Très Bien

(NB: yes, this is severely overdue)
It'd been a while since I was on a holiday - the last trip had been all the way back in December and all attempts to try for a holiday in March before I changed jobs didn't quite work out (I'd blame Japan, but tsunamis and nuclear meltdowns aren't really under anyone's control so that would be severely unfair).

My friend who was working in Paris insisted, however, that I take advantage of his hospitality before his stint there ended, and in the end I managed to get my act together enough in May to book my flights. And despite a last-minute fainting fit that nearly sparked off a health scare, I managed to bundle myself onto the plane on 27 July for a 13-day jaunt around Paris, London and Alsace.


Paris was an interesting experience. Having long been warned about the snobbish-ness of Parisians and their refusal to speak to you if you used a word of English, I must say I found communicating perfectly alright. Admittedly I usually started out trying to read or say things with absolutely terrible pidgin French and I suspect that played a huge role in persuading just about every French person I met to switch immediately into English before this silly Chinese girl could mangle their beloved language any further. But the capital city itself was disconcerting even to my fairly well-travelled self: immaculately preserved and so unlike all the other (previously bombed-out; now rebuilt - and rebuilt terribly) European cities that I have been to. My first reaction to the city was to comment that there was no better confirmation of one's status as a cheese-eating surrender monkey than the immaculate preservation of one's capital city. That, rather than the famous image of Paris as the "City of Romance", was the real impression that I took away from my rather long sojourn in the place.

In terms of sights, I probably did most of the obvious ones (excluding the Louvre - because the queues were absolutely insane and I really, really was not that keen on seeing the Mona Lisa). My favourite were really the Musee d'Orsay and the Pantheon - the latter in particular because of the real life Foucault's Pendulum dangling from its centre. The gardens of Versailles were also marvellous and I shall treasure the memory of renting a bicycle and cycling all around its huge man-made lake for many years to come. The feeling of peace and freedom that came with the experience was simply wonderful.


I was more than a little disappointed to realise that much of Revolutionary France no longer existed in Paris. The Bastille, for one, no longer exists except as a silly monument; and the Tuileries gardens seem far too civilised to have been the centre of mass riots and protests as they were all those centuries ago. Indeed I had a very civilised time in Paris - brunch at Mariage Frères on a Sunday, epic amounts of chocolate mousse, more foie gras than I'd ever had before in my life, and far, far too much wine.

Indeed if wine consumption is the mark of a civilised nation then I had a very civilised time on this trip. My friend and I decided to take few days of the week out from Paris and headed into the heart of France's Alsace region for some serious wine tasting and gourmand delights. Capping off a day of castle-seeing, grape-picking, Riesling and Gerwurtztraminer-tasting, and village-hopping with a 7-course tasting menu at a Michelin-starred restaurant in the little town of Colmar made for quite a memorable vacation experience. And it was one that was not completely spoiled by our being rained out and being given poor directions the next day; and for the time being I can confidently say that I can identify a Gerwurtztraminer grape from a Riesling grape from grape colour and leave shape alone. Though I don't quite know how long this period of expert knowledge will last.

I definitely do wish Gerwurtz grapes were sold for eating in the market though - if they were, I'd buy up the whole lot.


It was definitely a good trip - and a relaxing one. Even the two day trip to London for some theatre goodness and much-missed Yotam Ottolenghi and Marcus Wareing gourmet delights was - despite the rush and accompanying tiredness - worth the effort. I admit I was never in a hurry to visit Paris; and I certainly don't feel in a great hurry to return to the city again. But ah, Europe - where else would I go for some rest and relaxation if you didn't exist?