Paris: Tidbits, Gifts, and Minimizing Jet Lag
My two new favorite French words are “bougie” and “pamplemousse.”
“Bougie” means candle. “Pamplemousse” is grapefruit, and it seems to be A Thing right now in France. Pamplemousse was a popular ingredient in dishes, sauces and desserts at several restaurants we tried, and seems to be a popular ingredient in various fragranced items as well including lotions and “bougies.”
We tried several new restaurants this time, but agreed that our favorite (in Paris) was Jamin, where we dined our first night after arriving in France. We were looking for something that was tasty, but not too heavy or rich, and with a low-key ambience. I began with the Tartare d’ecrivesses (crayfish tartare) which was phenomenal, and followed up with a daily special of cod for the plat principal. The meal was exactly what we’d hoped, and we will definitely go back again on our next visit.
But one of our favorite meals was an impromptu late lunch at a “tabac” sidewalk cafe, sitting underneath an awning sipping wine and nibbling sandwiches during a rainstorm. It was such a pleasant and quintessential Parisian experience. It was one of those times where you are acutely aware, even as you are in the moment, that life just doesn’t get any better than this.
If you want to shop on a Sunday, you’ll be out of luck (as most shops are closed) unless you head over to the Marais, where Sunday afternoons are now quite a scene.
And if you want to see one of the more popular expositions (temporary exhibits) at museums, check the museum website and purchase tickets in advance online if you can. Some of the lines can be quite long without advance tickets, and you’re in Paris…who wants to spend precious time standing in line??? (Karen picked up tickets in advance for the fabulous Matisse exhibit at the Pompidou and we had a wonderful time enjoying brunch, viewing the exhibit and wandering in the Marais afterward. Thanks, Karen!)
Gifts
We always try to bring back gifts for family and those who are “holding down the fort” while we are away. Over time, we’ve hit upon some items that travel well and seem to be appreciated across a broad taste and demographic spectrum, without resorting to Eiffel Tower keychains.
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| This might be difficult to get home intact, unless well packaged. |
Chocolat: In Paris, you can’t throw a rock without hitting an outstanding chocolatier. We’ve found that most offer smallish tins or boxes of chocolats or flavored amandes that travel well and will be greeted with “oohs and aahs” from the recipients. Note: we always carry-on our chocolates rather than checking in luggage. We’ve never had a problem with airport security.
Fragonard: in addition to fragrances and lovely scented soaps, we find the Fragonard boutiques have a wonderful selection of decorative household items and accessories (love their embroidered shoe bags and small pouches!). For young women on your list, they have a selection of small solid fragrances in tins for about 10€.
Maille moutardes: any cooks or gourmands on your list? Then stop by the Maille boutique near the Madeleine, just off Rue Royale for some exquisite mustards, vinegars, aiolis, and various condiments. You can even get mustards “on tap!”
They will pack your purchases for travel, but we always use one of our wine skins for bringing these jars home (in checked luggage, as they do count as liquids).
Re-usable bags/totes: my favorites are the organic cotton reusable grocery totes from La Grande Epicerie at Bon Marché, but many shops now sell inexpensive reusable bags and totes with a uniquely Parisian flavor.
Jet Lag
Traveling to Paris from the West coast of the US or Canada means crossing 8 or 9 time zones, depending on time of year. Sometimes a bit (or a lot) of jet lag is inevitable, but these are some of the tactics I employ that do seem to help.
- Set your watch to your destination time zone as soon as you board the plane. This is probably more of a mental aide than anything, but I find it does help.
- If you can manage even 2-3 hours of sleep on the flight over, it will help.
- Eat very lightly on the flight, and if you can’t skip alcohol altogether, limit yourself to 1 drink.
- Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Drink as much water as you can manage.
- Darjeeling tea. I don’t know why, but a cup or two toward the end of the flight or soon after arrival really helps. I’m normally a coffee drinker, but in transit I skip the coffee and have tea instead.
- And here’s the most important thing: once you arrive, drop your bags at the hotel and get out and walk around in the fresh air as much as you can for as long as you can. More than anything, I really do find this helps reset my body clock.
- Try to stay up your first day until normal bedtime in your new time zone. If you can’t do that, keep a nap to 30-45 minutes, tops. Then get out and move around some more.
- Don’t fret too much if your sleep patterns are disrupted. If you wake up at 2am and can’t fall back to sleep, read a book for a while, take a bath, anything relaxing, even if it doesn’t put you back to sleep right away. And when morning comes, get up, get outside and walk around some more.
- Don’t schedule a full day your first day or two. If it’s your first visit to Paris, day 2 is an excellent time to just be a tourist and hop the double decker sightseeing bus.
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My first couple of nights in Europe, I take a couple of Tylenol PM before I go to bed. It helps with any aches and pains, and seems to help with that “waking up at 2 a.m.” phenomenon…
Your trip looks absolutely lovely – I so glad you had such a nice time!
big hug,
Janice
Fragonard, blech, way too synthetic now. Its only virtue is not to be exported a lot, so it looks more exotic. How about Guerlain instead? You’d have a less tourist-ridden shopping time too.
I like la Maison du Chocolat :-). Also le Bon Marche usually has a very good selection of very French-looking dishtowels, which make good presents, not liquid, not breakable, light..
As to jet lag, good advice especially the walk-around-in-daylight. But don’t forget melatonin, somewhat discredited recently because (surprise!) it’s not turning out as an elixir of youth. However it still is a very good corrective to jet lag, really makes a difference for me. 3g, time release, a half-hour before desired bed-time. The best thing though imho is going either on Air France or at roughly the same time, so you get to Paris fairly early in the morning – one dazed day, one early evening, a long night and you’re raring to go. Same for return, early afternoon in CA means you crash early and can function the next day.
I use most of your tips (but no caffeine in any form) and it still takes me 3-4 days to “land”. I’d add that renting an apt. gets you out of public space as most hotel rooms not available till 3 pm. (our flights get in early am.) Or you can rent a room an extra night. We have cut our travel gifts enormously; earrings (costume) and linen tea towels (not touristy, but the beautiful Jacquard de France etc.) pack well. WIll admit I have even bought French brands here to have on hand as travel gifts.
wineskins! those are amazing! i’ve never seen those before and have to tell my parents – my dad loves to buy kosher boutique winery port to bring home after they visit us here in israel. usually he justs wraps it well in clothing, sticks it in the middle of a suitcase and prays! definitely sending them that link…
I third the tea-towel suggestion, everyone seems to especially like the Jacquard Français’ Primrose Bordier line, or Garnier-Thiebaut. And when I shop for gifts to take to France, I look for plush, fluffy terrycloth towels to bring back. But the good-quality ones are getting harder and harder to find. Can anyone suggest some brands for me to look out for?
Actually, that first full night wakey-wakey thing was one of the best times of our trip last summer. We were staying in the Latin Quarter and our hotel room shared a wall with a bakery–croissant aromas at 3am, heavenly! Then we went for a walk around Notre Dame, saw a few folks still closing down the bars and cafes, cool August night air, perfect for a stroll. It was the only time I have seen rats in Paris, scuttling through the shrubbery (love the movie “Ratatouille”). Thank you for saving us the jet lag but letting us enjoy your trip by sharing your lovely photos!
Pseu, I am thoroughly enjoying all of your photos of Pairs. I have a few questions for you but will of course understand if it doesn’t work to answer. I’m interested to know which is your favorite neighborhood in which to stay? Also, my French is only passable to make myself understood in person but not really to dialog over the phone. Because of this I was afraid to make restaurant reservations when I went. How do you manage? Do you have any tips for making restaurant reservations from which I could benefit? Oh, and I just found the photo of your in your new jacket. It is absolutely gorgeous.
For gifts – we love to bring back beach towels – usually our trips invole some other event – like the Olymics – and their souvenier beach towels are a great gift. My Los Angles friends always can use another beach towel.
For jet-lag – a flight attendant once recommended submerging you whole body in water. I tried it on my last trip LA to Maui and back (granted only a 3 hour time difference) and it appeared to work.
Ooh, yes! Flying from New Zealand to the United Kingdom is usually over 24 hours. A stop at Singapore to immerse oneself in the pool and sleep on a flat surface is heavenly!
I take those homeopathic jet lag tablets they sell at airports. Not sure if they actually work, but they’re a comfort.
I can’t really stay up… after my last flight over my sister in law kept me up ’till about 11 and I was nearly hallucinating with tiredness. It didn’t settle me in to the new pattern any quicker. I don’t mind waking up in the middle of the night for a few days.
Cheers,
Eleanorjane
My son is about to get on a 17 hour flight, so I am going to share your jet lag tips with him!! Love the gift ideas…especially the mustard jars. I can only dream of a sidewalk cafe with wine and rain, but it is fun to dream!!
Travelling from Australia to Europe is at least 24 hours and for me, the first days away are very tiring but so exciting. I think the adrenalin kicks in and keeps you going. Coming home on the other hand is completely the opposite!
Your list of tips looks exactly like mine but I will add, for those 2am sleep interruptions, have a bagel or some yoghurt available to get rid of hunger pangs. I find it’s not just the lack of sleep that’s a problem, it’s the disruption in eating patterns.
Duchesse, too funny. I thought I was the only one guilty of buying little European “travel gifts” at cut-price stores at home. 🙂 Who wants to pay the Euro rates and weigh down her suitcase?
I have to agree about submerging in water to help with jet lag. We always try to stay in a hotel with a pool (even an indoor pool in Europe) and I find swimming laps and just being in the water helps so much. An ocean – even better.
These days I almost always choose to stay in a hotel with kitchenettes in the rooms (this week, a Citadines in Paris), or in more rural areas we rent a “gite” (cottage) from Gites de France, which means when hunger pains strike at odd hours, I can make myself some food. Plus I love being able to shop for food in France.
I’ll just add that another Paris neighborhood where shopping is available on Sunday is Bercy Village (metro Cour d’Emilion) – it’s a new development, kind of fakey, but can be convenient as the stores are open long hours. And the adjacent park is pleasant.
I agree that drinking a lot of water helps considerably with minimizing jet lag. As for purchasing tickets in advance, we did that but still found that we had to wait in long lines at most museums because of needing to pass through security.
I know what you mean about being in the Marais on Sunday afternoon. Festive!