travel

Our Europe trip was my first experience with international train travel, and I loved it! Having preordered our TGV tickets, it was fabulous not to check in hours before departure, to pass through gorgeous countryside, and to arrive and depart in city centers rather than the outskirts of town.

En route to Paris, we’d planned for train time happy hour, so we had cava and incredible Spanish snacks for our moving movie date. I cheesily insisted on Amèlie, but David drew the line at Moulin Rouge. On the return trip to Barcelona, we breakfasted on pastries and the best of our remaining French fridge contents – blood orange mimosas for the win! Our car was mostly empty, so we stretched out and slept, since we’d left the Marais for Gare de Lyon before sunrise, and had a bonus half-day in Barcelona ahead  before our latenight flight.

We stashed our suitcases in lockers at Sants and then hopped straight onto the metro for a last lap of our Barcelona favorites. We hit a few shops before Can Paixano, and it was so jam-packed that we took our wine and meal to the Parc de la Ciutadella. It was lovely to have a leisurely lunch, to sit and soak in the Spanish sunshine on our last afternoon of vacation. We took a last long walk around the city, before returning to La Boqueria for one more fabulous dinner (and plane snacks, obvi). Bellies full, we fetched our bags at the train station and were bound for the airport.

You may recall that I found an incredible deal on plane tickets. Real talk- they were such a steal because the timing and flight patterns were far from fantastic, including a midnight BCN departure and connections through Moscow. For the geographically unfamiliar, Russia is well past mainland Europe and connecting there’s a total timewaster.  But half price was worth the few hours, so off to kill time in the rather underdeveloped Moscow airport we went. Side note: I actually wanted a much longer layover and to explore Moscow, but the single day visas for Americans were SO prohibitively expensive, we couldn’t justify many hundred dollars for the one day. 

Vending machines of Putin teeshirts were just one of many amusing things we encountered during our airport explorations. People-watching and snack and souvenir shopping were both quality entertainment. The eateries were pretty spare, with some businesses closed and others renovating, so frozen yogurt and Burger King (for the first time in decades- it was freshly made and honestly better than we remembered) were our snack pack reinforcements.

On our return leg, we had a gorgeous sunrise landing into a 5 hour layover at SVO. We promptly checked into the V Express capsule hotel in Terminal E. There, the princely sum of about $50 afforded us a ‘business triple,’ a simple, super clean, cruiseship-reminiscent room and private bathroom. We put our feet up, snacked and stretched, then passed out for a good long nap. We woke to shower, then checked out and boarded our flight back to LA. It was a really convenient stopgap, even though I used up all the hot water on David… oopsie.

Speaking of rest, it was nearly midnight by the time we had cleared customs upon arrival in Barcelona, so we spent just that first night at an Ibis hotel. We just wanted inexpensive, clean, comfy,and central, and it was nice to get a good sleep and shower before checking into our apartment and getting acquainted with the city. We rented both our apartments from Airbnb, as we tend to do. Our Barcelona flat was phenomenal: huge, beautifully kept and very professionally managed- a few blown lightbulbs were replaced within hours. Our Paris apartment, not so much. We expected it to be petite, with a fourth floor walk up, and a big window overlooking the lively street.  We didn’t expect it to be dim,  a bit grim, and filled to the brim with the owner’s belongings (David lived out of his open suitcase, I cleaned off a few bookshelves to unpack into), the shower drain to be clogged, or the owner to be generally unconcerned with responding to us or water damage in his bathroom.  But c’est la vie- it was rather inexpensive and we loved its location in the heart of the Marais.

And, because I love some listmaking, a 5×4 on our time in Europe.

Memory Makers

1. That first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. David was navigating as we walked around on our first night, and I spotted it as we rounded a corner. If it’s possible to both squeal and lose your breath at the same time, that’s what I did.
2. The tasting menu at Tickets. Worth every Euro- David and I agree that it was one of the best meals we’ve ever eaten, with spectacular styling and service. And meeting Ferran Adria in the flesh was such an amazing coincidence- beyond my wildest imagination.
3. Our morning with Lisa. Paris was incredibly romantic, and it shines through in those images.  Our vacation there was such a dream-come-true for me,  and it’s just so special to have it captured in a way that’s beautiful, but authentic.
4. Admiring amazing artwork and architecture while hand-in-hand with my husband. He’s such a great partner in the craziness that is life, so it’s especially nice to take our time and just relax and enjoy, to let the experience wash over us.
5. Embodying Madeline. I grew up devouring books about ‘twelve little girls in two straight lines,’ and my blue wool coat struck a familiar note. It’s more than a little dorky, but I loved dressing for breakfast one morning with the residents of a vine-covered Parisian boarding school as my inspiration. 

 Merdé moments

1. Dropping my iPhone and cracking the screen getting out of our Uber at LAX. Replacement screens were slow and spendy in both cities, according to our inquiries, so I just tolerated it, taped the spreading cracks along the trip, and got it fixed back in the States.
2. Realizing upon our arrival in Barcelona that Googlemaps is not properly enabled in Spain, and that I wouldn’t be able to access the annotated, color-coordinated, fully mapped out trip agenda I’d worked so hard on. I melted down- it had been a very long travel day.
3. Crossing the street one afternoon in les Halles, when I locked eyes with a homeless man.  Unfortunately,  it was as he was relieving  (and fully exposing) himself in the middle of the crosswalk! The policeman standing on on the corner was very unconcerned when I informed him, to David’s amusement- I was more than a little shocked and grossed out!
4. We only took cabs to and from the airport, relying on metro and our legs the rest of the time. I used the Taxi G7 to reserve our cab to Gare de Lyon, but didn’t get a confirmation, so I refreshed it. David was greeted with quite the sight when he took our bags down that morning: two cabbies arguing loudly over who deserved our fare. We got dinged with a couple Euro fee- for technically canceling the second car, but it was quickly and easily resolved.
5. Chatelet. The metro station was under construction, and it took forever and a day (at least 20 minutes) to navigate transfers through and was just a timesuck. I may have had a hangry tantrum there while David laughed in my face, and took mortifying pictures.

Regretfully missed- saved for our return to Europe

1. Versailles. With so much to do in Paris, I couldn’t bear to allot the day to make the trip out. But I drool over ornate Baroque styling, and cannot wait to see all of that gorgeous gold-and-garden goodness with my own two eyes.
2. Country time. On the whole, I would have loved a few more days for making day trips and visiting the countryside. I’d adore a day in Monet’s gardens at Giverny (the Orangerie was practically a religious experience) or tasting Champagne at the caves in Reims. We also talked about spending a night or two in the South of France or at the Spanish seaside, but couldn’t be away any longer.
3. An immersive foodie experience. Ideally, it would be David Lebovitz’s gastronomy tour, but I’d be happy with an intensive pastry course, truffle-hunting in the hills, or another indulgent learning experience along those lines.
4. Cooking, in general. The Boqueria is the most amazing market, and the marches in Paris weren’t shabby either, overflowing with scrumptious and well-priced raw materials. We had kitchen access, but had too many yummies on the list to eat out to do much cooking at home. I can’t wait to make my groceries there, and the delicious meals that will result!
5. Sport. We made serious effort to attend a live sporting event while in Europe, but it just didn’t work out. We couldn’t find a pair of decently priced seats for the FC Barcelona home game. So we bought great seats to a Paris Saint-Germain home game. Shortly before our trip, they qualified for the European League championships and our game got postponed until after we returned to the States. It was so unlucky!

And once more, with feeling

1. I’d get on a plane tommorow just for the repeat eats. My mouth waters thinking of mango-passionfruit caramels from Jacques Genin, flaky laminated pastries, fresh-caught uni, Cava Rosado, and authentic Jamon Iberico. Gimme.
2. We’ll definitely invest in the Paris Museum Pass again. Cutting the lines was glorious, and it is such an good value if you are visiting several museums or monuments.  We especially loved the freedom to see as much or as little of as many places as we wished.
3. I’m going to up my shopping game big time, and save my pennies in advance. Knowing all the goodies that exist, I’m reminiscing over antique linens and furniture and lusting after shoes handmade of Spanish leather, authentic vintage couture (maybe another Chanel purse?) and burnished copper cookware. And I’ll certainly have a long list of beauty products to buy and replenish.
4. We’re going to keep star collecting. We love good food at all price points, but made a point of eating a Michelin-starred meal on this trip, and adored the experience.  I’d love to visit other restaurants of that caliber, and collect as many stars in Europe as budget allows.
5. I’ve mentioned before that we don’t love most tourist attractions, and prefer to try and live like locals. But sometimes it’s the tourist traps that are fun. I love striking the balance between mainstream and offbeat, so we’ll always feel free to skip any attraction that doesn’t genuinely excite one of us,  and build in extra time to wander aimlessly and explore freely. And people watch. That’s a must.

loveRavayna