Miata Road Trip Europe: Paris by Night

This post was originally published on August 12, 2016 on Grand Prix Road Trip blog at MyRoadTrip.net // under the title:

MAZDA MX-5: L’AUVERGNE A PARIS DINNER WITH MX5FRANCE.COM MIATA OWNERS AND MIDNIGHT SIGHTSEEING TOUR OF THE CITY OF LIGHTS

European MX-5 Miata Road Trip Overview:

My most epic Mazda MX-5 Miata Road Trip took place this July in conjunction with my Motorsport Euro Trip to volunteer a few races in Western Europe. Fourth and Final stop on my trip was in France, a visit to Paris to have dinner with MX5France.com forum members.

Paris was the very last stop on my three week Euro Trip and one I was probably looking forward to the most. The reason? MX5France.com forum members were most responsive to my invite to hang out with fellow Miata owners. One of the members there: Mike (the former president of the club) decided to organize the whole meet for me. He picked an awesome place: Auto Passion Cafe and we were set to have a great time, until someone busted our bubble by enlightening us that the restaurant is closed for the whole month of July and most of August for their summer vacation.

Not to worry Mike picked another amazing place: L’Auvergne a Paris. This place was especially special to me because I have family living in Auvergne: Clermont-Ferrand and Volvic. The place is also home to Michelin and lots of racing and Motorsport. The restaurant was full of Motorsport memorabilia, tons of model cars, wheels, plaques, helmets, and pictures. I loved the ambiance!

Besides the decor the restaurant was a real Paris hangout. No tourists here, lots of locals. And many of the MX-5 folks showed up after work with their significant others. We had almost a dozen people come for dinner and share their Mazda experiences. Some members were worried about coming as their English wasn’t great, and I speak hardly any French. But we had an amazing time nonetheless.

Of all the people that showed up I only managed to take pix of two cars. A beautiful NC2 and an NB that Mike brought.

The best way to see the city of Paris is in a Roadster convertible!

A prix fixe three course menu: (absolutely delicious!)

Sightseeing tour of Paris by night:

An interesting license plate from the Reunion Islands.

The trip… both to Paris, France and Europe as a whole finished just like it started. Mike and I were cruising central Paris well into the night, arriving at the hotel around 1am (with an alarm set for 4am to rush back to the airport to fly home to the US). I was super grateful for the opportunity and absolutely amazed that so many people chose to come out and meet up with me, show me around, share delicious food and insightful conversations. Thank you one and all!