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The Selfish Years

~ Over 200 cities, 42 countries, 6 continents and counting.

The Selfish Years

Tag Archives: Paris

Now THIS is Living: The Selfish’s Top 10 Stays

05 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Africa, Asia, Australia, Best Of, Europe, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Oceania

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Conrad Koh Samui, Hilton Bora Bora, Hilton Queenstown, Intercontinental Danang, Paris, Park Hyatt Sydney, Park Hyatt Tokyo, Riad Pachavana, Ryokan Sanga, Selfish Year, Selfish Years

Prior to our year of reckless traveling, Mrs. Selfish and I only splurged once on a hotel, staying at the Sofitel Hanoi for our Honeymoon. Otherwise, business as usual was a 3-4 star hotel using sites like hotels.com.

And then I discovered the world of miles and points.

With a bank roll of millions of hotel points, spread out over 5 different hotel programs, Mrs. Selfish and I decided to spend our year abroad in style – hitting up some of the travel hacking community’s go-to destinations.

Here’s the 10 best places we stayed in chronological order. Some are miles and points accessible, though some can only be paid for with cold, hard cash!

Room with a view: Airbnb in Paris

Top 10 Stays 003

Mrs. Selfish and I spent an amazing 6 weeks in Paris in Montmartre, the same Arrondissement where the movie Amelie takes place. Taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of Paris was something I’ll never forget, and certainly nothing screamed “Paris” quite as much as waking up to a view of the Sacré-Cœur every morning.

Top 10 Stays 001Top 10 Stays 002

Anyone interested in renting the same flat can do so at Airbnb.

The Riad Pachavana: The full Moroccan Experience

Top 10 Stays 005

Mrs. Selfish and I arrived in Marrakech, disoriented and utterly confused. Marrakech’s old town is maze of twisting streets and Aladdin-style scamming street rats, children who try to get you lost so you’ll pay them to take you to your hotel.

Nevertheless, we quickly succumbed to Marrakech’s charms – especially after staying at the lovely Riad Pachavana, which we saved $150 on thanks to three Expedia BRG coupons.

Top 10 Stays 004Top 10 Stays 006

For more, check out our full post on the Riad Pachavana.

Staying in Protected Palawan: El Nido Resorts

Top 10 Stays 007

In the Philippines we were fortunate enough to stay at El Nido, located on Palawan – a protected island south west of Manila. Accessible only by a small private plane (max capacity of < 50), El Nido is a beautiful, isolated paradise. Despite being an all-inclusive resort, the food and activities were pretty great. Plus they have a killer happy hour with an amazing view.

Top 10 Stays 009Top 10 Stays 008

For more information on Palawan check out our full trip report.

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Saving money by renting apartments

07 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Travel Hacking

≈ 6 Comments

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Accommodations, AirBnB, Chiang Mai, Paris, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Shanghai, Travel Hacking

While staying at luxury hotels can be quite exciting, nothing beats the feeling of coming home.  Before we started our selfish year of travels, Mrs. Selfish and took tons of weekend trips, culminating in our once-a-year international trip over the Thanksgiving holiday.

While getting out of the States and traveling to new countries was exhilarating, it was also exhausting. If you’re from the States, vacationing is about three things: maximizing, maximizing, maximizing.

By the end of each international trip, we were more tired then when we had started.  Coming home in itself was a treat – a chance to catch up on sleep and get back into the ol’ routine.

Traveling for a year straight is the same deal, except now there is no home to come home to.  It’s exciting, but also tiring – not to mention expensive.  Fortunately, that’s where apartment rentals come in.

Our loft in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

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Steak Frites in the 17th Arrondissement

04 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Europe, Food & Drinks, France, Paris

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17th Arrondissement, France, Frites, Le Relais de Venise, Paris, Steak, Steak Frites

Mr. Selfish and I had our best meal in Paris in the 17th Arrondissement at Le Relais de Venise. The line outside is always ridiculously long and they don’t take reservations, but it’s worth of the wait.

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Daytime in the 18th Arrondissement

03 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Europe, Food & Drinks, France, Paris

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18th Arrondissement, France, Paris

I previously posted about the night life in the 18th Arrondissement, which is the red light district of Paris, but you can also spend your daylight hours in the 18th. Of course, the Sacre Coeur is beautiful, and it always fun to lounge about and enjoy the view. We even saw an amazing dancer/acrobat/street performer right in front.

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The “Ambassador of French Bread to the World” – Eric Kayser

02 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Europe, Food & Drinks, France, Paris

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Eric Kayser, France, Paris

Mr. Selfish and I ate a great deal of bread and pastries while in Paris. We searched long and hard for delicious baguettes and croissants in particular. However, the Eric Kayser bakeries were consistently good – not the best but always delicious.

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Laotian Food in the 13th Arrondissement

01 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Europe, Food & Drinks, France, Paris

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13th Arrondissement, Chinatown, France, Lao Lane Xang, Laotian Food, Larb, Paris

Other than being a mostly residential area, the 13th Arrondissement has the largest Chinatown in Paris. Mr. Selfish and I shopped at a grocery store in Chinatown during our first Sunday in Paris since all of the other grocery stores were closed at the time. Of course, we also sampled some Asian food in the area.

The most memorable meal we had was at Lao Lane Xang, which is primarily a Laotian restaurant. In fact, this restaurant is so good that there are two on the same street – right across the street from one another. Despite having two locations on the same street, we still waited for about 45 minutes for a table on a Thursday night.

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The Beautiful 1st Arrondissement

29 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Europe, France, Paris

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1st Arrondissement, Church of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois, France, Jardin des Tuileries, Louvre, Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris

Mr. Selfish and I loved walking around the 1st Arrondissement, especially around dusk. The lighting was beautiful, and we really enjoyed the Jardin des Tuileries, which is known as the place where the “Parisians celebrated, met, promenaded, and relaxed.” We especially enjoyed relaxing around the fountains.

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Other Stuff to Do in the 7th Arrondissement

28 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Europe, France, Paris

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7th Arrondissement, École Militaire, France, Le Relais de Venise, Les Invalides, Paris, Saxe Breteuil Market

The 7th Arrondissement, of course, has the amazing Eiffel Tower. But there is other stuff to do in the 7th as well.

One of the most beautiful sites is Les Invalides. It contains museums and monuments relating to the military history of France and, most significantly, is the burial site of Napoleon Bonaparte. Across the way is the École Militaire, which is a military school at which Napoleon studied.

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The 10th Arrondissement: Gare du Nord and Le Petit Bombay

27 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Europe, Food & Drinks, France, Paris

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10th Arrondissement, Church of Saint Vincent de Paul, France, Gare du Nord, Indian Food, Muniyandi Vilas, Paris, Petit Bombay, Saravanaa Bhavan, Sri Lankan Food

While our apartment in Paris was in the 18th Arrondissement, we were quite close to Gare du Nord in the 10th Arrondissement. We accordingly did lots of transfers from Gare du Nord and discovered the Church of Saint Vincent de Paul was nearby.

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The Luxury of the 8th Arrondissement

26 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Europe, France, Paris

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8th Arrondissement, Arc de Triomphe, Église Saint-Augustin de Pari, Champs Élysées, France, Paris, Paul

Mr. Selfish and I enjoy saying the term “Chumps Élysées” instead of just saying “chumps.” So, we definitely ventured to the Champs Élysées in the 8th Arrondissement and said “Chumps Élysées” as often as possible. We didn’t buy anything but just window shopped. We also stopped by Paul for a croissant. Paul is a prolific chain but it has consistently good pastries.

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Château de Vincennes in the 12th Arrondissement

25 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Europe, France, Paris

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12th Arrondissement, Bois de Vincennes, Chateau de Vincennes, France, Paris

Mr. Selfish and I rode the metro all the way to the end of Line 1 to go to Bois de Vincennes and Château de Vincennes in the 12th Arrondissement. The Bois de Vincennes is a park that is three times larger than Central Park in New York.

We arrived at Château de Vincennes, which was a favorite second home to 14th century French kings. They used it as hunting accommodations due to its proximity to Bois de Vincennes. Mr. Selfish and I had brought some banh mi from Saigon Sandwich with us to eat. The weather looked like it was clearing up, so we sat down in the château grounds and enjoyed our banh mi.

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Specialty Stores in the 2nd, 9th, and 10th Arrondissements

24 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Europe, Food & Drinks, France, Paris

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10th Arrondissement, 2nd Arrondissement, 9th Arrondissement, A L’Etoile d’Or, France, G. Detou, L’Epicerie Anglaise, Paris

Mr. Selfish and I discovered three interesting specialty stores in the 2nd, 9th, and 10th Arrondissements.

The first was G. Detou, which is a specialty store for bakers and cooks. The name is a play-on-words meaning “I have everything”. It indeed looked to have most everything a cook or baker could want. Mr. Selfish and I purchased a kilo (2.2 lbs.) of dried strawberries and have been munching on them ever since. Our friend purchased pearl sugar to make liege waffles.

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Searching for the Best Macarons in Paris

22 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Europe, Food & Drinks, France, Paris, Searching for the Best . . .

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France, Laduree, Macarons, Paris, Pierre Herme, Salon du Chocolat, Stohrer, Un Dimanche a Paris

Mr. Selfish and I love macarons. We therefore decided to search for the best macarons in Paris. It was a hard task but someone has to do it.

First, we tried the macarons at Stohrer, which is supposedly the oldest bakery in Paris. Stohrer is near Les Halles and Saint Eustache. Stohrer only offered traditional flavors, so we purchased chocolate, vanilla, pistachio, and strawberry.

Verdict:  The macarons were pretty good, but not much different from the macarons we had tasted in the States.

Score:  6.5

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Salon du Chocolat in the 15th Arrondissement

21 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Europe, Food & Drinks, France, Paris

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15th Arrondissement, Chocolate, France, Paris, Salon du Chocolat

Mr. Selfish and I went all the way out to the Porte de Versailles Exhibition Center in the 15th Arrondissement to attend the Salon du Chocolat. It is billed as the largest chocolate event in the world. How could we resist?

It is an exhibition of all things chocolate. There were so many chocolate samples – lots and lots of samples. It was amazing. I never thought that I could get sick of chocolate but I actually did get a little sick of it toward the end.

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Wandering Around the 6th Arrondissement

19 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Europe, Food & Drinks, France, Paris

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6th Arrondissement, France, Institut de France, Paris

Even aside from the Luxembourg Gardens, it is nice to just stroll around the 6th Arrondissement. Mr. Selfish and I enjoyed walking on the bridges and admiring the different views – particularly that of the Institut de France. It houses six different academies and was opened in 1795.

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Who’s Selfish?

Mr. and Mrs. Selfish are an obsessively organized couple who sold all their junk to travel abroad for a year. Now settled in San Francisco, they have since visited over 200 cities in 44 countries over 6 continents. This site chronicles their travels.

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