Sunrise run: tour of Paris
As I mentioned in my last post, I started the day at 5:45 am on Friday. Mark and I met up for a sunrise run! It was the best way to start the day. We ran to the Notre Dame, Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, and the Luxembourg Gardens, which totaled about 12.5 miles. The streets were empty, aside from a few people who made surprised faces and clapped for us 😆. It was so fun to be able to run around Paris with no crowds, cool weather, and great company!
After our run, we stumbled upon a place called Copains which had the most marvelous pastries and juices. Surprisingly, the pastries were completely gluten free! I could not tell.
Next, we walked to a coffee shop, the name of which I cannot remember at the moment. It was a small, hole-in-the-wall place with the most flavorful espresso! Leave it to Mark to find the best coffee shops.
By the time we were finished with our coffee, it was (only) 9:30am. I had plenty of time to get ready and head to the festival!
Cercle Festival – Day 1
It was kind of a pain to get to the festival, since the RER B train was shut down. I had originally bought tickets for the shuttle, but I found out that first day that it was not worth it. I had to metro for an hour to the shuttle pickup location and then ride the shuttle for another 30 minutes!
I arrived at the festival just in time to watch the end of Acid Pauli’s set and grab a lobster roll for lunch.
I was amazed by how well the festival was set up. When you walk in, there are like 8-10 lines to receive a bracelet. I didn’t have to wait at all! Once you have the bracelet, you can purchase anything inside the festival and top up your account by scanning the QR code on your wrist. It was so easy, and I really appreciated not having to always dig out my credit card. There were stations all over the festival grounds with free drinking water, which was especially important considering it was 90 and sunny all weekend. The food options were great as well. Everything was made by top-notch, local chefs. Despite there being thousands of people at the festival, I never had to wait more than 10 minutes for food or drink. There were also a ton of activities/services that I never had the chance to check out, such as a tattoo parlor, free sunscreen, massages, shaded areas, and merchandise.
After about an hour of being at the festival by myself, Eric showed up with Brian and Val. They’re from Washington DC! I hadn’t met them before, but he knew them from his first Moment in the South of France. We clicked instantly. The whole weekend, I kept thinking, “how is it that I just met them?!”.
Before long, I was meeting more and more new people. I met Anastasia and Lluri who are a couple from Russia. They had also been on the South of France Moment and were currently in the Paris Moment as well. Anastasia was a professional ballerina in Moscow for 12 years! She is genuinely so sweet and was always wearing the cutest outfits. Lluri was funny to be around because he just kept buying everybody champagne and beer! He really lived up to the stereotype that Russians love to drink.
Next, I met Jason from Chicago. Jason makes his own music and puts on private music events. He was so excited to find out that I solo travel and told me several times throughout the weekend to never quit doing it. He told me about his life changing experience living solo in Germany, and we agreed that it’s not the place that makes an experience memorable but rather the people. He also LOVED that I am from Wisconsin (Midwest sticks together) and said that I remind him of his friend, Sam. Therefore, I became “Sam 2”.
There were so many good sets going on that it became difficult to know where to go. I stayed at Carlita and then Kilimanjaro for a bit, but I REALLY wanted to see Sammy Virji. Eventually, the group broke off and decided to just meet up later. I am so glad that I went to Sammy because he was SO GOOD. I was dancing like crazy! And I couldn’t believe I was dancing under an airplane!
We all ended the night at Adriatique, which was under the spaceship. It was cool to see how the atmosphere changed from day to night. During the day, the light reflects off the stage, making it appear very colorful. At night, the spaceship is lit up and there are flashing lights. Party mode!
While we were there, we ran into some more people from the Mexico trip, including Marco & Rosy, Dustin & Leti, and Mark. We all gave each other huge hugs and danced the night away!
Eric, Brian, Val and I decided to leave a little bit early to beat the crowds out of the festival. Eric and Brian were trying to get a taxi for like 15 minutes but couldn’t negotiate anything under €80-100. Eventually, Val just walked up to a taxi driver, set her price (much lower than the others were offering), and said “you will take us”. The driver agreed and we all got in the car! Man, I love a powerful woman. 😂 In this moment, Val reminded me so much of my friend Sarah who I met in Prague. We all piled into the taxi and went back to their AirBnb in Le Marais, which is not too far from where I was staying. We sat in their living room and talked until 3 am! It was so much fun. Brian and Eric, both being from Texas, got on a roll talking about Texas history. It was very entertaining. They would pop quiz each other and know almost every answer. Apparently, they learned a LOT about Texas history in school growing up.
Oh, and there is also a plaque in Paris that acknowledges Texas as a nation! We meant to go find it at some point during the trip but forgot. Oops!
At the end of the night, I was so tired I could hardly function. I took an Uber back to my hotel (much better decision than walking) and fell asleep in an instant. I got a solid 5 hours of sleep before it was time to wake up and do it all over again!
Until next time,
Clara