From the opera, I walked to my hotel. I’m staying at the Curio - Maison Astor Paris. Fun fact: this used to belong to the Astor’s. Yes, those Astor’s. The ones that sank on the Titantic and were one of the richest families in America during that Golden Age.

I am excited about staying here as I love our Curio Collection. They’re so unique (which is the point) and aren’t as cookie cutter as some other hotel brands can be.

The decor in the lobby

Slightly smaller rooms but it had fun fabric wallpaper with cherubs and bathing beauties.

This is the historic Church in the neighborhood - Saint-Augustin

I made my way to the Eiffel Tower because every trip to Paris should include it. Look at the fall colors.

And the first of many Tower selfies.

I love how most of the flowers are still in bloom, yet the air is so crisp and fall like.

The garden is actually closed for renovations, but things are still growing.

The entrance (one of) to Pere

This was the first gravesite in the cemetery from this entrance. The sculpture is beautiful and full of colorful detail.

Rows of family vaults, much skinnier than I usually see.

The doors to the vaults may be my favorite thing in this cemetery. Every time you turn a corner, a new design or color just pops.

Video of the rows of vaults.

I first discovered Colette in my masters program. We had to read a passage from Cheri. \240In that passage, Cherie is eating macarons and the way Colette describes the act, makes one feel like they are in Paris eating the same. I’ve been slowly reading Colletes Claudine series ever since and recently discovered that she wrote Gigi!

I’m absolutely in love with the architecture.

And the statues.

This is the family vault of George Seurat, artist of Sunday in the Park (which then always makes me think of Sunday at the Park with George).

I was trying to catch this pretty lady snoozing with the fall colors. This is so what I’d love to be doing now - just not in a permanent way.

One of the larger vaults, so they must be

quelle riche.

The cemetery goes on and upward. I’m pretty sure I walked about 2+ miles.

Peaceful, quiet, fall.

Another French author i was introduced to in grad school. His text on the Madeline is referenced often in the food world as it associates memory with the the taste of food - That you can recall moments in life at the bite of a pastry (or something else). It’s a very poetic passage and his Swanns Way Is also on my list to read \240

Oscar Wilde: To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

Jean Antoine Chaptal: French chemist. Often mentioned in my wine text because he was responsible for chaptalization, which is when you add sugar to the base wine in order to boost alcohol (or balance acid).

There was an entire section of the cemetery dedicated to those lost in the war and during the Holocaust.

Maurice! \240

Edith Piaf ❤️❤️❤️

This is like seeing the French Judy Garland

Different angles and different filters.

Jim Morrison: they have this all blocked off now because so many aholes desecrated it in the past.

Auguste Comte: the father of positivity and sociology.

By far in the top three of all cemeteries

You can kind of see the description. Acts like a forbidden fruit.

Crepe: buckwheat with truffle ham, mushrooms, Comte. Yum. The crepe batter was extremely light and kind of crispy, not usually what you see in a crepe.

After this, I was fading. Since my room was ready by this time, \240I came back to the hotel and it’s nap time.

Ah there she is lit up at night.

The Seine ❤️

Arrived at the museum. It’s three stories. On the first is where the temporary exhibits are housed. Currently there is a series from a local photographer who went and shot photos in the Bronx.

On the second floor is more contemporary art set in a bar/cafe. The bar was open here so I decided why not. The menu was artfully displayed on a spray can.

I decided to go with Street Fighter. (Which ended up with egg whites in it and I hate egg whites in my cocktails) but it still tasted good otherwise.

Views of the Seine and said cocktail.

I walked back toward the Champs Elysees do I could catch the metro to my next destination. In the meantime, admiring all the architecture b

And one more selfie with the Eiffel.

Next I asked the bartender to surprise me and so he made this with a wheat whiskey from Sonoma and Chamomille tea with a touch of sherry. 6/10 again.

My favorite if the eve (yes I had way too many)

But it was Buffalo Thrace, Amaro, Coffee Liqueuer and vermouth. Garnished with a cucumber, which oddly worked. 8/10 and a great way to end the evening.

Let’s not forget dinner. This was before the cocktails, but a place just down the street called Boulettes. Which means meatballs. And I had lamb, beef, chicken and eggplant meatballs with arugula. Yum!!!

I had purchased a skip the line ticket with audio. I highly recommend this since the lines can be long and they only let a certain number of people in at a time. You step 130 stairs underground.

The first portion of the tour takes you through the history of the underground quarries: since Paris and surrounding areas are covered in limestone, the quarries were initially intended to mine the limestone for the area buildings.

The name of the streets above.

Looks like something out of lord of the rings.

Where the catacombs are used to be the edge of the city. It became a burial site in the late 1700s when the cemeteries of Paris became overcrowded and one in particular collapsed because of one large mass grave. They decided to move the bodies to the underground and proceeded to stack them in the configurations you see in the photos.

Below the sign leading to the entrance: Stop this is the empire of death.

It’s morbid and fascinating at the same time.

Over 6 million souls are buried here.

Shaped like a barrel.

Another highlight of the trip: dead people!! \240

Views of the room: \240I had booked with my Hilton honors points this time.

And the lobby bar.

So pretty!!!!

And why not order a champagne rose cocktail!!

Selfies in front of the opera house. Also how excited am I at this point. Seeing an opera in the building that inspired by favorite musical and book.

Gah!

Then I get inside. And scan my ticket.

And get told, you’re at the Opera Bastille. Which is 30 min away on the other side of town.

Sigh. But look at this gorgeous building.

I called an Uber to take me over there, knowing I’d miss the first act. I just went with it though because nothing you can do.

I took my seat for the second act and sure enough - was drowsy the entire time. Those afternoon beers did their number on my and I kept nodding my head.

The opera was in Italian with French and English subtitles and what I could hear (cuz my eyes were mostly closed) was beautiful. I woke up in time to have her complete her aria and die.

I guess trying to see an opera on little sleep and jet lagging Is not always a best laid plan, but cest la vie.

Read a little Colette - drank some Starbucks.

The French countryside zooming by.

It was a short ride to Reims - just under 45 minutes. I took the short walk to my hotel for the evening to drop off my luggage. I opted to stay at an inexpensive hotel called Hotel Ceycl. It was roughly $55/night on Hotels.com. The location was right In the heart of town and it was clean and functional. Best of all it was across the street from the hotel I was staying for the rest of the week.

View of the park as you get off at the

train station.

The center of Reims.

After dropping off my luggage, first order of business was the patisserie. Hard to choose between all this yummy goodness, but I selected the pain au chocolat. I ended up wearing the buttery flakes on my jacket while I was walking around in the rain.

Macarons!

There she is - what a beauty!

Playing with light and filters

Welcome to Reims !

In case you are interested in souvenirs, there is a little shop that is always open near the cathedral. I usually pick up my rose biscuits (special to the region) from here.

In the middle of town there is a carousel. It’s \240running despite the fact that it is Sunday

Most of the wine bars were closed since it was Sunday. I found one, but they were only serving brunch and all i really wanted was a glass of bubbles before i got something to eat. I finally found a place to get out of the rain and have a glass of bubbles at a Champagne Bar called Caves de Bouligrin. This was in an area of town that had a lot of cute little restaurants (most of them closed).

after the bubbles, I walked around the block to the offices of VCP. But the actual winery is on the other side of town.

War Monument

Museum of the Surrender.

This is where the Germans surrender to the Allies and signed the treaty. This is now a museum but I wasn’t up for going inside, but I know it would be full of fascinating histories of this region during the War. This region in particular because of location has seen much of the wars. Even before WWI and WWII, the fact that it was en route to Paris meant anyone attacking from the east was going through Champagne.

Such pretty fall colors.

Carnage

I then ordered a cafe to end my meal before heading back to the hotel for check in and a big fat nap!!!

And the cathedral at night.

As demonstrated below.

This is the more modern portion of the church. The mosaic windows were designed for the 800th Anniversary. .

The back or technically the front of the Cathedral.

All lit up at night.

I decided then to go grab dinner although I wasn’t overly hungry, but I did want to rest up for what I knew would be a long week. I found a spot not far from the Carousel called Cafe Le Gaulois. It was busy so I figured the food had to be good.

I ordered a cut of steak with a mustard sauce and some Champagne. The sauce was good, the steak a little tough in some spots.

And then I splurged on chocolate mousse. Which they serve with a rose crisp.

Then back to the hotel to prepare for my week of wine study.