Feast de Voyage

France

Paris
Paris, the city I love. My second home. There is no place I'd rather walk than Paris, sweet city, with its old white facades and accordion playing citizens.

Stay:
Hotel Vivienne- This hotel is simple, inexpensive and central enough to matter. It's located right near a ton of Metro stops, including Bourse (line 3), Richlieu-Drouot (8, 9) and Grands Boulevards (8, 9). Super convenient. It's also right near a Starbucks in case you're feeling homesick for chai tea lattes and a short walk to the Opera Garnier or the Louvre. There's free Internet in the lobby and a sweet cat who lives there named Mercedes or Porsche or Romeo. Something memorable. (Or not).

Eat:
Le Drapeau de la Fidelite- The place to be to meet French students. A Vietnamese restaurant where you share tiny tables with other guests. Books everywhere that you can borrow for free. The chef is a philosopher who fled Vietnam. If there aren't many customers, he'll come out and discuss life with you. My Hungarian friend, Agnes, took me here for the first time and I LOVED it. 6 euros for dinner, regardless of which dish you select? Oui!

Bakery, Rue des Petits Carreaux - Found on the corner of the Rue des Petits Carreaux and Rue Reamur (Metro: Sentier).  Descend the rue des Petits Carreaux; the bakery is on your left across from Starbucks. Excellent almond croissants and petits fours. While you're there, mosey down the rue des Petits Carreaux and check out the butchers, flower shops and vegetable stands towards Les Halles.


Drink:
Point Ephemere- a bar along the canal St. Martin. I always make friends here- either while sitting along the canal with a bunch of funny strangers or while dancing. Both are fun.


See:
Le Pont des Arts- A footbridge across the Seine where young people gather to play guitars and have picnics in the evenings. The last time we were there, we had a run-in with a homeless man; I recommend you hang here during the day or in the early evening.

Place des Vosges- In one corner of the square is Victor Hugo's residence. Go through the doors in the wall to find a secret courtyard with hidden statues of the four seasons.
 
Musee Rodin- Go when it's nice out and spend some time in the gardens. Be on the lookout for "The Walz," my most favorite statue there.

Ile St. Louis- Take the Pont-Neuf and descend to the tiny park on the western end of the island. Bring a picnic or watch the boats go by. I can also recommend the Vedettes boat rides, which seems like a tourist trap, but is actually wonderful and relaxing.

Musee d'Orsay- This is seriously 100 times better than the Louvre. Van Goghs, Cezannes, statues and small models of the Opera house, all housed in an old train station. Beautiful and so worth it.

Sacre-Coeur and Montmartre- The beautiful white church from Amelie Poulin... walk up a bunch of steps for a beautiful view of Paris. Beware the guys who try to put a bracelet on you to make money. Get some ice cream and wander around the streets where Edith Piaf used to sing.

United States

Seattle
Seattle is (at least to a girl from the North East) the place you move to when you want to reject what everyone else in your alumni group is doing. Philly? Boston? New York? Try the alternative city of Seattle, the place where people are clothed in North Face and REI year-round and where breathtaking mountain views convince you to move there. Provided that the fog and rain don't hide them.

Stay:

Ace Hotel- Hell, I might suggest that you should just live in this hotel if you move to Seattle. It's very reasonably priced (about $80 per night for a room without bathroom, $180 with bathroom when we went in April 2010). The design is clean and functional; it feels more like a hostel than a hotel. And while you might meet some cool, adventurous folks at breakfast like in a hostel, you won't have to deal with the overall grunge and funk that you appreciated ten years ago while backpacking through Europe. And sharing your bedroom with 25 extra people.

The Ace Hotel is located in Belltown, about 8 blocks from Pike Place Market and a short walk to the Space Needle and Seattle Center. Easy to get to from the airport; we took the Lightrail ($2.50 each) to the last stop and hoofed it to the hotel. Piece of cake.

Eat:
Beecher's Cheese- There's a ton of stuff to eat at the market, and I get that. But DO NOT MISS THIS CHEESE. Chris had a grilled cheese and I got the mac & cheese, which they touted as the world's best. Believe them.

Black Bottle- We had a free night and didn't feel like going far, so we checked out this place which was a block from the hotel. It's a tapas sort of place, but the portions are ridiculous. We had the best broccoli of our lives here (I know how that sounds, trust me and order it!) called Broccoli Blast. They blanch it and then bake it or something magical. Chris got a little sick from eating too much of it and he still said it was the best thing he ate all trip!


Elliott Bay Cafe- We were in Pioneer Square, thinking about taking one of the Underground Tours, when it started to rain. And we got hungry. Trust me that half of your trip to Seattle will involve those two things. If you're in that area, hit up this cafe... warm and cozy with great lunch food.

Gordito's- One of the Ace Hotel people recommended this little Mexican place once we said we were headed to Greenwood and Freemont. Their claim to fame is a burrito the size of a newborn baby- and they have the photographic evidence to prove it! Great, healthy food in a very green way.

Delancey- I got Molly Wizenberg's book for my birthday and really enjoyed it. Since we'd already made the trip to Seattle, I was curious to try her husband's pizza shop. The pizza was decent (but not worth the normal 2 hour wait time, in my opinion), but our honey cream dessert was delicious. Have a late brunch and go right at 5pm when they open to avoid the wait.

Wasabi Bistro- When we planned our trip, we asked some friends who had spent time in Seattle for recommendations and Melissa suggested this place for sushi. It was right near the hotel and Chris was very happy to chomp down on some spicy tuna with a Sake Bloody Mary. I'm not into raw fish, so I was very happy with a delicious steak. Oh, and I finally tried crab for the first time in my life in the form of some appetizer wontons. Delish!

Drink:
Two Bells Tavern- Root beer on tap. 'Nuf said.

See:
Underground Tour- It's gimmicky and cheeseball, but I learned a fair amount about the history of Seattle and Chris liked pondering the structural sound-ness of the whole operation. A great way to spend a few hours.

Greenwood Space Supply- I am pretty obsessed with 826 National, Dave Egger's tutoring centers that have quirky shops attached to them. I visited the Pirate Shop in San Francisco and loved it. When I saw there was an 826 Seattle, I knew we had to go.

It wasn't as interactive as the Pirate Shop, but there were some very memorable merchandise. I bought a small jar of chaos, which is on my desk at work.

Seattle Central Library- I cannot recommend this more. We were chilly and it was spitting rain, so I said "I think that library's around here somewhere." It sure was, right there on 4th Ave and Madison.

While you should definitely just poke around and walk through the different floors, we had a blast checking out the Writer's Room and talking with one of the librarians. Then we settled into some comfy chairs on the first floor and flipped through gardening books and new non-fiction. We probably spent two hours exploring this library and hanging out.

Science Fiction Museum- Chris loved this and I loved this museum's architecture. One of the things that struck us the most was how artistic Seattle is. There are sculptures everywhere and the buildings (particularly the newer ones) are so creatively designed. I'd recommend if you're into Sci-Fi or music... the SFM is attached to a music museum known as the Experience Music Project. One entry gets you into both.