Paris in 40 hours - can it be done?

I had the super awesome opportunity to play tour guide again this weekend when my friend Helena came to visit! She's studying in Valladolid, Spain (about an hour outside Madrid). It was a whirlwind trip - she arrived at my apartment at 5pm on Friday and left Sunday morning at 9:30am - so we had to have our best walking shoes on and appetites ready.

Helena is great at Spanish, so she was able to follow the signs from the airport and take the bus to meet me at the train. We took a couple of hours to catch up and relax, then walked over to Fizz (my favorite crepe restaurant just a couple of blocks down rue St. Jacques) for dinner. It's always so fun to introduce my friends to buckwheat crepes ("galettes") and the hard cider traditionally served with them. Helena got one with tomatoes, cheese and ground beef and seemed quite satisfied after exploring the new form of food :) Of course, to top it off, we had to share La Creole - bananas and dark chocolate inside, ice cream and whipped cream on top. Heaven. We headed home and had Skype dates with Marissa and Ali, who jumped on the opportunity to get both Helena and I at one computer! I then took Helena to the Cite Universitaire dorms, where my friend Connie very generously offered to let her stay while she was in Strasbourg for the weekend.

The next morning, we set off at about 9:30am for a very full day of exploring! We decided to do the whole day on foot in order for Helena to fully take in the sights - and save some metro tickets... Luckily the weather was the most beautiful and warm we've had in the city for weeks! First we walked to Notre Dame and took in its inner and outer beauty. It's definitely my favorite historical sight in Paris, and even though it's often rather crowded there's something very peaceful and reflective about being inside that I don't always find in other cathedrals.

Next we walked west, past Hotel de Ville (the Mayor's residence and City Hall) and the Centre Pompidou to the Louvre and the Jardins de Tuileries, stopping for coffee at Cafe Verlet. It's famous for its quality of coffee and a local favorite, and I first went last week and LOVED it! We both enjoyed lingering over our cafe cremes and then set off again, stopping at a boulangerie nearby for croissants and mini versions of pain au raisin and chausson aux pommes (because of course I had to make sure Helena tried everything!). We walked back along the Seine eastward to the Marais, where we had a delicious falafel lunch at Chez Hannah and took in the bustling neighborhood. Next we criss-crossed back to the left bank and the St. Germain area for more culinary delights. We had to make a pilgrimage to Pierre Herme so Helena could try her first French macaroon (a classic dark chocolate that rendered her speechless for a minute) and I could show her my school and the surrounding neighborhood. We did some shopping for a picnic dinner and then stopped for hot chocolate at Christian Constant. Splitting a pot was perfect - not enough to be overwhelming but still a wonderful full cup of warm chocolatey goodness. When we finally arrived back at my apartment it was 5 pm - 7 and a half hours after we first left! Not bad...

We rested and recharged for a bit before packing up our picnic dinner at heading to the Eiffel Tower. Our shopping had yielded quite a delicious spread - deli chicken, a baguette, cheese, a mini quiche lorraine and a tartelette au citron. We happily parked on a bench and watched the light show while munching our delicious smorgasboard of French delights. Worn out after a long day, we called it an early night. This morning, we met up for breakfast at a nearby cafe - after discovering it was the only one open that early on a Sunday morning! - and enjoyed a "real" French breakfast of cafe creme and a tartine (toasted baguette served with butter and jam). Then it was off to the metro station so Helena could catch her bus back to the airport! I still can't believe we fit it all in - but I think I did quite a thorough job of showing the best of the city in a day and a half. Of course, Helena was quite a trooper and made a valiant effort to eat everything I threw at her :) Such a great way to spend a weekend!

I'm getting to the point where I've literally checked off everything on my very extensive tourist "to see and do" list and I find myself wondering what I can do with my free time now! It's a weird feeling to see the next month as just living in Paris, not necessarily going to destinations to see and do things. I have favorite restaurants, cafes, parks and stores and a routine that I'm really comfortable with. I'm starting to miss the comforts and people of home, so it's going to be a bit harder of a last few weeks than in the beginning when I was overwhelmed by the newness of it all! It's going to be sad leaving here, but I also have so much to look forward to with Christmas at home and the start of a new quarter at UCSD. Hopefully I'll continue to have little adventures along the way though, like this little video I took at the metro station! I love pleasant surprises :)