Oui oui Paris

Continuing on with our adventures in Europe...

From Belgium, we ventured off by train to what I think is one of the most incredible and romantic cities in the whole world... Paris!  I have always had an obsession with all things French, so it was such a dream to visit the 'City of Light' with my man.  Even in the unexpected rainy and chilly weather, we had such a blast exploring the city using the Metro, practicing French survival phrases, visiting major historical sights, strolling by the Seine, and the best part of all... enjoying the food! Our favorite thing was to stop in Patisseries that lined the streets to pick out quiche, madelines, croissants (regular and chocolate filled), and of course, macarons!! If you know me, you know I have a serious obsession with French macarons. I informed Spencer as we arrived in Paris that he needed to be ready to whip out a lot of Euro to buy his wife plenty of those delicate and mouthwatering little treats! Oh, and we also devoured our fair share of jambon et fromage (ham and cheese) crepes. Oh so delicious. 

We loved every minute we had in Paris. It really is true... "We'll always have Paris."

There were hundreds of cops surrounding the Notre Dame Cathedral this night,

because earlier in the day a 78-year old man who opposed gay marriage committed suicide inside.

They had to evacuate hundreds of tourists after the shooting happened at the altar of the Cathedral.

There were probably about 100 vans in the surrounding streets filled with French police. Pretty crazy.

We loved strolling by the Seine River! So romantic.

Oozing with excitement to taste my first macarons of the trip!

The Louvre

It was fun to see Spencer react to seeing all the art he's read about in books and seen in movies...

particularly 'The DaVinci Code'! There were a million people touring the Louvre and signs everywhere warning us about pickpockets. We definitely had our hands on our bags the entire time.

This is one of my favorite little streets in all the world... Rue Cler.

Cler Fleurs

La Fromagerie

Sainte-Chapelle (royal medieval Gothic castle - built in 1239)

Palace of Versailles

This was too cool! I definitely checked it off my bucket list after visiting the Palace.

Musee d'Orsay
 This museum was amazing! It is housed in a former railway station and has the
largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist artwork in the world.
It had work from artists like Monet, Manet, Degas, Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Renoir. So cool.
I guess taking all those art history classes came in handy. I started to take some pics of the artwork
and a lady started yelling at me in French. That must have been against the rules?? Oops.

We came out of the Metro, started strolling across a bridge, turned around,
and to our surprise... BAM! The Eiffel Tower! Glittering and all. Such a dreamy moment.
We had planned to take a river boat cruise that evening but decided against
being blown to smithereens by icy wind.

This part of town was a little sketch. I was excited to see the Moulin Rouge in person though!

Arc de Triomphe

Our next stop on our adventure was Gimmelwald, Switzerland. HOWEVER, once we heard there was a massive blizzard in the Swiss Alps, we quickly changed our minds. I don't think my sandals or TOMS would have held up very well? After chatting on the phone with my parents, they encouraged us to venture south to Milan and Siena, Italy. Finding the sun sounded like a great plan! So... we cancelled our train tickets and hotel in Switzerland, booked a flight and hotel in Milan, and headed to the airport! Oh, and I had to have some macarons for the journey ahead.

Au revoir Paris! Milano... here we come!!