September 8th, 2019
Arriving in Paris is always a mix of emotions, the excitement of being back in a city I adore and the anxiety of having to navigate with my French. This time, there is extra pressure. We are here in Paris with my parents and my brother Matias and his girlfriend Christina – and it was already established that I would be their French interpreter on this trip – no pressure!! After landing at CDG, we took an Uber from the airport to our Airbnb in the 19th arrondissement. In the past, we have always taken the RER into the city but since there were 4 of us, this was the cheaper way to go.
After settling into our little apartment and filling our bellies with our first baguette sandwiches of the trip, we took the metro into the heart of the city. Since it was my brother and Christina’s first time in Paris, the goal was to walk along the Seine and acclimate to the city.
We walked toward Notre Dame, but because of the fire, the whole area was walled off to the public, so we decided not to take pictures and instead keep our memories of how it used to be. We then walked around the Latin Quarter and found a little cafe, Le Clou de Paris, to rest our feet.
Once fully caffeinated, we continued the walk around the Saint Germain neighborhood (which is super cute and chic!). We strolled down a pedestrian alleyway and found a great spot for dinner, Cepe & Figue. Highly recommend it for dinner, the service was great and the food was phenomenal. We enjoyed a bottle of Pinot Noir from Bourgogne, some soupe a l’oignon (French onion soup), les escargots de Bourgogne (snails – for adventurous foodie Christina), foie gras de canard, magret de canard roti (grilled duck), boeuf avec sauce au poivre (beef in a peppercorn sauce), salade chevre chaud (salad with warmed goat cheese), and boeuf bourguignon (beef stew with mashed potatoes).
Photo credit: Carina, Chris, and Carina’s dad.
Momentary Locals 