In the middle of the pandemic, when travel restrictions were fairly light, my parents took an international trip to the Caribbean. During a post-trip debrief over pizza, we collectively wondered aloud “what if we took a family trip over the Christmas holiday?”

Mind you, this was mid-November. So, that didn’t leave us much time to make necessary arrangements. I guess we were all just stir-crazy and desperate for an adventure. We considered multiple options, but ultimately settled on Paris, which was open to vaccinated travelers (with the caveat of testing before and after entry and exit).

I hardly told anyone I was going to Paris, despite it being my favorite city in the world. I was extremely anxious that due to COVID, unpredictable winter weather in the Midwest, or just plain bad luck, our plans would get foiled. In hopes of avoiding the former, we quarantined ourselves at home after visiting family members left, and watched the first two seasons of Lupin (an excellent French series on Netflix). I did not enjoy any positive feelings of pre-trip anticipation and spent those days fretting in advance about the heartbreak that I was sure would come when our trip got cancelled.

So, I was rather pleasantly shocked to find myself actually in Paris on the rainy evening of my birthday. For our 12-day trip, we stayed in a cozy AirBnB in the Marais neighborhood. The quartier, which spans both the third and fourth arrondissements, was the old Jewish quarter before World War II and is now home to a lively array of shops, cafés, great thrift stores, patisseries, boulangeries and parks. From the Marais, which is very centrally located in Paris, you can easily get around the city by walking or le Métro, both of which we did frequently.

Within a day or two of our arrival, the city of Paris instituted stricter COVID restrictions, which required wearing a mask even outdoors. It wasn’t the most pleasant, but also didn’t really hinder our experiences inside or outside. My family loves museums, history and sight-seeing, so we took advantage of the Paris Pass, which conveniently combines access to tons of activities and popular tourist sites through the purchase of one card. As we had more than one week in the city, this proved to be an extremely great value to leisurely experience the things we already wanted to see and do.

The trip was so wonderful and my heart was so full. We really took advantage of our neighborhood cafés (see below for recommendations) but also traveled all over the city (and out to Versailles for the day). We had been a little concerned about things being closed between Christmas & New Years, but some of our busiest touristic days were actually December 31 and January 1. Seeing the Eiffel Tower sparkle on New Year’s Eve was extra special—even though it sparkles every night. We did have to walk the entire length of the Champs Elysées that evening because of Metro closures, but the weather was pleasant and our spirits were high (despite my earlier emergency use of one of the city’s infamous self-cleaning street toilets, which was quite an adventure in and of itself).

Having been in Paris during every season of the year, I will say that the spring and summer months are extra beautiful. However, Paris in the winter is really lovely. Crowds tend to be a bit lower, there are Christmas lights strung up and down many streets, the weather is mild compared to some other major European cities. We were able to sit outside at cafés and spent an afternoon writing postcards in Luxembourg Gardens. My point: if you ever have the opportunity to go, book the trip to Paris!

The Highlights

Le Marais. Croissants & choquettes. Sandwich au jambon et fromage (I could eat these every day for lunch. So simple, but so delicious). Musée d’Orsay. L’as du Fallafel. Tram tour to the top of Montmartre (and a steep, but beautiful walk down). Quick tour of the Louvre. Chestnut crêpes. Rodin Museum. Big Bus Tour of Paris. The Eiffel Tower at night. Palais Royale. Luxembourg Gardens. Versailles. Speaking French. Place de Vosges. Musée de l’Orangerie. Quiche. La Cuisine Paris choux pastry baking class. La Muette Rieuse (bookstore in le Marais). Salad du chèvre chaud­­. Catacombs. Victor Hugo Museum. Macaron. Merveilleux de Fred. Food & fancy mocktails at La Favourite. Boeuf Bourginon.

The Remarkable

I’m not exactly sure how my mom found La Cuisine Paris (perhaps from David Lebovitz’s Instagram feed), but we had both followed the company for a year or so before we visited Paris. For Christmas in 2020, I asked for (and received) access to online cooking courses from La Cuisine (which were excellently produced). So, it was no surprise that taking an in-person class during our stay in Paris was one of our must-do activities. It took a bit of convincing, but my sister decided to join as well.

The three of us signed up for the choux pastry class held on our last morning in the city. Our AirBnB in Le Marais was a very easy walking distance from the cooking school, so we left our packed bags and walked toward the river for our adventure while my dad headed to the Louvre for his own morning of creative inspiration.

To say that we had a fun time learning about choux (and its many delicious applications) from our hilarious chef would be a gross understatement. We each left with a pastry box bursting with éclairs, gougères, Paris-Brest and chouquettes (which was a bit much for the four of us to finish before we flew out the next morning, but we hunkered down and no crumbs were left behind!).

The staff at La Cuisine were all so kind and welcoming and, conveniently for us, spoke English. I wish more major cities had operations like this to learn from exceptional chefs about local cuisine. I believe that food is such an important gateway to appreciating culture and I cannot recommend the experience of a cooking or baking class with La Cuisine more!

SDG

LMB #22