Text by Alan Abrahamson
The apartment was located near the Gare de l'Est train station, on a small street, Rue de Chabrol, in the 10th arrondissement. One sunny day, I walked a couple blocks over on Rue du 8 Mai 1945 to the train station, then turned right, onto Rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin. At that corner was a street vendor making crepes. Again, I had, like, zero money. But I splurged. This was well before France turned to the euro. My chocolate-and-banana crepe might have cost two francs.
It was --- awesome.
Everyone has their own Paris. It's why Paris is eternal. It's why, in the movie classic Casablanca, as Rick tells Ilsa (all-time most beautiful woman not my wife or daughters), "We'll always have Paris."
It's why the world is awash in Paris kitsch, why from the keychain to our Honda here in faraway Los Angeles dangles a blue mini-Eiffel Tower, from the keychain to the Acura twirls a pink mini-Eiffel.
That kitsch is all about memories, like that crepe, and dreams and all the things that make the best part of the world go around.
Paris is for dreamers and wanderers and discovery. It's why no matter how many times you go --- or even if you go only once --- the city is there to be found.
With the world's attention largely focused on South Korea and the Olympic Winter Games, it surely will be awesome --- what else --- to be in Paris in February amid the International Judo Federation's Grand Slam. The French superstar Teddy Riner and judo itself figure to be huge to and through the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
Let's stop the dance for just a moment. February in Paris is likely to be cold. It may well rain. Maybe even snow.
Be like the locals. Dress warm. Shrug it off.
Let's also be forthright about life as it is in 2018, and in particular in Paris and in France. The headlines have made plain some of the very real tensions that in recent years have struck at the heart of western Europe.
In practice, if you're a visitor, what is this likely to mean? More law enforcement on the streets. You probably will notice, too, the construction that's underway of a bulletproof wall around the gardens beneath the Eiffel Tower.
Reality: are these signals any different than New York, Washington, London or --- anywhere?
Do not be put off. It's Paris. Life is for living, especially in Paris. Go to the Louvre. See the Mona Lisa. How can you go to Paris and not see the Mona Lisa? You know that when you go back home, the first thing you're going to be asked is, did you see the Mona Lisa?
Give in. While you're at the Louvre, do the grand tour: see the Venus de Milo and the Victory of Samothrace. Come on. Everyone does. You should, too.
Go across the river, to the Muse d'Orsay, the former Beaux-Arts rail station that now is home to the largest collection of impressionist (and post-impressionist) paintings anywhere. Discuss: Czanne's Apples and Oranges, or van Gogh's Starry Night over the Rhone?
This kind of debate is for the cafs, bars, restaurants and hangouts that are, well, everywhere in Paris. Herewith a list of the tick-box must-see's that, when back home, you can also say --- I was there, because an indisputable part of being a tourist in Paris is, well, being a tourist:
Hot chocolate? Angelina's Tea House (226 Rue de Rivoli, in the 1st).
Macarons (and more chocolate)? Pierre Herm (locations all over the city).
Ice cream? Even in February! Berthillon, on Ile Saint-Louis (not far from Notre Dame).
Maybe the best falafel anywhere? L'As du Fallafel, in the Marais quarter (32 Rue des Rosiers).
Steak frites? Le Relais de L'Entracte (three locations, including at 15 Rue Marbeuf).
People watching? The terrace at Les Deux Magots (6 Place Saint-Germain des Prs).
Awesome all around, except that you'll want to get away from all that, too, to find Paris is a city of neighborhoods, and discoveries.
Here is a great website for exactly that: Paris Zig Zag. Click for walks, a link to the "five best apps of 2018," an article proclaiming the 15th the city's best arrondissement and more.
LINK:https://www.pariszigzag.fr/
This is the best part of Paris: feeling like you're in on something secret.
Like my youngest brother's favorite Paris spot. He went to college at the University of California at Berkeley, majoring in French literature. Fluent in the language, he listens to French radio and TV, reads French newspapers, is up on all things French, and whenever he is in Paris he likes to make a stop at the Musee des egouts de Paris (Pont de l'Alma, face au 93 quai d'Orsay, in the 7th arrondissement).
The Musee des egouts tells the history of the city's sewers, and through them, along an underground path 500 meters long, the city's history.
On one of my trips back to Paris, long after my student days, my brother and I were there together, with another friend. Down into the sewer museum we went.
Seriously --- it was awesome.