An Englishman in Paris: Top 5 Highlights
Welcome!
Hi, my name is Chris and I work with Abbay at Abbay's Escapes. I'm also her husband (which may have helped me get the job!). Nice to meet you!
Before I worked with Abbay full-time, I used to follow her around while she did her inspections at beautiful hotels. My job was to look after our son Leo (now 20 months old) and take pictures when asked (and then take another picture if the first wasn't good enough 😉).
Growing-up in England, France was always so close that I thought I could see it anytime, so I rarely went. Even though I could get there by plane, train or ferry very quickly, I wasn't interested. So I went seeking adventures over the other side of the world in South Africa, Australia, Peru, Nepal, Patagonia, etc.
That was until I met Abbay, my now American wife, who couldn't believe that I'd lived so close to Paris and had only visited for a weekend once a long time ago, and that all I had to say about it was"...the Eiffel Tower was good, but I can't remember much else".
So she planned a 1-week trip to Paris for our family in January 2023, hoping to jog my memory and create some new ones. It worked, and so today I'm going to be sharing with you my top 5 highlights as an Englishman in Paris.
#1: French Food
French food is excellent. The ingredients are fresh, and the food is delicious. I'd even say that it's almost as good as our English cuisine (haha - joking). Eating in Paris is a pleasurable event to be savored. It's not about a quick fix, but enjoying the experience and taking your time.
We really enjoyed all the food in Paris (we had no bad meals). Some food highlights for me were:
Abbay trying to eat snails with special snail tongs but the snails not complying! It took her a long time to eat her starter...
Eating delicious beef bourguignon (bœuf bourgignon in french). It must have been cooking for days to be so tender and full of flavor!
Freshly baked breakfast pastries. Everyday. Yum.
#2: Jonathan, our Paris Tour Guide
Our Paris tour guide was named Jonathan and organized through our great travel partners, We Travel France. He had a similar English accent to me, but he was born in France and now lives in Paris. He spoke English without a hint of a French accent (something that I'd never experienced before), and obviously, he spoke perfect French. We met him in the lobby of our hotel, Esprit Saint Germain. He was impeccably dressed, had expert knowledge of the history, art, culture, food etc. of Paris, but most of all, he was just a nice, interesting guy to spend the day with.
He is now our friend in Paris, and has set the bar very high for all future tour guides.
#3: Esprit Saint-Germain
This Left Bank hotel is my favorite. We stayed in several beautiful hotels during our time in Paris. They were all stunning, however, Esprit Saint Germain stood out for me because it felt cozy, like I was drinking champagne in somebody's living room. Its stylish decor, helpful staff and prime location help too. And yes, help yourself to the open bottle of champagne and other drinks in the Library Lounge (they are all complimentary).
In case you need any more reasons to stay here, booking through Abbay's Escapes also gets you some nice perks such as an upgrade on arrival (subject to availability), daily breakfast, wine and cheeses, butter cookies... the list continues! You can read more about Esprit Saint Germain in this previous blog post.
#4: Eiffel Tower
My memories were almost right. The Eiffel Tour is not just 'good', it's 'amazing'! Perhaps this is because I'm a Chartered Civil Engineer (yes, my previous career), but I love the engineering masterpiece that is the Eiffel Tower. No doubt that it's touristy and can be overcrowded, but that's for a reason - it's amazing. It feels very high when you get to the top. The wind is blowing and you're open to the elements, but wow, the view is incredible! Even though it was great to be at the top, I'm scared of heights (I was holding on for dear-life!), so I was happy when we finally made it back to ground level. All of us intact.
#5: Baby Leo, our son
Ok, if this was in priority order, baby Leo would be #1. He's a trooper, but I'm sure that's what every new parent thinks about their baby.
We took Leo with us to Paris,and it was great fun! He was 3 months old and now looking so small in the pictures! We took him up the Eiffel Tower, toured the Louvre museum, visited numerous hotels (for research purposes) and walked all over Paris. All of this done in his baby wrap. Traveling with a baby takes some planning and comes with additional logistics, but it's definitely worth doing because we came away with some great family memories.
If you have a young family but want to keep exploring new places, then get in touch with Abbay's Escapes and we'll help you!
Conclusion
Paris is a stunningly beautiful city to visit, and a place we really enjoyed. You can spend all day exploring, relaxing, or eating great food and drinking fine wine in one of the many restaurants. If I'd realized this sooner while growing-up in England, then I would have made many more visits to the City of Lights!
Au revoir Paris, until next time...