Pengas in Paris (Part I)

For reasons only our 20-something selves could answer, Shannon, Kerri and I long ago began calling ourselves the "Pengabears." Though one third of our trio was missing (for very acceptable reasons!), I was excited beyond belief that Kerri was able to come visit me here in gay Paris. I'll try to keep it succinct, but it's two of the few posts that will actually have photos of me in it, so enjoy!

When she arrived I had some pains au chocolats waiting for her, and then I suggested we get the big thing out of the way tout de suite: Le Tour Eiffel.

(It's impossible to capture a cartwheel on camera, evidently)

I had never been to the top, only the 2nd floor, so we set off to get to the top of the world.

Through some confusion we only made it to the 2nd floor, but by that time we were hungry and didn't want to wait in line so we settled (how very unlike us, ha!).

We managed to find the only decently-priced place open near the Tower that afternoon (in that hypoglycemic's nightmare time of day between lunch and dinner when most restaurants are closed) and let me tell you, it was fantastic. We were the only two people in the joint and they gave us some delish amuses-bouches of baguette, fresh ricotta, cherry tomato, and balsamic vinegar.

I think the chef was bored, because we asked to split a pizza and he not only did the splitting for us, he formed them into two yummy pizza hearts for us. Kerri and I have a long history of being in romantic situations together, and I had a feeling romantic Paris would be added to the list.

We headed home for a bit of a rest, and we planned out everything that we would do for the week. We had a list of things she wanted to see and things I wanted to show her, and we scheduled everything almost down to the hour. Then Kerri said, "I love to have this planned spontaneity!" 

Kerri wanted to sleep after that, but I had other plans for us. I would strive to keep her awake until the proper time to sleep, and hopefully snap her straight out of jet lag (I think it worked). We rallied with the help of some Justin Timberlake tunes as we got changed and headed out on the town. The sun put in a brief appearance to welcome Kerri.

Then we did a little drinking tour of Montmartre.

We reminisced about the time, over a decade ago, when she and I got all gussied up to go see "Moulin Rouge!" at the Biltmore. Haha, I wish so badly that I could go back and see those versions of us and show them this photo, and tell them, "I can't tell you how it will happen, but you guys are gonna be in Paris together one day, just you wait."

I didn't mean for it to happen, but hell, we were just over the hill, so I made us walk home in the quiet, most magical Montmartre after dark.

The next day we assessed our to-do list and I brought her to the Louvre. Gotta get the big things out of the way, you know? But as much as I sometimes loathe the touristy things, it was fun to do this with someone I like, and to not have to worry about seeing things, but just to let her enjoy it and wander as she wished. We had some fun inventing captions about the art we saw.

We saw this adorable group of French school children being led by an instructor, who told them to do this with their eyes while looking at the ornate ceiling, for some reason (yes, my French skillz are still lacking).

The fun continued in the Jardin des Tuileries outside as we searched for lunch. "Ahmahgahd, I have bird poo ALL OVER MY BOOBS!"

Simple, perfect lunch!

THEN I started in on my agenda introducing Kerri to "Jenna's Paris," which naturally began with a tasting of Pierre Hermé macarons. SUPERB!

That evening was a Friday and I thought I'd take Kerri along with me on a "fine dining experience" which I would later write about for Girls' Guide. I was supposed to write about a place called Café Salle Pleyel, which is a very elegant restaurant adjacent to the Salle Pleyel, where there are string and choir concerts almost every night. I managed to get us a reservation for dinner just before a FREE string concert (do I know what I'm doing or what?!).

Unfortunately, the meal was, um, lacking. I tried the foie gras, which was not awful but considering this was my entire meal (okay, and a chocolate brownie afterward), I didn't feel it was up to par for recommending to our readers. ANYWAYS.

Kerri insisted that she wanted to try foie gras on her trip, so I let her try mine. This was her reaction:

She concluded that it was not bad, "kind of like creamy meat." I would have to make her try another later.

The good part of the experience was the free concert afterward! It was just lovely.

The next day the sun actually came out - hooray! - so we decided to take advantage of the moment and do our bike tour of Paris via the Velib', Paris' bike rental service (just 1€ for a day pass!). It turned out to be quite a learning experience. We felt like we were in "The Amazing Race" as it took us an entire two hours to figure out the system, between signing up online and figuring out which codes to enter into the machine to get the bikes, in which order, then finding a station with TWO bikes on a sunny Saturday, then realizing that my bike had no left side pedal. This is that moment:

But eventually, we set off, and spent a glorious couple of hours toot-tooting around town, seeing the sights, getting lost and whizzing past people like a rainbow speed devil (or maybe that was just me).

We arrived in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area just as the rain began to fall, and settled in at one of my favorite eateries, Le Comptoir, for a REAL "fine dining experience." This one was a couple of euros cheaper than the previous night and leagues superior.

I got the escargot because Kerri had mentioned she wanted to try it.

Ha! I was like, "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO CHEW IT UNTIL IT'S ALL THE WAY IN YOUR MOUTH."

I also got a cheese plate. It was strange, I could have gotten one cheese for 7€, or a selection of cheeses for 8€. Doesn't really make sense, especially when you realize how much they actually give you of this yummy stuff.

It was amazing. Kerri had some kind of beef dish, and as the rain fell outside, after our bike ride and between a cheese plate and dessert, and with a half-bottle of champagne to split between us, Kerri said, "This is exactly what I wanted. I'm having a moment."

Then came the lavender crême brulée, and all bets were off.

Outside, we noticed that the nearby tree was decorated not only with flowers, but also books!

After our long and late lunch, we wandered in the rain over to Shakespeare and Company, one of my favorite spots in Paris. After a rest at home, we headed out for a night on the town with my Parisian buddies, most of which I have no photos of. It was a fun evening of jumbled languages. When Elsa's friend introduced himself to Kerri, saying merely "Antoine" with a kiss on the cheek, Kerri responded with, "I don't speak French." He replied, "It's okay, it's just my name." 

We did end up at Elsa's house, where I was pleased to watch two of my most outgoing and fun girlfriends dancing with abandon.

(Kerri and I were dressed very Frenchily that night.)

The next day, run ragged from so much Paris-ing, we decided to have a relaxed day, starting with brunch. We ended up at Chez Anne, just down the street from my apartment. I wasn't sure I wanted to spend 21€ on brunch, but it turned out to be a great bargain, as we were served food for a full 3 hours as it rained outside.

Fresh fruit smoothies, coffee and tea, baguettes with butter and 3 kinds of jams, a fruit bowl, omelettes, bacon, salad... and this was all before the wholly unnecessary dessert. Did I mention it was all organic? A steal at 21€.

We also saw the Notre Dame that day, and went for tea. We turned in early because the next day was a big day - and an early one, as we were setting off for Antibes. Stay tuned for that and the rest of our adventures in Paris!