Paris, the city I have been dreaming about for years… the place where I imagined the baked goods as one of a kind, the sites more beautiful beyond belief, and the cafes cozy and perfect for people watching. Everything I thought of Paris…was true, and proved to be even better than I could have ever imagined. It’s safe to say I had an amazing weekend, which went by way too quickly. Paris will be a city I will be returning to.

Instead of continuing to write about how wonderful Paris is, I will just write about how wonderful our weekend was 🙂 I arrived Thursday afternoon (a few hours in front of Case), and quickly used the efficient public transportation to arrive at my hotel. I knew instantly I was in love with Paris–we all know how I love efficient Public Transportation ( I swear the metro went EVERYWHERE). After checking into the hotel, I wandered out…with one plan…to see the Eiffel Tower (finally). I caught a glimpse of the tower…and just started walking in it’s direction. My walk gave me the opportunity to see the city, smell the amazing bakeries, and take note on several cafes and chocolate shops I wanted to check out. After ten minutes, I was finally able to see the whole Eiffel Tower… let me tell you…it was absolutely incredible. I have seen pictures, and heard stories, but seeing it in person was really a dream come true for me. I am pretty sure I stood in the same place for 10 minutes just staring up at it. When my neck had finally had enough, I decided to take some pictures. The picures below will show you how I was able to see the Eiffel Tower for the first time.

After spending a good hour staring and taking pictures of the Eiffel tower I decided it was time to move on (until the next day of course). I spent the rest of the evening taking the metro to random stops, and walking the Parisian streets to see the sites. After a few hours of wandering, I headed back to the hotel to go greet Case!

On Friday we woke up relatively early (at least for me), so we could explore the city. We started out our morning by wandering down the street to find a small family owned bakery–where I had the most amazing chocolate crossaint (my first of many for the weekend) and Case had a double baked almond crossaint, both dangerously good. We then found a small cafe and washed our rich breakfasts down with a Cappucino (we had not yet discovered the Caffe con crema–basically a fancy latte). After breakfast we had to switch places of lodging (last minute changes), so we grabbed our suitcases, jumped on the metro and headed to another part of town. The second we got off the metro, I knew I would like our new location even better. After walking by 4 chocolate shops, two bakeries, and three different cafes (all within 1/2 km), we arrived at our new spot. We booked an AirBNB which was perfectly located, and could see the Eiffel tower from our window! We didn’t even mind the whole apartment was probably the size of my bedroom at home –it was perfect for us. After dropping our luggage off, I was dragging Case out the door…our first stop was the Louvre!

Instead of heading directly to the Louvre Case and I decided to take the metro to a nearby area to grab a bite to eat, so we would have enough energy to enjoy the museum. We wandered through the cute Parisian streets, until we found a perfect little Crepe place–our first crepe in paris! Sadly we were both so excited to eat the crepe I forgot to take a picture to share with you, but let me assure you it was wonderful. After filling up with Crepe, we were ready to head over the Louvre. On our way to the museum, we stumbled across one of the many bridges with locks attached to it, and took some time to take in our surroundings.

After strolling around, we arrived at the Louvre. So originally, when we were planning our Paris weekend, we went back and forth about going to the Louvre…I am glad we decided to go. One of my favorite, if not my favorite museum I have seen. The museum is MASSIVE, but shows so many different types of art from all over the world–truly incredible. The outside is incredible, as well as all the works inside of it. We could have easily spent our whole day there…but only had 4 hours. Below is a picture with me outside the Louvre with the famous pyramid and surrounding palace.

We decided the Sphinx from Egypt was picture worthy, the only picture we took while in the museum .

After the museum we did a bit more wandering, and then headed off to dinner. For our first night, we had made reservations at a quaint family owned restuarant near our Airbnb, called Tierny & CO. From the second we walked in, I knew I was going to love it. The couple who owned the restaurant were the only two people working there. Instantly they had us seated near a window, and brought us over the menu. At many restaurants in Paris, we learned quickly, the menu was only written on a large chalk board. So there we were with a huge chalkboard, with a menu completey in french (of course). We were able to decipher wines we wanted, but after struggling with the food menu we  knew we were going to have to ask for help. Without missing a beat, one of the owners wandered over and kindly went through the whole menu with us! We both decided since it was our first dinner in Paris and we would have the Parisian delicacies… the women was impressed with our choices (we think), because after we had said our choices she stated “you are brave.” For our appetizers we shared a crab and avacado dish, and a charcuterie plate.  For our entrees (the reason for the “brave” statement) I had chosen the Andouille sausage (a sausage made of pork small intestines, Tripe, onions, and wine) and Case had chosen the beef tartar (basically raw beef). We had no idea what to expect. Our appetizers were incredibly tasty, but after the Owner’s “brave” comment, I think we were both nervous for our entrees.Below is a picture of me with my crab and avacado appetizer…and my “first course wine” a Rose.

After finsihing our appetizers the brought entrees to us, the other owner (the man), also made a comment at this time on how brave we were–makes me curious on what other visitors order. Honestly, both Case and I were pleasantly surprised when our dishes arrived. Once again we forgot to take pictures (Debs we needed you to help remind us!), but both were beautifully presented and pretty tasty. I must say, very different then anything I have ever eaten–especially the beef tartar, but I didn’t hate it. After filling up with food and wine, and could eat no more, we said our goodbyes, and walked out the door known as the “brave Americans…” not the worst way to be remembered.

Saturday, was our day to see Chateau De Versailles. After having our daily dose of baked heaven topped off with a chocolate eclair (pictured below) and a cafe con crema, we were off to find the Chateau.

After struggling a bit with the train system, we found the correct line, and made it to Versailles. The palace was grand and beautiful…Unfortunately, its another site where words will not do it justice, so I will try and show it to you in some pictures. Below: Here we are outside of the golden gates, right before going inside.

Above: You see Case standing in front of the Palace, in the central courtyard. Below: are two pictures from my favorite room, the Hall of Mirrors. The hall was incredible, and what you can’t see here is, the room also looks out over the famous and massive gardens of the palace.

Below: A picture from the top of the gardens… amazing! I would love to have a garden this massive, as long as someone else did the maintenance 🙂

After a half a day enjoying the palace we decided to head back to the city, and do a bit more exploring. Before getting on the train however, we had to get a baguette sandwich–who knew such a simple item could be so good! Below is a picture of Case with our gateway baguette…after having the first…we had trouble walking by a bakery without buying another. The greatest thing in Paris, everyone was walking around with a baguette…I swear you didn’t fit in if you were without one.

When we got back to the city, we decided to head to the Eiffel tower while there was still daylight–Case still had not seen it up close! We spent a bit of time seeing the tower at many different angles… I wish you could see my camera, there are probably about 100 pictures of the Eiffel tower, here are some of my favorite.

After enjoying the Eiffel Tower for awhile, we decided to head back to our neighborhood, which we had fallen in love with. As we were walking toward our AirBNB we decided to stop for another baguette and some macaroons (pictured below).

After having our own made aperitvo…we decided to head toward the spot we were having dinner to explore a bit. Of course we were quickly disracted by a cafe on the way to the metro…where we HAD to stop and have a glass of famous french champagne.

After, we were determined to head near our dinner spot…but once again we got distracted by a small restuarant with a bunch of fresh oysters displayed outside…we decided, why not just take a look inside.

We walked inside, and were instantly greeted with a bunch of friendly faces, there was no kitchen just a bar, and few people behind it cleaning and preparing the oysters. Everyone there was excited for us to take a seat and try. However, there were just too many choices. So when we asked for advice…instead of explaining, they decided the best way was to demonstrate the differences. So, they gave Case an oyster to try. Case’s face lit up instantly, and I could tell we would be eating a few oysters after all. Of course, we couldn’t have oysters without a glass of white wine–again we asked for advice. They gave us a few options, which were then narrowed down to two. Then the owner poured us tasters of each (the tasters were about the same amount as a pour)..once we decided on our desired wines…the owner just put the bottles on the bar. After looking at him quizzically…he motioned for us to pour a glass to whatever size we wanted. At this point, we were in love. A few minutes later our oysters arrived…it’s taken about two years…but I can safely say I like oysters now, which is a good thing, because we had 12 to eat.

After finishing our wine and oysters, and speaking a bit more with the wonderful people who worked there…we decided we should really head to dinner. Dinner was far less brave then the night before (we both ordered well cooked food), but was also very good–however uneventful. After dinner we took some time to meander around Paris, grab a nutella and coconut crepe, and stumble across the Notre Dame– The perfect way to end our Saturday.

Sunday was a day without any structure, and more about wandering and doing some shopping. After having lunch, I dropped Case off at the airport to head back to Rome (I guess someone has to work), and I headed to the nearest bakery to get one last baguette and eclair. I then ended my last night in Paris with a fresh baguette, a nice glass of red wine, and watching the Eiffel Tower light show out my window. Perfection.

In summary… I am absolutely hooked on Paris, even if I did eat my yearly quota in chocolate crossaints. I cannot wait until I can return! However, Monday was the start of another new adventure…I was off to Munich (after getting one last chocolate crossaint). Munich is worthy of Blog post to itself…and unfortunately my capability to write about Munich, and do it justice, will have to wait another day. So until then au revoir!!!