Flying Solo for the First Time
It was the spring of 2024 — March to be exact. Just a few weeks prior, I had enough courage to tell my wife I wanted to travel to Paris by myself. Mind you, we just had come back from a trip in northern Italy a few months prior. For all the traveling I had done over the years, it was always accompanied by my wife. I had never known what it was like to travel alone. After breaking the news to her, she, to my surprise, responded with a resounding, “Yes.” Strangely though that was when a bit of panic started to creep in. I wasn’t sure exactly why — I had been to Paris several times (albeit always with my wife), knew the lay of the land and spoke the language. I think one of the reasons for my panic was I wasn’t sure I knew how to experience the joys and wonders of travel alone — those experiences had always been shared with my wife.
So, when and how did my panic subside? Admittedly, it wasn't until I settled into a routine. For this solo trip, I wanted to truly live and experience Paris like a local. I had chosen a small one bedroom apartment in Montmartre, the 18th arrondissement (this view was only a few feet from where I stayed). Each morning I went to the same bakery for a pain au chocolate or a viennoise au chocolat . I went to the same newsstand every morning before boarding the Metro to buy the Le Figaro, a French newspaper. After a few days, I had slowly realized my panic had slowly subsided even disappeared. Having a daily routine of doing even small things — going to the same bakery and buying a newspaper, redirected my focus from fear to action. The implementation of a routine was the springboard I needed to explore Paris in the way I planned — like a local. Here are few highlights from that solo trip:
Le Poulbot (3 Rue Poulbot, 75018, Paris)
Dinner at a nice, quaint restaurant off a side street near Sacré-Cœur basilica in Montmartre.
Duck confit with a red wine reduction, side salad, house made fries and alcoholic cider (Val de Rance) made in Brittany, France.
Le Bal Blomet (33 Rue Blomet, 75015, Paris)
This jazz club is not only the oldest in Paris but also in all of Europe. Founded in 1924, the legendary Josephine Baker was a regular here in the 1920s. While Le Bal Blomet seats 250 people, it feels much more intimate than that. Laura Prince is the singer in the clip below. There is no assigned seating, so you better come early.
Île de la Grande Jatte
This small island located in the Seine river in extreme western Paris was the location and inspiration for several French impressionist painters including Monet, Van Gogh and Seurat to name a few. Throughout the island there are small kiosks with brief summaries of several, major impressionist works of art. Of course, I found one of my favorite paintings, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Seurat, there.
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Seurat, Île de la Grande Jatte, Paris
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