Paris, France

October 28-31, 2010

Paris was even better than I expected! This was the first time either of us had been. We heard many wonderful things about the city and the sights...but I have to be honest: we were blown away. Maybe it is because I set my expectations low (thinking people had 'talked it up').

SIGHTS: 

   Louvre

We spent our first day at the Louvre. I researched the tours ahead of time and opted to go on a short 'introductory tour.' Best 9 Euros spent for a tour--I definitely recommend it. After the tour we wandered and saw what we wanted. Here were some of the highlights:

When I saw the Mona Lisa I thought of my cousin Katrina. When she was a child, she touched the Mona Lisa and set the alarms blaring. Times have changed: No one could get close enough to touch it. A large area is roped off and it is in a case. There are also museum employees constantly stationed around the room.

Eiffel Tower

Curt, being the surprise-guy that he is, surprised me with lunch reservations that day at a spectacular restaurant overlooking the Eiffel Tower. His coworker lived in Paris for sometime and even helped get us a great reservation. I love surprises--and Curt is SO good at them. 

The restaurant, Les Ombres, had amazing food and the perfect location. We had our lunch European style: 2 hours long. That was probably my favorite part of the entire trip. This picture was taken from the deck of the restaurant (our table was inside--it was cold and the deck was closed).

Walking from the lunch restaurant back to the Louvre

Champs-Élysées

We also had a great time walking Avenue des Champs-Élysées in the evening. We didn't do a ton of buying, but we had fun shopping. I bought some trendy black plaid rain boots that I LOVE (thanks for finding my size, Curt!!!). Those boots are AMAZING in the Geneva slush (and they're cute!).

The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile was beautiful. Since, I have noticed that there are arcs like this all over Europe (Madrid, Milan, etc)
.
We also saw a movie on the avenue. There were theaters EVERYWHERE. It was really fun to go to a movie theater on vacation. I don't think I ever had. We sort of laughed that we were going to a movie when we were in Paris--but it is what sounded fun! And we loved the experience. Here we are at the theater:

Notre Dame Cathedral

The next day we walked around town. I was amazed at the Notre Dame cathedral. It was much more magnificent than I expected. We joined a free walking tour that took us around the cathedral and surrounding area. It was quite enjoyable to learn more of the history of Old Paris--another thing you can do the next time you're in Paris.

Even though this wasn't the best photo of Notre Dame, I had to put it up. There were pigeons everywhere and this one got caught in my photo. I loved it.

Sacred Heart Basilica
One of the last things we did was visit the Sacré-Cœur Basilica. I actually didn't know it existed before going to Paris. While we were eating lunch we could see it. We tried to ask (in broken French) what the building with the big dome was, but we made no progress.
Luckily we have picked up a habit: We look at postcards while travelling. If there are a few post cards of some sight in shop, we decide it is generally worth seeing. That is how we found this :)

FOOD:

So as you have learned....food is a major staple of our travel itinerary. I already talked about the amazing Eiffel Tower lunch...but here are a few more great ones:

Angelina: An excellent recommendation from Meridee-- BEST hot chocolate I have EVER had. AMAZING! We decided to have brunch/lunch there and the food was good. My recommendation: go there for macaroons and hot chocolate. Make it a 'tea room' experience. We liked the macaroons more than the famed Ladurée macaroons. You need to plan when you go or you'll hit a HUGE line. We missed the line :)

Japanese food: We stopped for dinner at a Japanese restaurant to get ramen and gyoza. It was delicious--but Curt still claims the Ramen place in Japan (with Jake) was the best. It was my first time having any other ramen than Top Ramen. A little different :)

We LOVED Paris and are excited to go back to eat and see more!