Episode 34: The Pleasures of Paris & the 2024 Summer Olympics

Angie Orth:

The City of Light, the City of Love, the city that etched its name on the pages of Ernest Hemingway and its spirit in the songs of Édith Piaf. That's right. Today, I'm whisking you away to Paris. Leading us on this romantic adventure is Lee Abbamonte, an expert in Paris travel, and the whole world for that matter. So settle in, take a sip of cafe, and savor that croissant. Paris, here we come.

People might recognize you as the youngest American to visit every country in the world, but I know you as an old friend whose face I see on TV talking about travel just about every time I turn on the news. You've been to every major sporting event around the world, so with the Olympics coming up in Paris next summer, I want to get your perspective on traveling for that kind of sporty event. But first I want to talk about Paris itself. How many times have you been to Paris?

Lee Abbamonte:

Probably around 60 times or so. So many, I lost count. I don't even know.

Angie:

What keeps you going back to Paris?

Lee:

I've been to Paris a lot on its own because it's Paris and it's awesome, but a lot of times when you're traveling to places like in Africa, a lot of the flights go through Paris. So, I found myself in Paris for a night or 2 a lot. Plus, I'm a big sports fan, and they host a lot of big events. They have the Rugby World Cup coming up in a few months. Obviously, the Olympics next year. They've had the Champions League final, obviously Paris Saint-Germain, and so many other events. They had the Euro Cup there, and so on and so on. And again, it's Paris, it's awesome.

Angie:

What's your perfect day in Paris? Where are you staying? Is there a specific neighborhood you like? How does that work for you?

Lee:

I like to mix it up a little bit and either do apartment stays like Airbnb-type things, or just little hotels in neighborhoods. My favorite place to stay is actually in Montmartre, a lot of people know that for the Sacré-Cœur, which is obviously awesome and there are beautiful little streets, cafes, bars, and stuff. It's awesome because, it reminds me of the West Village in New York a little bit, which is where I lived for so many years. It's just got that cool little-town feel. That's where Hemingway would hang out, and F. Scott Fitzgerald and Édith Piaf. You just have this awesome, historic Parisian feel, and it feels like a small town as opposed to a big city over there. That's where I would probably stay.

My other option would probably be Le Marais, which I love a lot and it's really come into its own in the last 10-15 years. To keep the New York references going, it's kind of like the Brooklyn of Paris, so to speak. I really like it out there, it's really grown on me.

Angie:

Do you have a specific tradition that you do for breakfast, lunch, or dinner? When I go, I like to stop at a bakery in the morning and get a quiche because it's cheap, good, and it's fresh. Do you have any routines?

Lee:

I like to sit in cafes and have a coffee. French coffee is obviously fantastic, and I love the whole street scene in Paris, whether it's in Montmartre, Le Marais, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, or anywhere along the Champs-Élysées, it's just great people-watching. I drink a lot of coffee, especially if you're a little bit jet-lagged, and it's just a cool way to chill and just watch the world go by in Paris.

I always go to one place specifically for dinner, no matter if I'm there for 1 night or a week, and it's called Le relais de l'entrecote. It's like the OG Parisian ... not necessarily a steakhouse because they don't have a menu, they only serve 1 thing. They have this awesome walnut salad, and this chopped sirloin with this amazing sauce, and awesome french fries—but there, they're just fries. It's so good, and I go every time. There used to be only the original—which is in Porte Maillot—but now they have 4 or 5 around the city, so it's a lot easier. You might have to wait in line a little bit, so I always recommend getting there when it opens, but it is just so good, affordable, and reasonable. To me, it's the most authentic Parisian dinner experience.

In terms of breakfast and lunch, my whole thing is I'll literally walk into a bakery and get a baguette and just gnaw on it. I'll just walk around eating, then I'll usually pop into some kind of fromagerie and buy some cheese. Then with my bare hands, while I'm walking, I'll just stick it in and eat a cheese baguette.

Angie:

That's very French of you.

Lee:

Yeah, wear a beret and the whole thing.

Angie:

What kind of advice would you give somebody who maybe hasn't been to Paris 60 times, but wants to go there and have a really good food experience? What would you recommend they look for in a good restaurant?

Lee:

Look and see what types of people are eating there, and if you see they're local Parisian people, it's probably pretty good, right? A lot of the older places that aren't super fancy are just the best, and they're basic, but for me, basic is best because it's like golf. If you think too much, you're going to screw up. If you try to get too fancy with restaurants, you end up doing overkill and it's overpriced. For me, I'm not impressed by fancy. I just like good.

Angie:

If you're out and about, do you have a special place you like to go for a nightcap? Maybe with a view of the city.

Lee:

Taking a bottle of wine up to the Sacré-Cœur. Drinking a bottle of wine overlooking the city at sunset or when the lights go on and the Eiffel Tower is spinning around, that's the quintessential nighttime chilling/drinking experience for me.

Paris has some great cocktail bars, restaurants, and whatnot. There are a couple of places I like to go in Le Marais.

The Little Red Doors, one of the most famous bars in the world, has tremendous cocktails.

Not too far from there—about a 5-minute walk—is a place called Candelaria. It's like a hidden speakeasy that turns into like a chic ... not a nightclub, but a cool scene at night. I really like to go there.

More in the tourist areas, a place called Danico, which is one of the top 100 bars in the world.

The Hemingway Bar in the Hotel Ritz, which is just phenomenal, is probably my favorite bar in Paris, period. The drinks are amazing. They give you these incredible olives and potato chips, and it's an awesome Hemingway scene. I'm a big Hemingway fan, I've read all his books and a lot of them take place in Paris or he wrote them in Paris. It just gives you all the feels.

Angie:

Do you take public transportation when you're there? Or do you take Ubers or taxis? What's your go-to method?

Lee:

I think the metro in Paris is awesome. It's so efficient and one of the best in the world. They're not the nicest cars, but it's a subway. You don't expect a limo, right? It gets you where you need to go. It's efficient. The cars run every 4 or 5 minutes, so even if you miss one, it's really not bad. I find it great especially to get to the outskirts of the city. And they have other types of trains there; I find Paris very efficient with public transportation. At night, I'll usually do Ubers as opposed to taxis because you can just put in your destination and it takes away the language barrier. It just makes your life easier.

Angie:

Paris is hosting the Summer Olympics in 2024 and they're expecting 13 million tourists to come in. First of all, I want to know, have you ever been to the Olympics?

Lee:

Yeah, I've been to several Olympics, both summer and winter. It's a great event and it's cool because it's so international. It brings together people of the world. This is going to be the third time Paris is hosting the Olympics. They hosted the second-ever Olympics in 1900, and then they hosted again in the '20s, so now they're going to get it again. They have the Olympic stadium, which has hosted the World Cup final and Champions League final. So, this is a city that's adequately prepared. It's also the most-visited touristic city in the world, so they know what they're doing. They have the French Open every year and massive events. I think if any city is prepared, it's Paris.

Angie:

I don't know if you've ever been to an opening ceremony at the Olympics, but tickets are usually very expensive and there's often limited space. But Paris has decided to make this whole opening ceremony free and they're doing it along the banks of the Seine River, which should have up to 600,000 people in attendance. Why do you think they're doing something so different?

Lee:

Recently, especially starting in Beijing in 2008, the Olympics opening ceremony has been a made-for-TV spectacle with a lot of special effects and things like that, that you can't actually tell are happening in the stadium itself.

Angie:

It sounds like they want to make it more accessible for more people and add a dose of reality, is that right?

Lee:

The French know what they're doing. They don't mess around and they're trying to show off their city, and I have no doubt it's going to be awesome.

Angie:

Do you know anything specific about how they're preparing for this influx of tourists? Obviously, they know what they're doing, but 13 million visitors is a lot.

Lee:

It's the most-visited city on Earth. They certainly have the hotels, the public transportation, readily available Ubers and taxis, and it's probably one of the world's top 5 walking cities. Most of the venues are in the city and you can easily walk there, metro, or whatever to it.

Angie:

I studied abroad in Paris one summer and it was surprisingly hot. The one thing I was really missing was somewhere to swim. I recently read that city officials are making the Seine swimmable again, and they'll be doing races in the river.

Lee:

I've been going to Paris since 1998, and I've never once considered jumping in the Seine. If it's proven that it's going to be clean and cool, I might do it. Why not?

Angie:

Can you imagine people inner tubing down the river like you do in central Florida or something? Just cruising by Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. That's different. Do you know anything about the new bike paths that the city is installing?

Lee:

I've heard that they're going to be relatively extensive, trying to cut down on traffic and make public transportation less crowded.

Angie:

With a bike, it just makes it that much easier to get to further-flung neighborhoods. For first-time visitors, do you think it's worth it for them to go to Paris for the Olympics? Or would you say wait it out, don't go. Wait until the Olympics are over, or go before? What do you think? What would be your professional advice?

Lee:

Paris is never going to be more beautiful than it's going to be for the Olympics. They are all-in on these Olympics. It's going to be expensive, it's going to be crowded, but it's expensive and crowded any time in the summer. It's not going to be that much different. It'll just be a little bit more enthusiastic.

Angie:

Let's talk about the tourist hotspots in Paris. Notre Dame isn't scheduled to reopen until December of 2024, so it won't be open yet for the Olympics, but for the Eiffel Tower, people can always expect lines. What advice do you have for our listeners to enjoy that experience?

Lee:

The problem with going up the Eiffel Tower is number one, you got to wait in line, but when you're up the Eiffel Tower, you can't see the Eiffel Tower, right?

Angie:

Sounds like you're about to share a good tip. Where should people go if they want the city views and that iconic shot of the Eiffel Tower?

Lee:

There's a tower called the Montparnasse Tower, which might be the ugliest building ever built, but it has an observation deck with incredible views of Paris, including the Eiffel Tower.

The Arc de Triomphe, which you have to walk around in circles to get to the top of, also has great views of the Eiffel Tower. Really anywhere along the Seine has great views of the tower, especially at night when it sparkles or when the light twirls around.

From a lot of the nice tourist hotels, you'll get great views of the Eiffel Tower on the balcony. If it's not clear, my suggestion with the Eiffel Tower is to check it out from afar or even up close, not necessarily on it. You're going to save yourself time, aggravation, and you're going to get the photos you want not actually on it.

Angie:

That's a pretty good tip. I've been to the top, it's a cool thing to do. Like you said, that really is the most iconic thing to see. It's like when you're in New York and you go to the top of the Empire State Building, but you don't have the Empire State Building in your pictures and that's an icon. I like that advice.

Now, there are some Michelin-starred restaurants in the Eiffel Tower. There's the Jules Verne and Madame Brasserie. Have you been to either of those?

Lee:

I went to Jules Verne years ago, and it's cool. You have to make a reservation way in advance, and it's very expensive, but it is cool. I'm not going to say it's not, but there are a lot of great restaurants in Paris and you can eat at other great restaurants and actually look at the Eiffel Tower. I always say try to avoid the tourist spots, but if you haven't done it and you don't mind, then I say go for it, for sure.

Angie:

There are always going to be long lines at the Louvre, it's the most famous museum in the world. We know that it's best to buy your tickets ahead of time. You can also skip the busiest entrance at the pyramid and instead go to Carrousel du Louvre at the Palais-Royal stop, you can book a guided tour--saving time when you get lost, and the other option to avoid the crowds is you can go at night because it's less crowded. Do you have any other tips for going to the Louvre?

Lee:

Unless you're a total art geek, you really only know 2 things in there—the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa—and that's pretty much it. You go in, you're like, "OK, check," then you see the Mona Lisa, and there are like 10,000 people looking at the Mona Lisa. It's behind glass and it's only this big. Then you're walking around and like, "Oh, priceless works of art, but I've never seen or heard any of them," and it just goes on forever. So, I'm not a huge museum guy if that's not obvious, but I've been to all the major museums in Paris and around the world.

To me, the most impressive thing about museums is the building itself. To me, the coolest museums in Paris are the Musée d'Orsay because the building is so cool and the actual architecture; then places like the Rodin Museum because the layout is really cool, even the Picasso Museum. The Louvre is right in the middle of Paris, and it's cool to see the pyramid, but to actually go in is more hassle than it's worth. But again, if I had never seen the Mona Lisa, of course, I'd want to see it. Just manage your expectations before you go and realize you won't be the only one in there, but try to get there early, right when it opens to get the least-crowded time.

Angie:

What other tips do you have for us on places that might get missed, or maybe just be a little less crowded?

Lee:

I know it's famous, but a lot of people skip out on public outdoor spaces. Luxembourg Gardens is awesome. If you like Central Park in New York, Luxembourg Gardens is even nicer. It is a beautiful place to walk around.

The Palais-Royal is absolutely awesome, just a really cool place to walk around.

As opposed to just going to the Louvre, Tuileries is right outside, and that's just beautiful. You can walk from the Louvre to there and up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe and that's fantastic.

Two other cool things that a lot of people don't do is Paris has this underground tour called the Catacombs. It's actually this amazing underground tunnel system with a lot of skeletons and things like that. It sounds weird, but it's really, really cool and unique to Paris.

It's one of those things that if you do, you're like, "I feel like I just accomplished something. I did something that not everybody does." It's awesome. I tell everyone who goes to Paris to do that. Another thing that's cool—and this is going to sound weird because it's not your normal thing to do—is cemetery tourism. The Père Lachaise Cemetery is on the outskirts of Paris—you could take the metro there—but Jim Morrison is buried there, Édith Piaf is buried there, Oscar Wilde is buried there. It's really interesting to see and there won't be a ton of tourists.

Angie:

That's a beautiful cemetery. I went there many, many years ago.

You're totally right about the Catacombs, it's a one-of-a-kind experience. It's also a good thing to do on a hot day because you're many stories underground. It's a little bit terrifying, but it's cooler down there, it's dark. It's so different than what you're seeing above on the street, right?

For anybody considering a visit to Paris within the next year, do you know of any festivals or events that you'd recommend planning a trip around that maybe aren't the Olympics? Maybe something for music lovers? Art lovers?

Lee:

For me, I'm a huge sports guy so I'll be there this fall for the Rugby World Cup, which is a massive global event for people who are really into rugby. Popularity-wise, it's just a step below soccer in terms of people attending. And it's all over France, but the final is going to be at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis just outside of Paris. It's just a great event.

If you want to see other places besides Paris, they're going to be playing in Bordeaux, Lyon, Nice, Toulouse, Marseille, places like that which are really awesome places to visit. That's a great event.

The French Open, which is a tennis Grand Slam event—the second one of the year—takes place at the end of May to early June every year. Tremendous event.

Obviously, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), the soccer team is there in Parc des Princes—which is right near Roland Garros where the French Open is—and it's a great place to watch top European Club Soccer. It's Paris, right? They have the biggest events, concerts, they have every musical festival like Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, people who sell out stadiums—which blows my mind that people wait in line and cry when they see Taylor Swift—but they play in Paris. So, you can plan around these massive events. New York, London, and Paris are kind of the 3 biggest global city brands on earth, right? So, they have everything.

Angie:

Basically, whatever you're looking for, it's there.

Lee:

If it's not there, you probably don't need it.

Angie:

Paris really is a city that has it all, and I think that's the perfect way to wrap up today's episode. Lee Abbamonte, thank you for joining us, and thank you to our listeners for being with us.

If you're planning a trip, be sure to connect with AAA Travel Advisor, check out AAA.com/travel, or visit your local branch. If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe. I'm Angie Orth, thank you for traveling with AAA.