Visitors

So Thursday, Lauren, Sachi, Sarah and Cyrus got in pretty late. They were visiting as the last leg of their fall break, which I'm really jealous of. So upset that we don't get a week off like everyone else.  I welcomed them with a bottle of wine, and they set up their make-shift bed on my living room floor using all of Annie Benoit's extra linens. It was kind of ridic.

Friday morning we woke up and went to the Marais. We did some vintage shopping (I got an awesome sweater and belt), and stopped at what is known as the best falafel in Paris, L'As du Falafel. It lived up to my expectations. It was so big and they gave you so many extra vegetables. The pita was perfectly fluffy and the falafels themselves were so creamy. And the harissa sauce was super flavorful.

From there we walked to Notre Dame, and checked that off their touristy list real quick, and then the Louvre/Jardin de Tuleries/Champs Elysee/Arc de Triomphe. And stopped at Laduree for macarons, of course. Can't resist those.

At this point we headed over to Galaries Lafayette for some shopping. No one bought anything, but the Christmas decorations were amazing.

Then it was dinner time, after a long and efficient day. We went to Le Comete, a cafe/bar/restaurant I'd been wanting to try. Totally lived up to my expectations. Fun vibe, good decorations, good drinks, good food, and not expensive at all. Definitely going to have to back there.

We pregamed and got ready at my place, then headed out to Rue Princesse in St Germain de Pres. Anne and Maya and Tahra met up with us for a bit too. Anne had vodka in purse, and the bouncer at one of the bars checked her bag and wouldn't let us in because of it, which was a little ridic. "Never in my life in Paris," is what I said. They never check bags like that. Anne also convinced French people that Cyrus was a celebrity, we drunkenly sang Champs Elysee, and got crepes on our way home.

Saturday morning we woke up at 11am...woops. Kind of a later start to our day than we anticipated. We started by hitting up the Eiffel Tower.

Then Sarah left :( The rest of us had lunch at Cafe M, and then went to a high end shopping area. We stopped by Chanel, Hermes, etc., and Sarah and Lauren tried to buy Longchamps, but they were all sold out. I also had hot chocolate from Le Maison du Chocolat, which was so rich and delicious. Would be the best hot chocolate of my life, but I think it's tied with the one I had in Brussels at Whittamer. Then we voyaged over to the other Longchamp, where the girls finally got what they needed. Even after the conversion from the euro, it's still like $80 cheaper here, so I don't blame them.

We dropped Sachi off to do work :(, and me Lauren and Cyrus set off to do some shopping. We went to Juju s'amuse, my favorite boutique in this area, and a really awesome vintage store that Maria told me about. It was the best store ever. I got an Isabel Marant shirt for 60 euros, and a nice pair of heels. We were going to go up to Montmartre, because I really wanted them to see it at night, but we were kind of running out of time. So we went back and grabbed Sachi and all went out for amazing dinner and wine and dessert at Cafe Le Baron. Love that place.

After stuffing ourselves, Sachi and I came back to get ready while Lauren and Cyrus went to see the Eiffel Tower at night. Cyrus took this gorgeous pic for me, and I'm going to pretend like it's mine.

We quickly pregamed and dashed out the door right before midnight to go to Pop In, in Oberkampf. It was my first time going out there, and we had a lot of fun. It was super hipster, like Brooklyn status, but there were a lot of really attractive guys and no one was obnoxious. We ended up dancing our asses off downstairs, and all staring at the DJ. He was so fucking hot, just playing great music and dancing with his shirt off and not caring what anyone thought. We loved him. When the bar closed we asked him what he was doing after, but he was like "I don't know" and dashed out the door soon after. Boo. We tried. Lauren did take a pic of him though, which I will steal later :)

We grabbed a cab back to my place, so Sachi could fall aslseep in a food coma and Lauren, Cyrus and I could keep drinking. We popped another bottle of champagne off my balcony (Lauren's first) and danced and drank. Around 3 we walked over to a bunch of trashy fun dance clubs that are open late near me. Unfortunately, by that point, Cyrus was way too drunk, and nowhere would let us in because of him. Woops. Oh well. So we stopped for crepes (which got complicated due to Cyrus' drunkenness), and we came home just as it started pouring. Cyrus passed out in the chair, of course. 

And then they all left at 9 am :( I slept in until 12:30, for the first time in god knows how long. I needed it.

So glad they visited too, having people to show around made me fall in love with Paris all over again and remember why I love it so much. It's so much like NY in that there's so many different sides to it -- each night can be an adventure if you want it to be. And you can do 100 different things and have a different experience every time. That's what a city should be. 

Did I mention that it's been raining for 10 days straight???????! This is absurd. It's miserable. It's supposed to clear up tomorrow, I'm really hoping it does.