Day 7 of 60: Part 1 | Bonjour, Paris! 🇫🇷✨My Birthday
Today marks my 55th trip around the sun, and for the first time, I get to celebrate it in Paris!
Looking back, my 54th year was a transformative one. Losing 80 pounds and getting into the best shape of my life was both very empowering and inspirational. Further, it was proof that it’s never too late to reinvent yourself.
Now, I’m stepping into 55 with new energy, a lot of curiosity, and a very hungry heart (in the literal and figurative sense).
The next two months are already spoken for, as Lori and I are officially enrolled students at the famed École Ducasse, where we’ll spend four to seven hours a day learning to become chefs of gourmet French cuisine.
Yes, you read that right: knife skills, sauces, soufflés - the works. If you hear maniacal laughter coming from Paris, it’s probably me trying to perfect my béchamel.
To mark this milestone birthday and the last night before our Chef journey’s begin, we snagged reservations at Restaurant Le Meurice, one of only seventeen Michelin Two-Star restaurants in Paris. It was founded by none other than Chef Alain Ducasse, the legend behind our culinary school and arguably the most celebrated chef in France. It feels poetic to dine at the very place that inspired our journey.
But before I get whisked away (pun intended) by all the culinary adventures ahead, I must wrap up another very important mission, our Quest To Disvover the Best Coffee in the 7th Arrondissement. ☕
After visiting ten of the top-rated coffee houses in the district in our first week, we have our Top Five and a clear Winner:
1️⃣ Constant.
2️⃣ Torre Coffee Shop
3️⃣ Certified Café
4️⃣ Terres de Café
5️⃣ Noir Coffee Shop
Constant. has the smoothest best tasting latte that either of us has ever experienced. The proprietors are a lovely family that could not be more friendly. It will be our go-to coffee spot for the rest of our stay. Torre was a close second, which we will hit often as well for its creative lattes (order the Blue Lattee - so yum!).
And for “Most Creative,” we tip our hat to Onoul in the 15th, a Korean coffee house that’s redefining what a latte can be. Think art, strange ingredient bedfellows, chemistry, and caffeine all in one cup.
Fun fact: we even asked AI to rank the same coffee spots and it matched our top five exactly, so you don’t have to trust just us. But, clearly, we (and the AI) know our beans.
So here we are: caffeinated, curious, and ready to embark on the next great adventure, not just tasting Paris, but learning how to create it.
Here’s to 55, to growth, flavor, and with any luck, living a life that keeps getting better!
P.S. - Here is the restaurant we are eating at tonight for my bday! I will try to sneak a few photos of the dishes when our dozen or so waiters aren’t looking 👀!!!
