I have been terrible in neglecting my pet project blog! My last post was September 7, awful! But I’ve been so busy, working lots and we recently got back from Paris! Amazing trip, amazing weather, amazing experience. It was just Ryan and I and we went for about 12 days. We rented an apartment through AIRBNB and it was right between Montparnasse and St Germain de Pres, the location could not have been more perfect. Ten minute walk to Luxemburg Gardens, 2 minutes to tons of cafes and shops and we even walked all the way to Seine from our apartment.

The cafe Le Select, which has a lot of literary history – it was a haunt for Hemingway, Picasso and Henry Miller, was at the end of our street. We went there for breakfast the day we got there and had the Petit Dejeuner, which was a cafe creme, orange juice, croissant and a basket of bread served with jam and butter. SO much bread every where you go! If you’re going to Paris get ready to carb load!

We spent a lot of time walking the streets and just exploring and being in the city. It’s just so Parisian! Exactly like I imagined, like all the paintings and old movies.

We found so many adorable old bookstores, outdoor flower markets and fruit stands.

We walked our way down to the Seine with a plan just to walk along the river and walked right into Notre Dame. It was gorgeous, huge and every public space you go to has these beautifully kept gardens.

We made our way to Pont de l’Archeveche which is one of the love lock bridges. I know the Parisians hate these love locks and they are really hard on the bridges but I loved putting one on and the whole idea behind them.

We ended this first day with a drink on a restaurant boat on the Seine with the sun setting behind Notre Dame . It was pretty perfect!

The next day the jet lag got us pretty bad, we were up for hours in the middle of the night then slept in way too late. One of the things I really wanted to do was have a picnic at the Luxemburg Garden. So we got a bottle of wine, some snacks and many macaroons and had a seriously dreamy picnic.

We spent some more time walking and exploring our neighbourhood then ended the night with dinner at a cafe called Odessa. It was our first real outdoor cafe experience, sitting on the street facing out to people watch.

The next day we started out again for breakfast at a very picturesque cafe called Bullier, the food was good as well as the service, and it just looked like it was out of a painting.

Then we took a long walk down to the Seine and explored the Marais district. After that we went down a level and walked right along the river. Walking along the Seine was one of my favourite things that we did.

Our first glimpse at the Eiffel Tower! We are such tourists!

That night we went to the Eiffel Tower and ate at one of their restaurants 58 Tour Eiffel, the food was good and the view was incredible.

You can’t go to Paris and not go to the Eiffel Tower! When we got there it was still daylight but I would suggest going at  night. It’s not as busy and it is far more romantic, special and fantastic. We went back later in the week during the day and I didn’t get that same magical feeling as when I went at night (maybe it was the wine at dinner but who can say really?)

The next day we spent at the Louvre, and it is really something else. We were there for seven and a half hours and didn’t even see one full floor. We saw some of the most famous works and also explored a lot of the sculpture exhibits. It is really something else there, a really amazing museum but very very busy! If you’re not crazy about crowds you might find this a little overwhelming. This was our only rainy day but by the time we left it was clear so we had time to enjoy the Tuileries Gardens outside the Louvre.

Winged Victory

Mona Lisa

Venus de Milo

Beautiful Tuileries Gardens

That night we walked to a cafe on Boulevard St Michel called Le Luco. One of our favourite dinners where we closed the place down while drinking wine and then walked back to our apartment in the night time drizzle.

My handsome hubby having his favourite dessert.

This was only the first bit of our trip, Paris had so much more in store for us! Check back to hear more soon!