Hello from Paris, where we're staying near Gare de Lyon for a couple days before heading to the southern part of France for the bulk of our honeymoon.
We decided to return to work after the wedding instead of heading straight into a honeymoon. That was a good decision. The week after the wedding was a blur of poor sleep, late afternoon naps, and general mental exhaustion. I cannot imagine the misery of packing up the venue, getting home, feeding the cats, then immediately getting on a plane to a far-off destination. I'm certain, though, that I'd be a grumpy, petulant child during that period. That would not be ideal for the first big trip as husbands.
Husbands. Husband. Have I used that word a substantial amount over the past several weeks? Yes. I husbanded within days of the wedding. Jeremy husbanded in a work conversation the day before we boarded the airplane. I was advised to use "fiancé" liberally during the time we were engaged and I certainly did, because that term is fleeting compared to husband or partner.
We're staying in one of those slightly too chic hotels, but it's worth it for the location and the extensive space dedicated to just relaxing and socializing.
From here, we've wandered quite a bit. I was asked today where we went and I could barely articulate anything from the day.
Yesterday, I know we went to Musée d'Orsay because it was an evening extended hour period. What a glorious building, a train station rescued from decline and transformed! We saw a great collection of Renoir, which included pieces from MFA Boston, The Clark and others that we had seen before. We stayed out late, watching groups of teenagers and 20-25s chat away the evening on the shore of the Seine and then wandering to Notre-Dame de Paris. The day was full of sun, avoided sunburn, and walking. We read and sketched at a cafe. After such light sleep on the plane, I don't know how we had enough energy to continue to be motivated.
Today we started much later, after giving ourselves permission to sleep late. I haven't slept as soundly and as long in quite a while — eight hours plus, easy. Much lighter schedule today, but I'm writing this around 6pm and my "dogs are barking" (as they say). Since we woke up so late, we wandered slowly along Viaduc des Arts taking in the floral and architectural wonders. It beats the NYC High Line in many ways (including how focused on artisan enablement it was/is). Our lunch was at Jouvence and was excellent from service to timing to taste. Very talented crew creating and actualizing the dishes.
We wandered a lot on May 1st as many things are closed for Fête du Travail (my second national holiday in France, I think it'll become a tradition). We spent time at a Biological Garden, read and sweat in the 75+ heat. Glorious steps, all 20,937 (nearly 9.3 miles) of them. We finished off the day at Kodawari Ramen (Yokochō).
The ramen shop is very tight, modeled after an alleyway restaurant. We were tight up against the kitchen space, where the team of three were continuously preparing bowls of ramen for the hour or so we were there. We chose different ramen between us, of course, and they were quite different from others I've had. Mine (Kurogawa Ramen 黒ごまラーメン) was deeply colored by black sesame paste, thick and clingy, with a hint of sansho pepper in the spice mixture. Jeremy's (Niboshi Paitan Ramen 煮干し白湯そば) was lighter by comparison, with a very rich chashu completing the dish. We finished off with a café daifuku (coffee ganache inside) which was one of the best we've had. Definitely made with skill both in flavor and in technique.
I'm finishing this off a couple days after 1 May. My feet are not yet recovered from that marathon May 1st! Paris, Part II, is a bit abbreviated because we spent a little under six hours packing in a whirlwind jaunt to Tower Eiffel and The Louvre. Perhaps tomorrow I'll get to write about that and our 1.5 days in Nice.
