Since it is May Day and everything is closed for France's National Labor Day Holiday, we walked to the Bois de Boulogne, a huge park twice the size of New York's Central Park and London's Hyde Park. It was the brainchild of Baron Haussman in the 1800s and the neighborhood surrounding it is still some of the most expensive Paris real estate today. It is an incredibly beautiful park where you cannot even tell that Paris, the city, is right next door. It was as if time stood still and all you see around you is nature's glory. We sat on a park bench to eat gariguette strawberries, which, while very fragrant, tasted akin to fruit roll-ups. It has a lightly candied taste.
We saw ducks and their little ducklings swim by us during our picnic. There was only one female duck, but many male ducks that kept chasing her. They flew all around the lake! I have never seen an American duck even fly 2 feet off the ground, but these ducks were flying at least 30 feet in the air, flying all across the lake! I made up a story that the female duck is the princess and the male ducks are courting & attending her. Angel said the female duck is the local whore >__< Ruin my story!
We walked to Roland Garros tennis stadium where the French Open is held afterwards. It is pretty close to the Bois de Boulogne, but as the Bois de Boulogne itself is a monstrous park, the walk there took just about an hour. We saw the Phillippe Chartrier & Suzanne Langlen tennis courts, the two most famous courts.
The walk back was PAINFUL! By then we had already walked about 3 hours, and the walk back to the hotel took another 2 hours, as the Roland Garros is at the very southwest edge of Paris. J'ai faim (I'm hungry!).
Upon arriving back at Sofitel, an employee came to check the minibar to restock anything if necessary (no). At the same time, the concierge came by to drop off a letter from the guest relations manager. She wanted to meet with us on Monday or Tuesday, due to my complaint to Accor hotels, which Sofitel is a part of.
We went to the front desk to arrange the appointment, but the manager was available to meet with us. Bibi took us to the bar, where she asked if we wanted champagne or cocktails. We opted for tea and butter cookies. We chatted for about an hour about the differences between France and the US (She's planning a trip to SF and NYC this year). In France supermarkets, there are whole aisles devoted to cheese and pate (foie gras, lapin, porc, etc) and most are reasonably priced. You never see this in US supermarkets! US macarons and steak tartare are more expensive than France, but bagels and donuts are expensive in France (AND gaining popularity here too!). She said regular donuts are 4 euros EACH and a smoked salmon bagel is 8 euros! Anyway, I explained to her our horrible experience with Audrey when we were checking in, and how rude she was to us, not letting us speak to the manager on duty about our situation. Bibi apologized and said it should have never escalated as far as it did, and if we were willing to pack our bags tonight, she would move us to a luxury room tomorrow, as well as reverse the extra person supplement charge! During our conversation, I said I have not been able to get a good picture of the Eiffel Tower at night and she offered to take us to the Sofitel penthouse so that I could take a picture. We had a very positive experience with Bibi (even prior to that, I think we didn't want Audrey to ruin our trip so we deliberately pushed the whole experience to the back of our minds... I mean, it's Paris! I've been dreaming about this for so long!) and hope everything tomorrow will go as scheduled and planned. Bibi gave each one of us a little bouquet of Lily of the Valley flowers. It is a tradition on May 1st in France to give your loved ones a bouquet of these flowers, and if the bouquet you receive has 13 flowers in it, you'll have good luck for the coming year.
Jennifer's had 13 and Angel's had 16, but that's only because Jennifer stole the one Angel was supposed to get. She's a spoiled witch. <-- BULLSHIT!!!! Bibi gave each one of us one and I happened to get the one with 13! Le petit magot!
Reminds me of when we were little and went to Sunnyvale Recreation Center for the Easter Egg Hunt, and I pulled the carrot with the aluminum foil on it and Angel threw a tantrum because she didn't pull one with foil wrapped on it. <-- Jen always steals stuff from poor little children.
Pour dinner, the concierge Alain made reservations for us at a local trendy bistro for 8pm pour deux. It is off the Champs-Elysees.
We ordered a prix-fixe of beef terrine with salad,
entree of steak tartare with pomme frites and mayo,
and beef shephard's pie. Oh my god it was so good! The tartare was melt-in-your-mouth, a hint of mustard and Angel loved the creamyness paired with the crunchiness of the frites. The terrine was outstanding~ perfectly seasoned, creamy smooth...
Our walk back to the hotel after dinner~
No comments:
Post a Comment