24 hours in the City of Lights

MANILA, Philippines - It was 8 a.m., totally dark and the rain was almost icy at four degrees. Inside our van, it was warm and toasty but the body odor of the driver whom I assumed hadn’t taken a bath in weeks was assaulting our nostrils like crazy. Welcome to Paris.

I haven’t been to Paris in a while. Last time I visited was when I still packed shampoo and conditioner and that was ages ago.

My first visit was in 1974. Back then, Paris already had the distinction of being the world’s top destination and to date, still is. Being at the peak of winter, I assumed there would be less tourists but I was wrong. Our flight was almost full in all classes. We landed 7 a.m. at the Charles de Gaulle Airport with excited smiles plastered on our faces but it was short lived.

Our baggage was delayed for almost an hour and it took us over another hour to negotiate the traffic-infested streets of Paris to get to our hotel at Place Madeleine. Having sat on a plane for close to 20 hours, I was fervently praying that a room was already available. So I could enjoy the comfort of a warm bath then cut some Z’s for a couple of hours before visiting my favorite Parisian haunts.

Fortunately, there was one available room but it was an executive suite and I had to pay an additional surcharge or else I would have to wait at the hotel lobby another four hours for the room I originally booked.

I was a desperate man and took it. The rush decision rewarded me with a spacious suite on the sixth floor inclusive of a semi-balcony that had a splendid view of the Eiffel Tower.

By noontime, the rumbling in my stomach woke me up and primed me for lunch. A few steps away from the hotel were fabulous places where I’ve  enjoyed lunches and dinners in my previous visits. There was Fauchon, a food market-bakery-restaurant all housed in an entire three-floor building featuring every imaginable gourmet treat one can imagine. There was the coffee purveyor “Hediard” that featured freshly roasted beans in sacks spread all over the floor for an olfactory experience.

House of Caviar where just an ounce will set you back hundreds of euros and further down the road was Maxims de Paris where my compadre-travel buddy Joey de Leon celebrated his 48th birthday years ago. I opted for Maison de Truffe where its specialty dishes from appetizers to desserts are garnished with fresh truffles. The season for the much-coveted Alba white truffle has long passed (white truffle season is between October and early December) but thank God, it’s the season for the black winter truffle.

Black truffles are not as fragrant or delectable as the white but they do shine in their own right. I felt like I entered the Pearly Gates the moment I stepped inside Maison de Truffe. Just the aroma of fresh truffles wafting from the counter brought me to gourmet ecstasy.

Barely having sat on my table, I summoned the waiter and ordered for eggs with black truffle shavings and tagliatelle pasta with white sauce topped with black truffle shavings. The simpler the dish, the better the truffle shavings will enhance it. Three burps later, all the food was gone. Not content, I maxed out my credit card by buying 200 grams of fresh black truffles and french Brie infused with white truffles to take back to the hotel for a midnight snack.   

 The freezing rain was creeping into my socks but I was unperturbed to walk the length of Champs Elysees Blvd. from the legendary obelisk at Place Concord all the way to Arc de Triomphe.

During the wet stroll, I stopped for a hot cup of Java at Starbucks before entering the Louis Vuitton palace. Five floors of bags, shoes, luggage, clothes, leather outfits, jewelry, watches and travel books. Two hours was not enough to check all the floors. From Arc de Triomphe, I took the metro (MRT/LRT in Manila) to Trocadero station for a visit to the Eiffel Tower.

The place was teeming with Chinese and Japanese tourists. Unfortunately the low clouds obscured the upper portion of the tower but being there was enough. My wife excitedly snapped photos while munching on a savory crepe. An hour later, we strolled the fashion street of Paris — Rue Faubourg Saint-Honore. Hundreds of designer shops lined the over two-kilometer avenue. From Hermes to Gucci to Prada to the unknown and start-up designer shops. Eye candy left and right but we avoided entering any shops as my credit card got maxed out at Maison de Truffle.