

After dinner, we were in for one of those amazing Paris walks where you take in so many beautiful sights all at once…the kind of thing that makes you feel like a flâneur out for an endless stroll to nowhere and everywhere all at once!

Naturally, after the Louvre comes the Tuileries.

We snapped the obligatory tower shot selfie while we walked along the banks of the Seine…

Or…maybe we took a few! So what! It was my 57th birthday and we were in PARIS! Here’s another of his infamous peekaboo photobombs!

The Eternal Flame, newly festooned with memorials to Princess Diana. It was the anniversary of her death a month before. We walked past this monument several times in 2021 when we stayed in the 9th.

After our long wander, we capped off my birthday with a show. We went to CRAZY HORSE PARIS. Fun show! Different.

So ends another birthday, in one of my favourite cities in the world with one of my favourite people in the world! Pure Magic!

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Paris – Day 3 & 4 – September 11th & 12th

Just a quick post about our two days in the Disneyland Paris parks.

Day 1 – Disneyland Park

Day 2 – Walt Disney Studio Parks

If you’re worried about taking the train to Disney, don’t be. It’s a simple straight line and you get off at the end. We got on at Les Halles and took it to the end. There’s maps inside the train showing each stop, so you can count them down if you want. And in the station, it’s clearly marked which train to take…with arrows and even a little Mickey Mouse head showing the way on the signs.

Day 1 was Disneyland!

I’ve been to three Disneys now (Orlando, Hong Kong, Paris), and it is clear that they stick to their brand like glue. Sure, there are differences…but you really have to look to see them. So, if you like Disney in one city…you’ll like it anywhere.

We started our day at It’s A Small World After All, because what better way to get an ear-worm stuck in your head for an entire day!

And, of course, if there’s a carousel…I’m on it! I don’t know if Michael’s ever too thrilled about it, but he’s always a willing participant for me. (-;

We went on a lot of rides, but to be frank I’m a little past it. I don’t know if you know or not, but if you’re young and free…the day will come when rides simply make you feel ill. For some, aging takes away the enjoyment of the ride…and you just get all green and dizzy and ugh feeling. I am now at that age.

We saw the parades, both the mid-day and the late day one…and we even stayed for the fireworks (or at least some of them).

Day 2 was Disney Studio Park!

The studio park is always a lot of fun…and it usually has the more daring rides. I was green before noon! But don’t get me wrong, I still LOVE the rides…they just don’t love me back anymore. There was even one in this park that I stepped out of line to avoid. Michael did it by himself. I just could NOT get flung upside-down one more time without dire results.

I did like the innocuous little ‘bus’ ride that took us through Radiator Springs. I saw Lightning McQueen!

There were some awesome moments in this park!

Phantom Manor was cool!

Pro Tip: If you see the charcuterie booths, make sure to stop and get yourself some cones of meat and cheese! These were way better than we had hoped for…

We left this park a little early in the day and we made it back in Paris in time for supper.

We went to a Bouillon restaurant. There’s a few of them, and they all have similar but slightly different menus. We love them. They’re like a soft spot between fast food and fancy. Quick, cheaper, and really good food!

This time, we went to Bouillon Republique this time…our first visit to this one.

I think I would have been happy eating the chilled pea soup with fresh goat cheese for the rest of our visit in Paris. It was THAT good!

My main was also amazing. Sausage and mashed potatoes. So simple, and incredibly good!

Can one even go to Paris and not have a profiterole somewhere?!

That’s the end of our 4th day in Paris! Next day…we were so excited to begin the first of our tours with EMMANUEL’S HIDDEN GEMS! Two of them were scheduled for Day 5!

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Paris – Day 2 – September 10th 2023

This was the first morning we woke up in Paris. Our plan was to take it easy and explore. We did have an agenda, though.

Visit Hôtel de Ville to see the Olympic rings
Go to Le Ju’ in the Marais for breakfast
Find Passages
Galeries Lafayette for the rooftop terrace
Free Carnavalet Museum in the Marais
le Relais de l’Entrecôte for supper

Michael wanted to visit the Olympic Rings displayed at Hôtel de Ville and it was in the same neighbourhood as the restaurant we wanted to check out. Le Ju’ ended up being our go to breakfast place throughout our trip. On Instagram, I knew it as the place with the rainbow umbrellas. In person, we found it charming, affordable and with great staff. And COFFEE BY THE BOWL!

The peekaboo is very quick to come out in him!

Do yourself a favour and Google Map Le Ju’. You’ll like starting your day there!

It’s the place with the rainbow umbrellas!

After breakfast, the plan was to walk to Galeries Lafayette and take advantage of their rooftop terrace for views and the Paris sign.

It was on our way there that we found our first Passages. I’ve been intrigued with them, but I don’t remember ever seeing one. We found two on our way to GL. They were directly across the street from each other.

These passages are very boutique…with lovely stores inside. Even the famous Hotel Chopin can be found in one such passage.

Next up was Galeries Lafayette.

Everything is SO big in Paris. I always feel dwarfed by the hugeness of things. Galeries Lafayette is no exception.

And the views from the rooftop of GL were stunning. So glad we visited!

The Palais Garnier…the Opera, which we would be visiting later in our visit.

It was now time for the FREE Musée Carnavalet in the Marais!

The courtyard entrance to the **Musée Carnavalet**.

This museum is dedicated to the history of Paris itself. It can be found in TWO neighbouring mansions that are now combined into one large building the (Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau). The buildings have been around since the 16th century. Imagine walking about inside a building built in the 1500s. That alone is worth the visit.

The exhibits in this museum were exceptional. It’s truly worth the price of the ticket. It’s incomprehensible that the price is ZERO.

The first hallway you enter is filled with signage saved from the streets of old Paris.

The rooms themselves are absolutely stunning, not to mention the artworks on display. I’ll just share a few photos here to give you an idea. It truly is a MUST SEE museum. There’s a garden with a restaurant as well, should you be so inclined.

After the Carnavalet, we were headed to Saint-Germain-des-Prés. This is one of Paris’s most iconic neighbourhoods. One could just walk around for a few minutes and they’d find several of the famous cafes of the 1920s Lost Generation. Yes, they’re still in operation today. Here’s a sampling of the ones we passed by…all within a block of one another and all iconic.

Perhaps the most iconic of all, Les Deux Magots.

But we went in a different direction for our second supper in Paris. Also iconic, though not with as much history as the others, is le Relais de l’Entrecôte. I don’t even know why I love this restaurant so much. Normally, you could not pay me to eat steak. Something about the frenetic charm of this place gets to me. It shares my love for all things quirky.

le Relais de l’Entrecôte, with hints of Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi wafting around, mingled with the aroma of fresh cut fries and medium done steak. Be prepared for something a little different.

This restaurant opens around 6:45pm, but don’t be one of those people who show up after 6:00pm…because you will find A LINE. The line will eventually go around the block and yet it still doesn’t seem to deter guests from queuing up.

There is only one thing on the menu. Fries and Steak. When you’re seated, they’ll ask how you want your steak done and what you would like to drink. They’ll write this information on your paper tablecloth.

Before this restaurant, I’ve been sworn off steak for life. I’m so adamant about it, I’m nervous to admit I eat it here. This sauce is magic.

Such a great meal. Such a fun place.

That was the end of our second day in Paris. But in Paris walking home is, in itself, an event. There was still a lot to see before our heads hit the pillow.