We have a 6 am flight to Salt Lake City, then Atlanta, then into Paris at 8 am Friday. It will be a long and uncomfortable day in coach seats, but we’ll survive.

I have my usual plan to learn French on the plane. Wish me luck!

I’ve been checking the Paris weather. I’m glad I packed the raincoat!

There are the cats, my dear pampered sweeties who know I exist to indulge their every wish. And most of the time, it’s true. I’m afraid they’ll miss me almost as much as I miss them, although they’ll have a substitute slave here the whole time.

My garden. We often travel at the end of April or beginning of May and I hate to go because I’ll miss the first bloom of the roses. This year we’re going early, and I’m worrying about missing the dogwood, and worrying about that lettuce I planted which should be thinned about next week.

My stuff, my pillow, my shower, etc. No place else is ever quite as comfortable as home.

On the other hand, I’ll be in Paris, so what do I have to complain about?!!!

This time it’s complicated by my fantasy of being tall, slender and très chic in Paris, when in reality I’m … well, not and never will be. When I wake up in the middle of the night and go through the lists of possibilities, it seems like maybe if I can just come up with the right combination of Land’s End sweaters and jeans, somehow it will all come together in some magical way and transform me.

Not likely. So, I need to settle my internal argument over whether I need three or four pairs of shoes, when in reality I know I’ll wear two pair 95% of the time. I need to settle on a reasonable number of sweaters I know I’ll wear, as well as lighter things just in case spring comes while we’re there. My raincoat, my leather jacket, do I need my black hoodie? All my best jeans and my good black slacks. Since we go from airport to our apartment and don’t move again until we go back to the airport, I can use my 26″ suitcase, which I don’t like to haul around if we’re on the move.

And my mother reminded me to bring gloves and earmuffs. I think my mother brought earmuffs to Hawaii!

I always become strangely efficient before a trip. All the things I told myself I had to do before we left are done (all work projects done, the gardening I would normally stretch out over the whole month of March, cleaning the pantry, etc). I even baked bread for the freezer for when we get home! It’s too early to pack, although except for a few little things, everything is ready for packing. There’s nothing left to shop for, except shoes, and I really don’t need more shoes.

There are a million non-trip-related things I could do, but I’m too restless. Instead I pace, read a few pages, pace some more.

Six more days.

My favorite is a book of essays called Paris, Paris by David Downie. It’s 30 essays, each accompanied by an exquisite small black and white photo by Alison Harris. The essays fall into three categories, Places, People, and Phenomena. Each essay is lively, but crammed full of interesting historical tidbits, humor, and his own sometimes slightly twisted observations.

The opening essay, “A Day in the Park: The Luxembourg Gardens,” is a good example. He describes an entire day spent in the park, from opening at 7 am to closing at 7 pm, and along the way he talks about the kinds of trees that grow in the park, the history of the site, the people frequenting the park as well as the gardiens who police it and make sure the rules are obeyed, even the variety of chairs available in the park and the kinds of people who choose each style.

Another essay describes the “urban decor” of Paris, bollards, bittes, bus shelters, lampposts, trash cans, pissoirs, benches, signs, etc., the history of how they came about and why they are all so distinct to Paris.

Normally I wouldn’t put a book I’d already read on the “pack for Paris” stack, but this one will be making the trip, because I know I’ll want to revisit some of these essays while we’re there.

I put this countdown clock on my Google home page last fall to count down the time to our Paris trip. It started at 180, now it’s finally down to 10!

We’ll have a nice kitchen, fabulous markets nearby, and more time than we usually have while traveling. Also, and this is the exciting part, I’ll have at least a few chances to cook for friends!

A few months ago, I went through a little Amazon shopping frenzy and added several more French cookbooks to my collection, looking for just exactly the right one for this trip to Paris. I based my choices on good advice and recommendations from my friends on the Slowtrav message board. I’m happy with all the books I bought, because I’m firmly convinced one can never have too many cookbooks, but the one that made it to my “pack for Paris” stack is one I already owned, Patricia Wells’s The Paris Cookbook.

Why? I think because it was the most specifically Parisian. While many of the recipes are simple and don’t require special equipment or a well-stocked pantry, most are the creations of Parisian chefs or use some wonderful ingredient I look forward to shopping for in Paris. Maybe I’m a little strange, but I love the idea of baby leeks!

It remains to be seen just how much I’ll cook. The owner tells me the oven at the apartment isn’t working, and unless that gets fixed before we arrive, that will be a limiting factor. I won’t really know what I can do until I see how the kitchen is equipped. There’s the temptation of all those lovely French restaurants instead of cooking in, and even on evenings when we aren’t tempted to go out, Paris makes it very easy to eat well at home without a lot of effort. The rotisserie chickens, bread, cheese, Picard just a few blocks away…

First, we will gaze out our windows on this view, then we will choose from the suggestions listed below.

Words of wisdom

Don’t plan every day’s activities. Let what happens happen. Live in Paris the way Parisians do, as much as you can. Resist busy-ness and relish everyday activities. (ckenb)

Daily routine

Become a “regular” somewhere, anywhere. (chachalaca)

The closest café (to our apartment) is the Café du Monde on the Place Maubert — it’s not small and intimate, but there’s great people-watching on the terrace in good weather. (Ann)

Get up early and ramble through the Tuileries alone. (chachalaca)

Spend every Sunday reading (a front for people watching) in Jardin du Luxembourg. (chachalaca)

Make sure to have a coffee in the hardware cafe of BHV. (chachalaca)

Sit out in a sidewalk cafe and lean back, take the sun on your face. It might be cold out, but the sun is warm. Sip your Beaujolais. Ah. (Dennis Michael Martin)

Buy fresh baguette/bread everyday. Take time to go food shopping – almost everyday, in various markets. (just travel)

Take long walks in various arrondisements. (just travel)

Really settle into a neighborhood and to become a regular at the local boulangerie and epicerie, not to mention the cafe at the corner where you can sit and watch the world go by. (Tourmama, aka Judy)

Try this restaurant/cafe/salon de the in the 5th, La Fourmi Ailee, 8 rue du Fouarre. (sophia1)

Food and wine

Visit Au Verger de la Madeleine (wine/spirits shop) when Gilles is working…he is so kind and will answer any/all questions. He is especially good at reccommending restaurants that are fabulous and worth the extra euro! (chachalaca)

Le J’Go because we always do and it never disappoints; make sure to order the Lou Pastifret (chachalaca)

Have tea at Marriage Freres or Ladurée. (chachalaca)

Visit a chestnut vendor’s stand. (chachalaca)

Have a chestnut crepe. (chachalaca)

Eat lunch at one of the back-room tables at Au Petit Fer a Cheval. Don’t be put off by the bar in front. Get the Plat du Jour. If you have room, go for the Tarte Tatin (faites maison). And don’t miss a visit to the WC. Amazing! (Dennis Michael Martin)

Find a good oyster bar and give yourself a tutorial on French oysters. Look for a place where a person wearing a rubber apron is standing out front opening them. (Dennis Michael Martin)

A good oyster bar: L’Ecallier du Bistro, 22 rue Paul Bert, 11th. 01.43.72.76.77 (Happy in Paris)

Go to the local poisonnerie at Place Maubert and order a dozen (well, we ordered TWO, to be honest) — go shopping and when you come back in an hour, the oysters will be shucked and packaged, ready to take home and eat at much less cost than in an oyster bar. (Ann, passing on a tip from Americana)

Buy a crepe Grand Marnier from a sidewalk vendor and walk along eating it out of your hand. (Dennis Michael Martin)

For a fabulous view of the Eiffel Tower sparkling at night, and the food is pretty good, too: (Happy in Paris)

Les Ombres, 220 rue de l’Université, 7th.
01.47.53.68.00
http://www.lesombres-restaurant.com

Find a good wine bar and become a regular there! After all, French wines are, well, amazing! (Christian)

Shopping

Go to the flea markets. I especially like the Porte des Vanve because it is all outside on the street, accessible and small, comparatively! (chachalaca)

Dehillerin (to buy whisks…sad I know but if you like to cook…well..it’s a highlight) (Linda aka “The Rhodes”) (It’s not sad, it’s one of the things I look forward to most! Chris)

Spend a FEW HOURS in Shakespeare & Co. (Linda aka “The Rhodes”)

The Red Wheelbarrel, 22 Rue St Paul, 4th. The best little bookstore in Paris. For Paris books, perhaps the best in the world. (Happy in Paris)

Sightseeing/Activities/Events

See a ballet/play/concert (chachalaca)

I second the idea of ballet or opera; several times I’ve gotten tickets for the Paris Opera Ballet at the Garnier, AFTER I’ve arrived in Paris. It amuses me that you need to reserve for dinner months in advance, but you can get an excellent seat a day or so before. (Marian)

Go to the Rodin museum if you haven’t. Especially before spring, the scuptures are more stunning without the foliage. You don’t even have to go IN to the museum, just do the outside visit. (chachalaca)

Take the metro out to the far, far ends of Chateau de Vincennes (which I hear is newly restored and lovely, but you’re not visiting those sites!) walk through the chateau grounds (not so lovely) to the big park, and spend the day there. (chachalaca)

I’m not sure when the tulips are usually in bloom in Paris, but it should be at least during the last part of your time there. I especially remember the ones in the gardens next to (behind?) Notre Dame. But maybe that was a little later in April. Not sure. (Dennis Michael Martin)

Spend the day at the Bois de Boulogne. This year, we will revisit Bois de Vincennes. We go to Bois de Boulogne almost everytime we are in Paris but it has been a decade since we were at the Bois de Vincennes. (just travel)

Walk through the Jardin des Plantes and see what’s in bloom. Something usually is. (Dennis Michael Martin)

Walk down to the downstream tip of the Ile de La Cite and sit there, dangling your legs over the water. Try NOT to become hypnotized. (Dennis Michael Martin)

Spend a couple of hours wandering around in Pere Lachaise cemetery. Somehow this is always most pleasant on a Sunday afternoon. (Dennis Michael Martin)

Explore the canal-side life on the Canal St. Martin. (Dennis Michael Martin)

Treat yourself to an hour in the Nissim de Camondo museum. (Dennis Michael Martin)

Take a trip out to St. Denis and then a stroll along the Canal St. Martin followed by a stop at a SPAM market (DanM)

Attend organ concerts at St. Sulpice and St. Eustache (DanM)

Visit the Parc des Buttes Chaumont in the 19th. I remember it as being kind of rugged – and there are great views of the city from there. (Tourmama, aka Judy)

Visit the free-wheeling Drouot auction house. Drouot is sort of half way between a street fair and a full-fledged museum. (Americana in Parigi)

Check out the calendar of street fairs for Paris and nearby. They are great fun.
(Americana in Parigi)

Stroll down rue Martyrs one Sunday morning when it becomes pedestrian only, take rue Clauzel over to the lovely little pl. Gustave Toudouze and get a sidewalk table at one of the cafe/resto/tea-rooms there and soak up the good life. (Laidback)

Spend time in the Bois de Boulogne on a Sunday afternoon, watching the French families enjoy themselves. (Marian)

Visit Sacre Coeur (Linda aka “The Rhodes”)

Visit Pere Lachaise (Linda aka “The Rhodes”)

7lézards and New Morning are my 2 Paris jazz bars. Especially 7lézards, one group often plays my husband’s compositions. (Americana in Parigi)

Take a tango class. Here is a site that is updated daily. (tuscanartist)

The Jardins japonais Albert Kahn would seem to be a serene and interesting place to wander for a couple of hours. (Judy aka Tourmama)

Daytrips

Visit Chartres and the labyrinth. (chachalaca)

Spend hours, maybe a day, milling through the gardens of Versailles on a fountain day, not standing in line for the chateau tours. (chachalaca)

Choose a nice sunny day and take the train to Trouville and walk all day on the unending white sand beach lined with Proustian villas and come home to Paris at sundown. (Americana in Parigi)

Rent some bikes and go to the Marne valley with the RER A (i think) and ride along the Marne have lunch at the floating cafe where the impressionists painted. Chez Gégène in Joinville, where Dominique Sanda and Stefania Zandrelli ended up after a winey dinner and where they danced the tango in “The Conformist.” (tuscanartist)

I started with lots of jazz from our own collection, snooped around on iTunes and Amazon, and found some real gems based on Marta’s suggestions on her blog. Thanks, Marta!

The list

Flambee Montalbanaise, Quintet Of The Hot Club Of San Francisco
Sympathique, Pink Martini
La Vie En Rose, Toots Thielemans featuring Diana Krall
I Thought About You, Stephane Grappelli – Martin Taylor
Sous Le Ciel De Paris, Toots Thielemans

Baron de chaise, Paris Combo
Autrefois, Pink Martini
Hymne À L’amour, Toots Thielemans featuring Chip
Motus, Paris Combo
Melodie Au Crepscule, Quintet Of The Hot Club Of San Francisco

La Valse Des Lilas, Toots Thielemans featuring Shirley Horn
Le Temps Des Cerises, Toots Thielemans
Ne Me Quitte Pas, Jacques Brel
Manha De Carnival, Minor Swing Quartet
Round Midnight, Quintet Of The Hot Club Of San Francisco

Ennemis Siamois, Paris Combo
Dance for Victor, Toots Thielemans
Aquarium, Paris Combo
A Waltz For a Night, Julie Delpy
Moulin Rouge, Toots Thielemans

Les Moulins De Mon Coeur, Toots Thielemans featuring Johnny Mathis
Reunion, Stephane Grappelli – Martin Taylor
Baguée, Paris Combo
Let’s Fall In Love, Diana Krall
Que Reste-T’il De Nos Amours ?, Toots Thielemans

You Look Good To Me, Oscar Peterson
Place De Broukere, Quintet Of The Hot Club Of San Francisco
Leia, Les Negresses Vertes
Voila, Françoise Hardy
Etoile pâle, Paris Combo

Giselle, Quintet Of The Hot Club Of San Francisco
Hotel Splendid, Stephane Grappelli – Martin Taylor
Un Jour Tu Verras, Toots Thielemans featuring Dianne Reeves
Here’s That Rainy Day/We Will Love Again, Oscar Peterson
Tout Doucement, Blossom Dearie

J’ai Deux Amours, Madeleine Peyroux
Kelly’s Blues, Oscar Peterson
Parfum, Quintet Of The Hot Club Of San Francisco
April In Paris, Charlie Parker
Valse No.2, Toots Thielemans

La Dame Du Lac, Stephane Grappelli – Martin Taylor
Armando’s Rumba, Quintet Of The Hot Club Of San Francisco
High, Low, In, Paris Combo
Ne Me Quitte Pas, Toots Thielemans
Jardin D’hiver, Keren Ann

Samba De Mon Coeur Qui Bat, Coralie Clément
I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Diana Krall
J’ai Vu, Henri Salvador
Calendar, Paris Combo
Nuages, Minor Swing Quartet

Reflet, Paris Combo
Garcon Glacon, April March
Touriste d’une vie, Paris Combo
Emily, Stephane Grappelli – Martin Taylor
Minor Swing, Minor Swing Quartet

Veronique, Pink Martini
Aléas, Paris Combo
L’accord Parfait, Autour De Lucie
Le Festin, Camille
Je ne sais qui fumer, Paris Combo

Les Portes Du Souvenir, Les Nubians
Degringolade, Minor Swing Quartet
Peace, Oscar Peterson
Manoir De Mes Reves, Quintet Of The Hot Club Of San Francisco
Dansez-vous, Pink Martini

Que Reste-T’il De Nos Amours?, Jacky Terrasson
Ma Colere, Francoiz Breut
Prête à porter, Paris Combo
I Love Paris, Ella Fitzgerald
Discordance, Paris Combo
Miraval, Stephane Grappelli – Martin Taylor