The Final Paris Photo Dump

The final Paris episode, and quite possibly my favorite day. 

Utilizing the "Paris Museum Pass," we decided to hit up both Musee D'Orsay and the Louvre in one day. Crazy, I know, but we figured out how do it without wanting to rip our eyes out by the end of the evening.

The day was started at a sweet local bakery that we ended up visiting every morning, called R. Bertraud. If you're staying around Notre Dame, I highly recommend this little place for heavenly pastries and the greatest coffee in Paris. (I had a baguette with camembert every morning, maybe the best thing I've ever eaten. ever.) 

Let's take a picture by our favorite bakery, except we've already left and feel too weird to cross the street to take selfies

No lines again, since we had the pass; we slipped into the Musee D'Orsay and I choked up a bit because Impressionism is my favorite. Monet, Degas, Renoir, and an interesting exhibit on Van Gogh that paired his madness with his biographer's own insanity. 

I was in heaven. 

We only saw what we wanted to see instead of attempting to take in every floor and every piece., knowing that we'd be doing the same at the Louvre later on. 

PS- Museum gift shops make excellent gifts for people. I might have bought a children's book about a little girl who jumps into Impressionist paintings, because who knows, it might come in handy one day.

Here's my other Paris secret- rent bikes to get between the museums and the Eiffel Tower. The walk is way too long. Plus, bikes are just lovely--we only almost died like, once.

"Wait! Rock climbing is on my 30 by 30 list! Take lots of pictures of me so I can cross it off!" 

And a must for all visits to Paris?

Picnics.

With baguettes and brie, preferably with good wine as well, although we failed on that part. 

Oh, and pastries. 

After the picnic we made our way back over to the Louvre, which is massive and overwhelming. We pretty much stuck with the highlights on the map and lasted for maybe two hours, hitting up the Starbucks inside and the gift shop again. 

Upon leaving-- holy cow, the sunset! 

Dinner that evening was at Chez Janou in the Marais, and it was SO. GOOD. 

Like, all discussion at a standstill we savored every bite of our delicious dinners. 

Eat there.

I know this post has been an absolute photo dump, but bear with me!

The last morning before our train to Colmar we hit up Sacre Coeur on a beautiful, sun-shiney day

and popped in to Shakespear & Company on the way back to the flat. 

Absolutely heavenly. And there's a whole upstairs with ancient books where famous writers like Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald used to hang out and borrow books. I could curl up and live there forever. 

We were sad to leave Paris, but all good things must come to an end!

A vow was made to return every five years-- who's coming with next time? 

:)

More from Paris

Hello, Versailles. So happy to have had the chance to meet again!

You always take me by surprise with your splendor! How could anyone live this extravagantly?

This was my favorite visit to see you, because we had the foresight to buy the Paris Museum Pass which meant we didn't have to wait in any lines. Plus, you were the least busiest I've ever seen you! Makes up for your gardens still being a bit wintery. We even rented a golf cart to explore the vastness of your backyard, but couldn't stop giggling when we realized the cart reached a max of maybe 10 miles per hour. Next time we'll rent bikes for sure.

I wonder what she was trying to tell me? haha

After Versailles we strolled up the Champs-Elysees, stopping for a quick lunch and continuing on to the Arc du Triumph (the top was closed though, which was also covered on the Museum Pass.) It was cold. And we were in need of coffee and pastries...

... so we ended up at Laduree! You have to go at least once for the ambiance and outrageously expensive coffee/pastries, even if you're surrounded by Americans and Asians. I much prefer little stumbled-upon cafes, but it was sweet. And there was no line, which in the summers it can wrap around and down into the street.

We wrapped the day up with meandering through the streets of Marais, one of my favorite parts of the city. Unfortunately everything was closed, but we made our way to what's supposedly the best falafel in Paris (L'As du Fallafel)  in the middle of the historically Jewish district- the girls were hooked! Called it an early evening since we clocked 12 miles of walking... but I'd say we did a good job of squeezing the life out of our second day :) 

Baguettes, Brie, and Berthillon

For the sake of documenting our fabulous trip to Paris, this posting will be a bit more detailed than usual in the hopes that it will be recreated by myself and others. 

What. A. Trip. I keep writing sentences and deleting them because my words aren't coming anywhere near to capturing just how lovely it was to spend four days exploring the beauty of Paris with my two dear friends. Each time I visit, I fall more in love with the city that I once detested for its haughty waiters, sketchy metro and long lines; having visited a few more times, my previous perceptions couldn't have further from the truth. While I am certainly no expert, this past trip was a perfect "First-Visit-to-Paris" adventure that I feel compelled to share our itinerary with the hopes that others will be able to use it as well!

On a Monday, we took the 6 AM train to the city and navigated the crowded metro to our apartment near Notre Dame. I've taken to seeking AirBNB properties in the St. German/Latin Quarter Arrondissements (had to look up the spelling of that one!) because I love the proximity to the sites and the little shops peppered throughout the streets. We stayed here, and seriously it was one of the nicest places I've stayed at with AirBNB; plus the owner was incredibly nice and helpful. Stay here if you go!

weee! I slept up here!

After checking in we immediately set out to explore. If you're doing Paris for the first time, don't attempt to cram it in to a couple of days because you'll end up hating it like Mike & I did in the beginning. (The girls and I were sad to leave even after four days of being there!)

We started our stay with Notre Dame and walking along the Seine. Can I say how much I loved visiting in March when there were no lines and it wasn't miserably hot? So worth the risk of spring showers; I think it helped that we visited during the week as well. 

Hey! It's Notre Dame!

 shot #1 that I was berating myself for not lugging the big camera on this trip...

The Latin Quarter came next... quite touristy but fun to walk through nonetheless. Whatever you do, don't get sucked in to the restaurants there. No bueno.

Our stroll continued along the Seine stopping quite frequently at the used book stalls that line the street, eventually ending up at the Louvre. I insisted the girls take the obligatory "Look at me I'm touching the top of the pyramid!" shots:

No shame in dumb tourist photos!

It was also on this day that we went down into the Louvre to buy the "Paris Museum Pass" to use later. More on that in the next post, but according to our sweet friend Kate, you can find a secret entrance to the Louvre by the mini Arc du Triumph (called the Carousel) instead of "waiting in line with the schleps at the pyramid." Thanks, Kate!

Because the metro happened to be free that day, we opted to take it to the Eiffel Tower. Surely you can walk, but I've found that you're less exhausted at the end of the day if you figure out the metro or awesome bike system that Paris offers. 

Behold...the Eiffel tower in all it's glory!

And crepes. Not the best if you get them from right next to the tower, but sufficient. 

Now, for my biggest travel tip of the day-- wherever you go, consider taking a bike tour on your first day to get an overview of the city! Look on TripAdvisor for a highly rated company and just do it, regardless if you haven't been on a bike in a while. We had a FANTASTIC time on the Fat Tire night tour (I've done it in Paris twice now) which takes you to the major sights at night and gives you a little history about each one. At the end of the tour, you take a boat tour on the Seine and watch the Eiffel Tower all lit up sparkly while drinking wine. Yep, real life. 

 i love to ride my bicycleeee i love to ride my biiiike

Riding our bikes in circles around the courtyard of the empty Louvre was easily one of the highlights of the trip!

Did I mention you stop for delicious ice cream half way through? Forget that your hands are already freezing and dig in!

We were quite tuckered out by the end of the day, what with our early train and walking 11 miles that day. But oh, what a good start to an amazing trip! More to follow in the preceding days... I'm late for our weekly Thursday night brewery visit :)

Day 1 Itinerary

-10 AM arrival, check in, freshen up

-Grab a baguette sandwich on the walk over

-Notre Dame (1 hr)

-Latin Quarter (stop for macaroons) 

-walk to Louvre, through Tuilleries on way to Metro 

-Metro to Eiffel Tower (eat a crepe)

-6PM Fat Tire Bike Tour (ice cream & wine on trip) 

German Carnival

A couple weekends ago we decided to give Carnival a try. Now, I don't know how the rest of the world celebrates, but in Germany, it involves a lot of old guys dressing up in sweet costumes and strutting around like they own the town.

Mike, Dan, Martha and I took the s-bahn 45 minutes out to Mainz, a smaller city near Frankfurt known to have a decent Carnival scene. We waited an hour and a half for the parade, which we soon realized was for children. And by 'for children,' I mean it was a parade with the local kindergarteners as the marchers, with your friendly local marching band donning short skirts and playing the triangle. It was strange... maybe we should have known when realizing we were the only adults hanging over the railing trying to score candy. 

At least the day provided excellent people watching opportunities!

 I have my "I-love-Germany" face on again...

On the way home, Dan was accosted by a drunk lady on the train who wanted to draw a heart on his face with her mascara. She was relentless, even to the point of chasing Dan up and down the aisles. Finally, Martha had the brilliant idea of telling her to draw someone on the police officer's face, who promptly kicked her off at the next stop. Win for Martha!

The next three days we traveled to Cologne for their own celebration with our friend Vikas and his own two friends who flew in from the states, this time festively dressing up in costumes of our own. They had American flag onesies; people kept asking them for a picture!

Mike was a parrot, and I was just red and warm. Feel free to ignore the beers in each hand. And the special facial expression. 

We found a great local bar with older people dressed up and decided to park it for a while. Cologne is proud of its kölsch beer which comes served in smaller glasses, and traditionally will continue to be replaced one after the other by the server without you asking until you tap out and place your coaster over the top. 

 Imagine loud German music and this guy twirling his scarf over his head. Yep. 

The Americans and the communists attempt to find a common ground

So completely inappropriate, but kind of funny at the same time. There were quite a few people dressed as monks/nuns/Jesus/terrorists, stuff that wouldn't fly in the states...

Phone died after this, which was probably a good thing. 

Oh! And there was a cathedral--an incredible one at that:

(Not the main cathedral) 

Check that one off the bucket list!