Authentic Experiences in Paris & an Authentic Cyling Tour in Champagne

Who wants to feel like a tourist when you're traveling? Not me! I always try and sneakily hide my map or fold it up as quick as humanely possible inevitably destroying it's perfect folds and scrunching it into a ball in my purse. Coming back from a trip to Paris with pictures of the Mona Lisa and an Eiffel Tower replica in your suitcase and actually believing that you have captured the essence of the city of lights is a pretty big faux pas in my book. As is thinking that you actually ARE going to bump into a real deal Parisian with a mustache outfitted in a beret and a striped shirt holding a baguette under his arm. Chances of that are low. Very low. What you should and hopefully WILL do is wander off the beaten paths to discover!

Marché d'Aligre is the BEST Parisian activity (before 13h) at Place d'Aligre 75012, Paris 

Touch, feel, experience things you didn't plan (like the Marche d'Aligre above with hundreds of 1500-1700 books or the cheese shop Barthelemy in the 6eme by Rue de Bac which you can actually SMELL 1 mile away before you even arrive)! One of the ways to experience something real is to hop on the 'ol train and come 45 minutes to Reims or 1h20 to Epernay in Champagne! Get outside of Paris just for 1 day and into the countryside where you can bike and taste with champagne producers!

Fabulous cheese shop in the Latin 6eme, Paris

Keep in mind that Paris and its neighboring regions such as champagne have MUCH more to offer and there is still authenticity to be found if you know where to look ;)

Traveling is so much more of an enriching experience and a personal one when you live and feel it while avoiding the row after row of souvenir vendors and clichés. Bike tours are a good example of this. They get you on the streets and allow you to cycle around a city.

Bike About Tours or Fat Tire Bike Tours are among those who make visiting Paris pretty fun. They give you an insider's look at the city and don't just show you what you're expecting to see. Paris is more than the Eiffel tower and Notre Dame, and don't get me wrong, they are marvels for sure, but there's so much life, so many smells, sights and small cobbled and winding streets filled with incredible little stores and cafés.



The same is true in champagne. The Champagne region is more than Veuve Clicquot, Dom Perignon and 200,000 person population of Reims. It's passionate growers, rows and rows of vines and bubbly flowing/ corks popping from house to house and village to village!

Instead of going straight to the capital of Champagne why not cycle around gorgeous vines and champagne taste with growers who supply to all the major brands ie Moet et Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Roederer?

Traveling is about discovery and adventure, it's about learning what a culture has to offer. Go ahead and throw your tour book out for the day. Wander, get lost and do something authentic! If you need help doing so Tasty Side To Life Tours helps you plan champagne tasting biking trips in and around Reims and Epernay just 45 mins or 1h20 from Paris. Contact here if interested in a champagne tour.