Paris in a Day

What is the best way to see Paris?

On a bike.

With lots of chocolate.

Darling sister had just been to Paris and recommended that I check out some of the chocolate shops there. She and Jess are perpetually more prepared than myself and Elly, so I took advantage of their organization and copied their chocolate route (with a few monumental additions). Paris is a surprisingly small city and most of the major sites are clustered in a few square kilometers around the Seine. So I took the liberty of planning the ultimate Paris-in-a-day tour....and now I will share my genius with all of you!

Elly and I biked down from our hotel in the Marais, across the pretty little bridge and over to the island in the Seine where Notre Dame sits. We knew we would be crunched for time, so we didn't go to the top of the tower, but just walked around and looking at those crazy gargoyles, scenes of temptation and torture...quite a way to kick off the day.

I think the cathedral must have really put the fear of the Lord into Elly, because right as we were riding away she crashed her bike...for no reason. We were chatting and biking...one minute I look back and there she is right behind me, the next minute, she's lying on the pavement. My eye quickly scanned for a pot hole, an opened car door, a gargoyle, an arch-angel...nothing. I don't know how, but Elly managed to have an immaculate collision. (Don't worry, Cherie, it was just a tiny scrape...) I promise that I won't turn that into a life metaphor, but I was thinking about it.

After we'd cleaned Elly up a bit, we cruised back over the Seine, past the Louvre and its huge gardens. Just one block north of the Tuileries on Rue St. Honore, the chocolatier Michel Cluizel sits in a totally fab shopping district with hip record stores, lingerie shops and independent clothing designers. We almost got sucked into spending the entire day on that street...it was seriously tempting. The chocolate shop itself was a wonder: a huge chocolate fountain at the entrance, beautiful truffles with gold leaf letters, delicious macarons, candied everything. The real winner was a chocolate champignon (don't worry there were no actual mushrooms involved). It had a buttery, chewy caramel center peppered with crunchy toffee, shaped like a cute little mushroom and covered in swirls of white and dark chocolate. Right down the street another amazing chocolatier, Jean-Paul Hevin. At this little gem of a shop we tried the most wonderful macarons I've ever had; Elly and I sampled a beautifully floral chocolate-bergamot, a spicy orange-ginger-chocolate and (my favorite) mango-coriander.

From there we cruised down the Avenue Champs de Elysees, through the plazas and parks, past the big, beautiful Louis Vuitton store with its four-story high windows and up to the Arc de Triomphe. It was a beautiful, breezy day and as we rolled down the streets in our sundresses, life was sweet. It was even sweeter when we found the theatrical chocolatier Patrick Roger. The shop was unlike any other I'd been in. No gold decorations, no little plates piled high with truffles. The long refrigerated cases were sleek, the bites and morsels each perfectly spaced in neat rows. On the counters were modernist chocolate sculptures. Even the chocolates themselves were presented in perfect, glossy simplicity. Elly and I tried a concoction that looked exactly like a green marble in a Tiffany's jewelry box. I felt a little strange about eating it. Until I ate it. Inside the smooth sugar shell was a layer of milk chocolate and then a perfect lime-caramel-cream. I was surprised that anything in this world could taste so perfect.

We rode down to the Eiffel Tower for a quick peak. It was stunning to see in person, and we decided to come back at night for the light show.

Next we biked through the pretty little neighborhood of Saint-Germain-des-Pres for the final stop of the epic chocolate tour, the uber-famous Michel Chaudun. We were delighted by the window full of tiny chocolate figurines: the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, babies, trees, pigs, deer...just to name a few. We went inside to try the specialty of the store, pave. These little morsels are cream truffles, one the simplest and best of all chocolate creations: cocoa powder, sugar and heavy cream. They are kept cold, so you get a little cool, silky bite of chocolate that spreads slowly through your mouth like a Southern woman sauntering into a room. Heavenly.

Later that evening when the sun was going down over the city we strolled down to the Tuileries Gardens again and rode the huge ferris wheel as the lights were all starting to twinkle on over city. Just as we reached the top the Eiffel Tower exploded in sparkling movement like a huge Christmas tree. I think I actually screamed in delight. I could see the Seine, the Opera House, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the hill of Montmartre, the lights of Notre Dame, like points on a Lite-Brite against the dark, warm night.