Five Paris Discoveries

Five Paris Pleasures

I was recently in Paris and had so many delicious, relaxing, and enjoyable experiences, I thought I’d share them with anyone who’s planning an upcoming trip. Here are 5 of my favorites (good additions to all of the suggestions we’ve compiled in our ParisSmarts game).

1) Bicycles rule. Paris has embraced bicycles as a green way to lessen traffic congestion, and they've gone at it with gusto with Vélib, the new pay-as-you go bicycle share system. It seemed that on every block, people were riding the grey, slightly clunky, clean and new Vélib bikes. They’re available at several Vélib ‘stations’ and each bike has a basket for your stuff (a great place to place your fresh baguette), a lock, and lights in the front and back. The first half-hour is free, and then the charge is about $1.50 for each additional hour. To make things easier, Paris has created several new bike lanes too.

It’s a bit difficult for me to restrain my enthusiasm for Vélib. It’s sort of a ZipCar for bikes, with one great difference: you can return the bike to anywhere there’s Vélib parking...no need to go back to where you got it! Paris did this right (see what The New York Times has to say about it). Not that everyone loves them. We were in a cab that nearly ran over one Vélib -er.

One note: If you’re Canadian or American, bring your American Express (and we’re not just plugging Amex, which is a supporter of Count Me In). I tried using a Visa, but there’s a glitch in the system that they’re working on. So for now, the Vélib swipers accept European Visa/MC, but if you’re American or Canadian, they only accept American Express.

2) View from the top. Take the elevator or the escalators to the rooftop of the Georges Pompidou Museum to the Restaurant Georges. Here you can see all of Paris in an incredible panoramic view. It’s free to go up there, and then if you want you can get a very expensive drink. The restaurant looked totally cool: the décor was Jetsons meets James Bond, with huge windows to take in the view.

3) Falafel Heaven. For the tastiest falafel, go to L’As du Falafel, a busy falafel stand and restaurant on the rue des rosiers in the Marais. The falafel sandwiches are luscious: warm pita, falafel, fresh cabbage salad, fried eggplant, tomatoes, and tahini. As you approach from a block away, you’ll see people eating these big messy sandwiches with looks of extreme pleasure. The muffintop blog has a great descriptions and pictures that make me rather hungry. And David Liebowitz also loves it (he just wrote a book all about ice cream, so that’s a man I trust).

4) Tea for two. My friend Kimberly Charles is a Parisian Manqué and brought me some tea from Mariage Frères last year for my birthday. The fragrant black tea in muslin teabags felt like a little Parisian indulgence, so when I went to Paris I had to go to their store…which, it turns out, not only sells tea old school (they have hundreds of teas, which they scoop out from large, old tin canisters on wooden shelves), but also features a tea room, and a tea museum (!) that can be reached by ascending a curling rickety staircase.

5) Books and wine. Walk into La Belle Hortense, a little bookstore with a light blue sign, and you’ll discover books and wines by the glass in an unpretentious, neighborhood atmosphere. This bookstore-winebar has a little area in the front where you can order wine…without the pretensions of fancy glasses and long wine descriptions. There’s also a little sitting room in the back too. And, you’ve got to love a place that has a special section on their website to show off pictures of their aqua tiled bathroom. They are open until 1 or 2am and now that there is no smoking in Parisian restaurants (hallelujah) it’s a great place to sit, sip and read, which I did with my Henry James, Wings of the Dove…a book that reads at a pace that pairs well with this wine bar.