I’m the first to admit that the idea of a baby moon seemed like an odd bit of millennial silliness, like taking Frisbee too seriously. But after-the-fact, I’m 100% baby moon on board, and highly recommend it.
It didn’t hit me until the second day into the trip: This is the last time we’ll go on a trip where we’re not responsible for the well-being of another person for the rest of our lives.
It’s our last opportunity to sit in a cafe for hours, just drinking and chatting and being utterly selfish, for a few years, at a minimum. So it’s up to us to enjoy it.
We went to Strasbourg and Paris in France. Here are the highlights from the trip:
Day 1 – Strasbourg
– Place Kléber – A square that was close to our hotel, great for people watching
– Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg – They featured a mammoth (the wooly kind) display along with a water show, a la the Bellagio in Vegas. It was kinda cool, but to be honest, took away from the majesty of the cathedral
– Le Schnockeloch – Where we had a traditional Alsatian food for dinner. This was a terrific meal
Day 2 – Strasbourg
- Kleb – From Strasbourg it’s just a short bike ride to Kleb, Germany! We rented bikes and made the ride over
- Pierod – Over in Kleb, we relaxed at this cafe and ice cream shop for a few hours, reading and writing. Made a huge dent in Wise Man’s Fear, the second book in The Kingkiller Chronicles, which I highly recommend
- Tapas Café for dinner
- Le Rafiot – For after dinner drinks on a boat
Day 3 – Paris
- In the morning, we caught a train to Paris. After checking into our hotel, our first stop was Boutique yam’Tcha, which was featured in Chef’s Table – France. It was… closed!
- The Louvre – Since I know nothing about the Louvre, I used a guide from Lonely Planet to create the itinerary and hit the “must-see” pieces. We spent about 2.5 hours there, which felt like the right amount
- Au Diable des Lombards – Came to this bar and grabbed happy hour drinks and appetizers after the Louvre
- Walked around Paris some more before grabbing dessert of creme brulee
Day 4 – Paris
- Place du Trocadéro – Got here around 7:30 am for unobstructed views of the Eiffel Tower. The only other people around were couples getting their engagement pictures taken, Instagram models doing it for the ‘gram, and a lone dude on roller blades
- Le Saint Séverin – Simple but excellent breakfast
- Sandeman tour – Highly recommend Sandeman tours whenever you can (more on that below). We met our tour guide, Nancy, outside of Place Saint-Michel, and she gave us a great 3-hour tour of Paris
- Boulangerie Aki – Got a matcha and raspberry muffin from this Japanese bakery, which was delicious
- Wandering around Paris – After a rest, we spent the rest of the day wandering around Paris on foot. We saw the Moulin Rouge, The Wall of “I love you”, and the Sacré-Cœur Basilica. We stopped at Le Nazir for cheese and wine, grabbed the subway to check out the Arc de Triomphe, got ramen for dinner (ramen is huge in Paris) and went back to the hotel
Day 5 – Last day in France
- Le Dalayrac – Before heading to the airport, stopped in this cafe, grabbed coffee and breakfast, and wrote for an hour
Favorite traveling tips
Every trip is an opportunity to refine tricks of the trade that make traveling easier and more fun. Here’s are some tips that stood out this time:
- Buy a Lonely Planet book of your destination and read it before you go. Credit to Sinead/Fin for this idea. Having the physical book to leaf through builds up the anticipation and gives you more context. I grabbed a used copy on Amazon for like $5
- Pack light. It’s obvious and I’ve been saying it for eight years but it’s always worth repeating. Traveling with only carry-on luggage makes the whole experience so much more enjoyable
- Use Swarm/Foursquare to check-in instead of Facebook, Snap, or Instagram. I believe in recording the moment, but want as little friction as possible. Swarm/FS is much better for this than the big three social networks. This allows me to record all my basic bitch moments (photos of my food, mundane details I want to remember, me wearing the same outfit every day) without hesitation
- Buy this universal travel plug adapter. Ceptics. Incredibly handy, worked great
- Cut a video of your trip. Posting to Snap or Instagram stories is great for sharing with others, but nothing beats video for your “personal scrapbook.” Keep it simple and do it immediately after the trip. Here’s mine:
- Plan only one or two major destinations for each day. After that, wander. See where you end up. Approach the trip from an abundance mindset: you can always see anything you missed the next time you visit
- Book a Sandeman tour whenever possible. This is always a highlight of any city I visit
- Plot your itinerary in Google Maps. Credit to Brian/Maria for this idea. Plotting your hotel and must-see destinations in Google Maps saves a lot of time. You can see my Google map here
- Give yourself an extra day before going back to work. At the very least, come back in the morning so you still have a full day home before it’s back to grinding. This helps you return to work feeling refreshed, versus that “need a vacation after the vacation” feeling
