During Spring Break 2008, my bride and I were married in a wonderfully romantic ceremony at Couples Negril in Jamaica.
We invited no one, yet had dozens of happy people applauding us as we kissed for the first time as husband and wife.
Since the traditional first anniversary gift is paper, I gave my wife, Martha, paper for her gift: Tickets to Paris.
Our flight was uneventful and we arrived at Paris' Charles de Gaulle International Airport and took a cab to our hotel in the 6th arrondissement, or district, near Saint Germain des Pres and Montparnasse.
After check-in, we spent the afternoon people-watching from the terrace of a local café, enjoying a drink and watching the locals scurrying about getting their Saturday afternoon shopping done.
We had an early dinner at another local café, where I introduced my wife to something one doesn't see in the U.S., Hamburger du Cheval, horse meat hamburgers with a fried egg on top.
They were good, and we turned in early to help fight off jet lag and be ready for a full Sunday at the Marche au Puce (flea market) at Clignancourt.
The Clignancourt Flea Market is amazing. A weekend thing, it extends for blocks encompassing everything from knickknacks, T-shirts, records, surplus goods, African curiosities, vintage clothing, to collectibles of all sorts and high-end antiques -- all in a 19th century maze of alleys that defy description.
If you see something you want, buy it then. You'll never find that particular street again.
I was wandering through the market one morning in the early '90s and found a whole street of glass and crystal dealers.
I've been back to Paris at least a half-dozen times, but I've never found that street again.
After a day at the market, we headed back to the hotel for a short break, then to dinner.
Scouting our options, we decided on walking to Montparnasse and its assortment of cafes, brasseries, etc., and chose the Brasserie 1900. We had our one grand meal of the trip with a full seven-course menu, plus a bottle of wine. It took three hours to complete.
Monday and Tuesday, we spent touring the sites using one of the hop-on/hop-off bus services. If you've got a short time, this is the way to see Paris, giving you the advantages of a tour with the convenience of staying at the sites you like and catching a later bus to continue with your tour.
We ended at Notre Dame Cathedral, which totally moved my wife.
We spent some time around Place Denfert-Rochereau (the old neighborhood), and we took in the Rue Daguerre, which is a full market street where we picked up snacks for later at the fromagerie (cheese shop), boulangerie (bakery) and the charcuterie (a deli, kind of), and had crepes for dinner at a little Breton café.
I can't spend a week in Paris without doing some shopping, and my favorite way to find the local shops is to buy a French magazine and find the ads for the Parisian shops.
Thursday was a strike day, so many things were closed, but that Paris landmark Fauchon was open, so we did some shopping, lunch and spent time at the Madeline, a Revolutionary-era church that's just magnificent.
Friday we spent at La Louvre, which I'll note has free wheelchairs available and allows those in them special access routes from room to room.
Saturday was our departure day and our cabbie took us to Charles de Gaulle Airport talking about American football the whole way. When we told him we were from Tennessee, he knew all about the Titans, how they'd moved from Houston to Memphis, etc.
He, and all the other people we met, were wonderful.
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