Trip Report

The information I got from TA in the weeks leading up to our trip was really helpful, so I just wanted to post a quick trip report.

My boyfriend and I took advantage of a promotional fare offered by American Airlines. We departed from Chicago on Wed. 11/22 and returned on Mon. 11/27. We stayed at the K+K Hotel Cayre, a choice that was heavily influenced by comments here on TA. The other hotel we considered was the Hotel Verneuil, but I preferred the location of the K+K.

Upon arriving at CDG, we were unable to take the RER B into the city because of an %26quot;incident%26quot;. We later learned that someone had committed suicide by jumping in front of the train. Anyway, the entire line was shut down. We took the Roissybus instead. This was a nightmare! The traffic was insane.

It took us 4 hours to get to the hotel from the airport. We were lucky enough to be able to check in early, but I was disappointed to find out we were in room 114. (I booked the room through the American Express website at an average rate of $279/night, but I got to apply some Membership Miles to the total cost. We had a Classic room and it did not include breakfast.)

I asked if we could wait and get a better room and was told %26quot;No!%26quot;, so we had to make due. While our room overlooked Blvd Raspail, it wasn%26#39;t really that bad. And we got to use the stairs instead of the extremely slow elevator.

Personally, I would consider the K+K to be a 3 - 3.5 star hotel rather than a 4. Most of the staff were helpful, but we are pretty self-sufficient travelers. The most I asked for were some dinner reservations.

We ate at Leon de Bruxelles on Thursday because I really wanted mussels. The food was good but this place has all the ambiance of a TGI Fridays!

On Friday we did David Lebovitz%26#39;s Chocolate Walk. This was very enjoyable and I highly recommend it to fellow chocolate fiends! He gave out a printed sheet of restaurant recommendations and we chose two: Le Confiturier for lunch after the tour and Le Rotisserie de Beaujolais that night for dinner.

On Saturday, we went to the Picasso Musuem and spent the day in the Marais. This was a lot of fun and we bought tea at Le Palais des Thés as gifts. We had a very large lunch at a place whose name I do not recall (my French got us into trouble when I tried to order the %26quot;formule%26quot; which I didn%26#39;t really understand -- long story, but it involved way too much food!). We skipped dinner that night but went on the Seine riverboat cruise (the Pont Vedette, also recommended by TA). The boat cruise was fun, especially at night, although we did not enjoy being spat upon by the guys hanging out on the bridges.

On Sunday, we had brunch at Au Pied du Cochon and dinner at La Muraille de Jade. For some reason, I have had the most amazing Chinese food in Paris! This was also the only restaurant we went to where the staff spoke English and we were offered an English menu.

My observations on some popular forum topics:

Speaking French: I studied French for 5 years, about 20 years ago, but boy does it come in handy!! It%26#39;s true - you really do need to at least attempt to speak some French when you are there. In most cases, I really don%26#39;t think the people I interacted with spoke English at all. I guess my limited abilities were enough to make myself understood.

Attire: As others have noted, jeans are definitely okay if you wear them with regular leather shoes (not Nikes). Both the men and the women wear scarves and tie them in interesting ways.

Anyway, other than a massive case of jet-lag/stomach distress upon our return (anyone else on AA #41 get sick from that pizza??) we had a fantastic time. I would love to make this my new Thanksgiving tradition!!! Thanks again, to everyone who gave feedback on my previous posts; it was very much appreciated.

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Thank you for taking the time for writting your trip report. I enjoyed it very much.

You had brunch at Au Pied de Cochon how much was it and what did it consist of? Would you go back again to that restaruant?

( I have wanted to eat there when I was there last two times but it did not work out.)

Thank you.

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Great report. Thanks for sharing. I had to laugh, because my return flight was also served small pizzas by AA on the 20th. I didn%26#39;t eat mine... which from reading your comments was probably a wise decision!?

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Discover,

I had read about Au Pied de Cochon in my Access Paris guide (Access guides are one of my all-time favorite travel guides). It specifically mentioned having oysters and champagne there as a true Parisian brunch.

I ordered the oyster sampler (4 varieties of oysters) and my boyfriend ordered the %26quot;fruits de mer%26quot; sampler. I enjoyed my dish, and it was interesting to me how much %26quot;brine-ier%26quot; my oysters were than those I have eaten in the states! Actually that was true for almost everything we ate -- the food was so much more flavorful there!

Anyway, my boyfriend%26#39;s platter included a variety of unfamiliar shellfish (I think they were varieties of snails). We were able to eat some with the fork that was provided, but the smaller ones eluded us. We eventually gave up and the waiter took the platter away. About that time, I noticed another (French) couple seated nearby who had a similar platter -- and they had a little metal pick they were using to eat the shellfish. I guess this illustrates a couple of things - waiters in Paris don%26#39;t come by the table to %26quot;see if everything is okay%26quot; like they do in the States. And I didn%26#39;t know enough about what we were eating to know that we should have had a little metal pick in the first place!!

I wish I had remembered my camera -- we sat next to a couple of elderly women; one ordered the Pied au Cochon and I desperately wanted to photograph it! I have never seen anyone eat an actual pig%26#39;s foot (it was HUGE! - it was bigger than the plate it was served on!!)

The restaurant itself is gorgeous; it sort of reminded me of Tavern on the Green in NYC.

If it is a place you are interested in, I would definitely recommend going. We really enjoyed it, although I%26#39;m not sure I would go back, but only because I%26#39;d want to try something different. If I did go back, I would make sure to go on a day when that cookware store (Dehillerin) was open because it is right around the corner!

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Oops - you asked how much it cost. The bill was 92 Euros.

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How can you be sure that it was the pizza that made you sick?

You mentioned that you had the best Chinese food in Paris - Was the selection (i.e. names of dishes) there very different from what you see on menus in the States, or did every dish simply taste much better? The best Chinese food that I%26#39;ve had has actually been in one of our favorite restaurants here in Israel. It never occurred to me to try Chinese food in Paris.

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Thanks for the information.

We had those little shell fish on the coast and they did give us the tiny metal forks. Sorry I can%26#39;t remember their names..... maybe periwinkles?

I originally found this restaraunt when I went to Dehillerin I usually go once a trip! I love the copper!

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Someone else had posted this information:

%26quot;In restaurants serving sea food, do not pass up the %26quot;boulots%26quot;. These sea snails should be widely available and are usually served with aioli sauce (basically mayo and garlic). They are often eaten with a metal %26quot;tooth pick%26quot; device used to pry them from their shells, (for best results pull gently).%26quot;

Maybe that is what you had?

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Yes, they are called %26quot;bulots%26quot; (not %26quot;boulots%26quot;, which is slang for %26quot;jobs%26quot; in French)

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%26quot;BS%26quot; on the%26quot; Escargot %26quot; thread you posted 8:12 am, November 07,

%26quot;boucheboy, it%26#39;s not %26quot;bulot%26quot; that%26#39;s slang for a job, it%26#39;s %26quot;boulot%26quot;. Should avoid some embarrassing confusions!%26quot;

So which it is?????? You can%26#39;t have it both ways!

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Aargh, you are right, Discover! I got myself confused on Nov 7: so the shell is %26quot;bulot%26quot;, the job is %26quot;boulot%26quot;. What a fine detective you are!