(Kind of) just back from the Paris Olympics! Oui, nous sommes allées aux jeux olympiques! Please forgive my lack of posts. I took off a little over two weeks – so proud of myself for not working a single day – for this family trip we planned starting in 2023, and upon my return, I was swamped with work to catch up on. And then there was moving two kids back into college on the East Coast, but I digress…
I have received so many questions: How was it? Did you feel safe? What events did you get tickets to? How did you get tickets? And, of course, I heard a lot of, Where did you eat?
In April of 2023 I received an email from USA Swimming about how to buy tickets for the 2024 Olympic games in Paris. Essentially, we entered a lottery to buy tickets, and upon our assigned day and time, we were able to access the tickets available for sale. We decided to take the kids, so there were five of us, and once we got our tickets, we knew we were locked in.
Where did we stay? With a friend of my husband’s who had left Paris for les grands vacances. We were extremely lucky to have had this opportunity to stay in their lovely home in the 6th arrondissement near the Luxembourg gardens, ironically right around the corner from where I lived when I studied in Paris. It was such a full-circle moment for me, revisiting my old stomping grounds with my family. But, if not for this opportunity, I would have rented an Airbnb… the hotel prices were exorbitant.
What events did we get tickets to? Women’s soccer, volleyball, beach volleyball, and lots of swimming. To answer the next question, the highlight for us was swimming, for sure. We were able to see swimmers that we’ve been following for a long time: Katie Ledecky, Caleb Dressel, Lilly King, and rising stars like Léon Marchand and Summer McIntosh. Even more exciting, we watched some swimmers our kids have competed against, including Regan Smith, Simone Manuel, and Arizona’s own Keaton Jones.
Did we feel safe? Yes, very. Paris was prepared. There were security forces everywhere—70,000, if I remember correctly. We felt 100% safe on the metro (which is how we mainly got around) and walking around the streets at night. The city had a festive, secure energy, and the entire experience felt seamless.
Where did we eat? Now, this is the trickiest question. I am a planner, but I knew I had to be flexible for many reasons: I didn’t know how long the events would last, I wasn’t familiar with the venues, and I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get around. In light of all this, apart from three reservations I made ahead of time, we mainly winged it for our week in Paris. And honestly, that was part of the fun. I proved to myself that you can visit Paris without a master plan for every meal. It was actually liberating!
What did we find out doing this?
I discovered a side of Paris I hadn’t expected. For instance, on one of our free evenings, we booked a semi-private Bateau Mouche tour with Vedettes du Pont Neuf—there were only about 20 of us aboard, and they provided a bar (of course). The Seine at sunset was stunning, but when we got off the boat at 10:30, we found most restaurants had already closed. We ended up grabbing a drink in the charming Place Dauphine before walking over to the Latin Quarter for shawarma at La Maison de Gyros—which is open well into the night. It was delicious, inexpensive, and an unexpectedly fun night. Speaking of delicious and budget-friendly, there is a very tasty Lebanese restaurant on the Boul’ Mich near our friend’s house called Sama Labna, where – jetlagged on arrival day – we feasted on a whole slew of Mediterranean dishes like baba ghanoush, hummus, tzatziki, dolmas, falafel, and labneh.
One day, I was introduced to Sudeep Rangi, whose partner, Apollonia Poilâne, owns Poilâne Bakery on the Rue du Cherche-Midi. He graciously gave us a tour of the bakery, including a history lesson on bread (I may need to write a whole post on this). Sudeep also pointed us to Au Sauvignon, a darling little restaurant nearby where they incorporate Poilâne bread into many of their dishes. I’d return there in a heartbeat.
One of my favorite parts of our trip was rediscovering the Marais district on Sundays. We stumbled upon Les Philosophes, a cozy spot that is part of the Sébastien Demorand group. The owner, Xavier Denamur, is passionate about transparency in food sourcing and promoting an anti-industrialized food movement. His restaurant reflects that passion in every bite, and we liked it so much we went back twice. We’re basically best friends with Xavier now!
I also had time to visit a few of my old favorites: the Hemingway Bar (heads up—men aren’t allowed in wearing shorts!), L’Avenue, Cosi, and Le Balzar. Oh, and plenty of crêpes on the street, naturally!
We had two very special dinners that I’ll post about soon: one at Le Tour d’Argent with just me and my husband, and one en famille at Le Clarence.
Stay tuned for more on those! À bientôt! xoM
