Marché Président Wilson and Dinner with Friends

Marche President Wilson

                                            

Delicious coffee looking out the apartment window

On March 18, we had breakfast at the apartment as usual - have I mentioned our Nespresso machine? We love it so much, and I loved to drink coffee looking out at the Paris street outside the living room window. We figured out how to make a full cup of coffee from one Nespresso pod - just keep pushing the button!

We FINALLY figured out how to use the Navigo cards in the wallet app. You have to select the car you want in the app, then double click the button on the side of the phone to secure it for tapping through the turnstile. You can then switch to the other card and do the same thing. We chose to load one ticket at a time on the cards, and then refill as needed. Once we figured this out, it made the whole process with the Metro so much easier! We finally felt like we could navigate the Metro without stressing about the turnstiles.

These cards also work with the bus system, but we didn’t use the buses in Paris. We either walked, used the metro, or took an Uber. When comparing the routes we wanted to take to get to our destinations/metro stops, buses tended to be as fast as walking due to traffic.

After breakfast we took the Metro just one stop to Marché Président Wilson, an outdoor market along Avenue du Président Wilson, from Trocadero onward, in the 16th arrondissement Passy neighborhood. It’s a fancy area, and the market is SO good. It’s been my favorite thing to do in Paris the last… four trips? It is the whole reason we like having a place with a kitchen! We have stayed in this area many of the times we’ve visited Paris, and always try to go to this market. It is held on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.

I had forgotten it was on Saturdays or maybe we would have gone on Saturday right after we got there. However, I didn’t have my act together yet on Saturday morning and we needed to get out to Versailles that day! 

On Wednesday we had nothing pressing to do, so we took our time and enjoyed perusing the stalls. 

THE Rotisserie Chicken with potatoes

Turkish tea

We only had one more full day, and already had plans for dinner both nights, so I skipped getting any of the fresh seafood, meat, poultry… there were tons of fresh produce, cheeses, spices and Moroccan / Turkish / Chinese food. But we DID get my FAVORITE: Poulet Roti with pomme de terre. Rotisserie chicken with fingerling potatoes that have been drenched with the chicken fat drippings while the bird was cooking. We also got a big tray of huge juicy strawberries, some baguette and choupettes, some cheese, cucumbers, and I got a tea towel for the kitchen with two cats on it, and another purple pashmina. We also sipped small cups of Turkish tea.

Going to the market was one of my favorite parts of the trip, yet again. It’s such a fun thing to do, and you get good food out of it too!

We walked through the neighborhood on our way to a special surprise treat for the kids: La Pasticherie, a shop specializing in pistachio treats.

Walking along Avenue du President Wilson 

Pistachio fountain!

We got a pistachio cappuccino with crushed pistachio on the rim, a pistachio cream donut, a pistachio creme-filled croissant, a pistachio croissant for Wilder, and a giant bar of Dubai chocolate for Felicity.

Dubai chocolate

We sat in the sunshine at little tables and enjoyed our treats. Then we walked back to the apartment, enjoying the sights and sounds.

We had a feast for lunch with the chicken, potatoes, a green salad; and a tray of cheese, fruit and baguette. It was the best meal we had on the trip, and we had it in our apartment!

I had wanted to do a tour of Garnier Opera House, but the reservations were full the whole day. We could have gone and just waited in line, but I was feeling a little “crowd-ed out” after the last two very full days. Instead, kids watched a movie and Zach and I took a nap! We left early to go to dinner with our friends Stacy and Jason, and took an Uber to the Tuileries for the kids to play at the playground for about 40 minutes.

Playing in the playground in the Tuileries!

The weather was beautiful and the kids had so much fun that they wanted to stay for longer. But we took the Metro to Stacy and Jason’s apartment.


Their home is so beautiful. We had not seen the two of them since they moved back to Paris in January 2021. 

Stacy and Jason's apartment

Playing Jason's piano

We went to dinner with them at a really neat-looking Indian restaurant. RATN is the name. The inside looked like a palace! Our food was good! Mine was chicken with pomegranate and cognac sauce. The kids devoured the naan bread and rice. Felicity shared my meal. We also enjoyed some champagne, and we had “blanc de noir” - I’ve never had that kind of champagne before but it was delicious! 

After a dessert of something creamy with balls of dough, we went back to their apartment to visit some more. Stacy was our wedding photographer, and we became friends when she took photos on our honeymoon in Paris (Jason came too!) We have traveled a lot together—New Orleans, Annecy, Geneva, Venice. But we haven’t spent time with them in far too long, so it was good to catch up.

With Stacy and Jason <3

We took an uber home, very late, but it was worth it! The next day was our last full day in Paris, and we went to Notre Dame and Montmartre.