2022 Paris Trip - A Short Day 1 in Paris

I was honestly giddy in the cab. This trip was my seventh trip to Paris, but due to the time between my last trip (November 2019) and this trip, it almost felt like the first time again. I definitely repeated some behaviors from my first cab ride on arriving such as filming the streets as we zoomed by.

I arrived at my hotel, Le Roch Hotel & Spa in the 1st Arrondissement, without incident. This is my favorite hotel in Paris. The design is exquisite, the staff amazingly friendly and helpful, and their concierge is one of the best in Paris. I quickly checked in and made my way to my room, #506, to unpack and shoot a video or two.

After unpacking and organizing everything in the room that would be my home for the next 9 nights, I was exhausted. I decided to go ahead and take a nap before heading out for dinner. By the way, the shower in my room was outstanding. I had stayed in this hotel a number of times before, and never had a room with a shower like this. This shower was a large walk in with two rainwater shower heads and two hand-held, adjustable shower heads.

I had a dinner reservation at Montée at 8:30 that evening, which is my favorite restaurant in Paris. I have done two reviews of Montée in the past (here and here) and will do a more detailed review of my latest visit as well. The menu is ten courses, with seven savory courses and three sweet. You can add a cheese course, which I did. There are a few courses that are signatures of the restaurant and others that are new. As always, the foie gras and banana is a favorite of mine as is the squid and coconut.

After dinner, I walked over to La Closerie des Lilas to sit at Hemingway’s seat at the bar. The first cocktail I had was something fruity and light, one of the specialties on their cocktail menu called the Onde Sensuelle, which translates to sensual wave. I really liked this but cannot for the life of me remember what is in it. Funnily enough, there is an Onde Sensuelle perfume, and a song called Onde Sensuelle by M, which I quickly added to my Apple Music queue as it is very, very catchy.

My last cocktail of the evening was a Manhattan, because as a New Yorker, of course it was.

Afterwards, I grabbed an Uber back to the hotel. He allowed me to attempt to film out of the moon roof of the car as we zoomed through the streets of Paris. While it was a short Day 1, it was amazing to be back in the city that I love.

Paris Day 2 and a detailed post about Montée will be up soon, so stay tuned!