Yup, lucky me! I just got back from 10 days in London and Paris. I had been to London before (my "little" sis lives there) but never Paris. And, it was just me and my hubby. Jealous yet? Don’t blame you. It was amazing. It was my gift to him for a very special birthday. Gotta love those gifts where you get to enjoy the benefits too.
Anyway, I decided to start things off with my Top 5 things about my now favourite city in the world – Paris. Here goes:
1. The City. Paris is alive! It is so beautiful in a way I can’t describe. You can feel it resonating in the streets. Everything is bustling with people but not like in New York or Toronto. It is not like people are rushing to get somewhere. They are soaking it all in too. One night we got back to our hotel at midnight and people were still strolling. The city never sleeps!
Me at the Arc de Triomphe.
2. The architecture. Spectacular. I was overwhelmed by The Louvre not because of the art (I appreciated it but am not much of a connoisseur) but the building?! Unreal. The Opera House. Notre Dame. Even our little hotel. The curving streets and cafes. We took so many pictures because everywhere we turned was something divine!
Our cute little hotel in St. Germain. Hotel Claude Bernard.
The Louvre. Incredible.
The Opera House. Unbelievable.
3. The shops and cafes. What surprised me was that in North America when we sit out on a patio it is often in the back or away from the crowds. If it is on the street it is sheltered and you are turned away from the people walking by and are facing the people you are with. Not in Paris! In Paris the seats face the sidewalk and they are jammed right up to each other. The purpose is to watch the people. I LOVED this!
Ahh…sipping wine in Paris.
I loved this little shop! This is what I bought:
Very French, no?
4. The Eiffel Tower. Of course I wanted to see it but, to be honest, I didn’t expect too much. After all it is just a building, right? But it was magical. There were thousands of people around. Picnicking at the bottom or waiting (for hours) in line to get up top. We climbed to the second level (OK, we took the elevator to the first level and climbed the rest but believe me, that was more than enough after a day of sightseeing!). Then we watched the sun set over the city and watched all the lights. Awe inspiring.
Words can not describe.
Sunset view.
The Eiffel Tower at night.
5. The Streets of Paris. The little nooks and crannies. The winding roads. The street vendors. The energy.
The book vendors.
The restaurants and shops and vendors.
Beautiful Paris!
what a great holiday, jen. i love all the pics of paris – which i too adore, but mostly i love the pic of you and your husband – you look so relaxed, in love and happy!
I should clarify WHICH photo in the white capris and pink shirt: the last one. Duh.
Also, I love the people watching too. I was at a midway recently and the guy I was standing beside in line for one of those unnatural, death-defying rides was checking everyone out. I said, “Great place for people watching, isn’t it?” His reply: “Ya, but half the people you don’t want to watch.” I roared with laughter because it was so true and I was glad that I hadn’t said it. I doubt the same could be said about Paris.
LOVE the photo of you under the tower. And the one of you in the cute white capris and pink top– you look so slender!
We’re at a frustrating point right now where would could theoretically afford to go away to London or Paris or Rome for a week or two but one week is the max we can imagine leaving our children and it would be tough to even do that. We’d have to depend on friends to look after them. AND our son would be traumatized if we went to any of these places without him. He probably knows more about each of these cities than we do and years from now he’d be recounting the pain of our treachery like someone whose parents were… actually treacherous. You know, with cigarette burns and selling their toys for meth and stuff.
We’re contemplating a trip to Italy with the whole family and even a friend to babysit. But my husband doesn’t believe me when I tell him what our tax return will be next April. I got the amount wrong ONCE years ago and now he never trusts me when I say we’re getting X back. So, he won’t plan anything until he’s sure we have the money. The problem is that I want to go in April! I’m not sure that it’s wise to plan such a big trip only a month in advance. Sigh….
Yup, Ali. New Nikon D40. You’re going to love taking it to BlogHer!
The fact that you have a Paris top-five list fills me with envy. Can I share with you my Belleville/Bay of Quinte top-five? It includes the Old Navy in Quinte Mall!
Looks like you two had a fantastic trip…you deserve it.
Looks fantastic. Sounds like you both had an amazing time – totally jealous!
Wow. I would love to live somewhere like that. Waaahhh…we are so culturally boring!
looks AMAZING!
also? were those taken with the new camera? they are gorgeous!