Monday morning was my last day in Paris, and I woke up with no plan for the day. I messaged Clem, asking if she had anything in mind for the day but never heard back. In the meantime, I packed my bags and then walked to a restaurant for lunch. It was a holiday in France on Monday, so many places were closed. To be honest, that really helped me narrow down my options. It is quite overwhelming to choose a place when there are so many seemingly good ones!
Brunch at Breizh Cafe
It was a short walk from my hotel to a place called Breizh Cafe. I ordered a galette, which is essentially a savory crepe. The one I got had mushrooms in it. I also got a double espresso, which is my go-to coffee order these days.
When I asked the waiter for the check, he said, “are you sure you don’t want a sweet crepe?! won’t you just look”. I agreed. You don’t have to tell me twice to order something sweet! He asked if I wanted the menu in French, which I took as a compliment. I replied with, “oui, je comprends un peu”.
I ended up ordering the 70% dark chocolate crepe, and I’m so glad that I did. It was delicious! And it would be a shame to not have eaten a crepe in Paris.
A relaxing afternoon in the Luxembourg Gardens
After brunch, I went to the Luxembourg Gardens to chill out. If you’ve read my previous post, you know that I was hurting badly from three days of festival. Note: I checked my health app tonight, and it says that I walked/ran a total of 27.1 miles on Friday, 22.4 miles on Saturday, and 10 miles on Sunday. No wonder my body was shutting down!
Anyway, I was not about to walk all over Paris despite it being my last day.
The gardens were a wonderful choice. I sat there for a couple of hours talking to my mom on the phone. The atmosphere was calm and welcoming, with people relaxing in the lounge chairs next to the fountain or among the trees. If I lived in Paris, that is where I would spend most of my free time.
As I was sitting there with my feet up, enjoying the opportunity to finally rest, I received a text from Chris. He asked when I was leaving, and I told him Tuesday morning. He was disappointed, as he and Cheryl wanted to invite me to dinner with them on Tuesday night. I asked if they wanted to make plans for that night (Monday) instead. He mentioned that they were going to an event and that he had already invited a number of people, so he didn’t want to push it by asking for me to come with too.
I said, “is this by chance Jason’s event?!”
Jason from Chicago had been telling me about his plan to host an exclusive music event in Paris while he was here.
Chris confirmed exactly what I had thought: they were all going to Jason’s event!
I said, “okay, I’ll text him right now”.
I messaged Jason asking if it was too late to join. Within an hour, he confirmed that there was enough space for me! Woohoo!
Private DJ set by the Eiffel Tower
The event was from 6-8pm near the Eiffel Tower. By this point, it was already about 4:30pm, so I just took my time getting ready. I wore black linen pants, a backless denim peplum top, and strappy heeled sandals.
I took another Uber to the event space, a restaurant called Francette. It’s a restaurant on top of a boat in the Seine, right next to the Eiffel Tower. On the way, the Uber driver talked to me quite a bit. And when I say talked, I mean he sat idle in the road at a green light, typing phrases into Google Translate and playing them aloud for me. He told me all the cities in the US he has visited, and I found out that he does NOT like Redbull and instead prefers Coca Cola.
When I arrived at Francette, I instantly found Jason, Chris, and Mark. Jason introduced me to everyone else who was there, including two of his best friends, Chelsea and Ian. When they saw me they said, “you must be Sam 2!!!!!”. I got huge hugs from them.
I also introduced myself to the DJ, Raw Main. He was just chilling on the couch with everyone!
As I was making the rounds, people kept asking me if I’m in the Paris chapter of YPO. I had no idea what they were talking about. YPO? What is that? I had no idea.
I just told them that I was in town for Cercle Festival, and that’s how I met Jason.
It turns out, most of the group was in a club called YPO, meaning they are all CEOs and presidents of businesses. Thankfully, my Cercle friends were also confused by what YPO was… it wasn’t just me!
I enjoyed talking one-on-one with Mark for a while. He had arrived in Paris about a week earlier to explore with his daughter before the Moment. He showed me pictures from the Opera House, and I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. Someday, I need to return to Paris just to see that! He also mentioned that the Musée d’Orsay was spectacular, as was Versailles. We also talked about how the city never gets old. You could visit Paris 100 times and still not see everything!
Next, I talked with Sam. She and I had really hit it off during the first night of our Mexico trip, but I hadn’t had the chance to talk with her much since then. Eventually, she and I decided to migrate in front of the speakers to where we were better positioned to dance. Everyone else at the party was talking business, but my friends and I were just vibing with the DJ. It was so much fun, and I feel like it made us bond even more.
Dinner at La Maison de l’Aubrac
When the event was over, Sam, Mark, Chris, Cheryl, and I went to a restaurant called La Maison de l’Aubrac for dinner. We ended up being there for FOUR hours! The time flew by. We talked about what trips we have planned next, where we live, and our families. I also had the chance to talk with Cheryl one-on-one about college. Turns out, we have a lot in common! She was a math major, but thrived more in problem-solving than proof-writing. Memorizing how to solve problems a certain way came easily, but explaining why 1 + 1 is 2 just doesn’t make any sense.
As a group, we also imagined ways that we could get the entire crew back together yearly. My favorite idea was renting a villa in a place like Ibiza, stocking it with all of the food, drinks, and equipment we need to listen to music and hang out all together. It sure would be fun to stay in touch!
Not only was the company great, but the food was too. They all ordered steak, while I had the salmon. It was the best salmon I’ve had! I also tried aligot for the first time, which is basically mashed potatoes with a ton of cheese inside. My soul left my body when I took a bite of that! We also had white asparagus and escargot. Despite being full after dinner, we took a look at the dessert menu. We ended up ordering sorbet, crepes, and apple pie to share. Interestingly, the crepes came covered in alcohol. Chris asked the server if we could order crepes with just sugar since I can’t have alcohol (so thoughtful!). I insisted that I didn’t need any crepes and that they should just order the regular ones, but alas, we ended up with some of both.
When the server tried to explain that it would be crazy to ask for sugar crepes when the alcohol ones are so good, Cheryl explained that I am allergic to alcohol. The server said, “What? That’s impossible. You can’t be allergic to alcohol!” Cheryl gave her a look and said, “Yes, you can. I am too.” Even though the server was probably just kidding, it felt really nice to have someone stand up for me!
We were pushing hour four of our dinner when all of us girls agreed that we were getting kind of antsy. I think Chris could have stayed there for six hours 😂 Apparently, it is common for his family to have lunches and dinners that last 4-6 hours!
We made our way back into the streets of Paris, and I ordered an Uber back to my hotel. We all hugged goodbye and said our farewells.
“Until next time”, “see you soon”, and “I’m going to miss you”, and then I was gone.
I am so grateful for the extra time that I got to spend with them. Going into the trip, I never would have imagined that I would get to spend such quality time with my friends from the Mexico trip, especially considering they were almost all on the Moment again. It really was the best surprise, and I already can’t wait to see them again!
An unexpected reunion on the flight home
The next day, I left Paris to return to my home in Ann Arbor. My first flight was from Paris to Washington DC. I left with ample amounts of time because I have heard horror stories about the CDG airport taking forever. I was worried for no reason, though. Since Kirk gifted me his Premier 1K status through United, I get to skip pretty much all of the lines at the airport. I made it through in about 30 minutes or so and then had about 3 hours to kill. So, I went to the United lounge and had some breakfast. That was my first time ever using the lounge, and WOW was it amazing. There are so many comfortable places to sit, unlimited free food, and even a garden if you want to sit outside.
When it was about time for me to board, I headed to my gate. There, I saw two familiar faces: Brian and Val. I couldn’t believe it! Well, I could… because they live in DC and, of course, they would also be on a flight to DC…
I was so happy to see them again! I walked up to them and said, “Well, well, well. Fancy seeing you here!”
We chatted for a few minutes about the one singular day of our trip that we didn’t spend together. They had gone to the French Open with some of their other friends who were in town. It sounded fun, aside from it being another hot, 90 degrees & sunny day.
On the plane, I was seated next to a woman about my age. She had her 11 month old cat with her, so we spent a good chunk of the flight talking about our cats. Hers was so calm that she stayed in the carrier even when the top was open! If that was Buffy, he would be out of the carrier in a matter of seconds, racing down the aisles.
At one point, a woman in the row next to us chimed in about her 1 yr old cat, too! It was like we had our own little 1yr old cat club!
When we arrived in DC, I waited for Brian and Val so that I could say goodbye. They gave me huge hugs. Like I said in an earlier post, I cannot believe I just met them last weekend. It feels like I’ve known them forever!
This morning, we were texting in our group chat about how hard it is to go back to work after such a fun weekend. Brian sent a photo in his suit, and I have to say, it is really intimidating to imagine that these people all have professional careers. I prefer not to think about it 😂 They are just my friends!!!
Until next time,
Clara
P.s. I will add photos shortly, but right now I am having difficulties uploading them. Too tired to fix it haha.