Paris in the Springtime (Vol. 2)

Craziness guys. I still keep pinching myself because I just can't believe that I was in Paris just a few short weeks ago! I visited a year ago and dreamed of returning someday. I assumed I'd be like 30 and married by the time that would happen, but life has a funny way of surprising you and God has a great way of blessing. My mom and I decided to take a mother daughter trip to the city for a full week to see all of the sights and shops we missed the first time around! We stayed in a little studio apartment in Saint-Germain (dangerously close to a Pierre Hermé Pâtisserie) and it was just dreamy. I thought I'd do a little daily recap of what we did along with some photos from our adventures! (Honestly, I like writing things like these so that I have something to look back on later when my memory grows a little fuzzy and those Parisian days aren't quite so crisp in my brain).

DAY ONE//

We decided to fly out of O'Hare instead of Indianapolis, so we drove up to Chicago. In an effort to give ourselves plenty of time, we buffered in an extra few hours. However, it backfired when security only took a whopping 15 minutes and we had about 6 hours to kill in the airport before our flight boarded. Needless to say, I can field all of your questions about Terminal 5 at O'Hare. We took the red eye so we arrived mid-morning Paris time. We had a few hiccups to start the trip, including (but not limited to) a metro line that was under construction at our desired station and cell phones that were incapable of placing phone calls, all of which led us through a crazy cause-and-effect chain that led to being locked in the mail room of our apartment building. (What would the trip be without a few jet-lagged memories though, right?). We eventually made it out of the mailroom and settled into our apartment. We met up with one of my best friends (hey, Thomas) and wrapped up day one with some pizza and a stroll through the Jardin des Tuileries. Even in a state of complete exhaustion, the city was still so beautiful.

DAY TWO// 

After some much needed beauty rest, we met up with Thomas and walked through the Louvre. There is just something about seeing the crowd surrounding the Mona Lisa that will never get old. Despite the fact that you can never get a picture without having about twelve different people in it, it makes me smile. I can't say I'm really that into Grecco-Roman and Renaissance art though, so we just caught the highlights. Afterwards, we met up with my exchange student from high school (hi Nolwenn) to grab afternoon coffees. It's so crazy cool to have these friends that live on the other side of the globe. No matter how much time seems to pass, we all pick up right where we left off. It's something really special. That evening, we headed over to the Musée d'Orsay and saw some the most amazing works of art. This one was by far my favorite. The paintings are beautiful and the museum itself is built in a gorgeous old train station. We are still kicking ourselves for not doing the audio tour of this one. I guess we'll have to go back...

DAY THREE// 

We started the next day at the Sacre-Cœur in Montmartre only to quickly change our minds. Holy crowds, I think every tour bus made a synchronized stop there that day. It was a little much so after we met up with Thomas, we decided to head back to our neck of the woods (Saint Germain). We strolled around the neighborhood, walked along the Seine and made a stop at Shakespeare & Company. On my last trip to Paris, Shakespeare & Company dang near brought me to tears it was so beautiful. However, those synchronized tour busses I was talking about must have put the shop on their list that day because the magic was gone. It was so sad because I wanted my mom to have the same amazing experience I did, but with that many people it was hard to see the charm (But don't worry, I went back later in the trip later in the evening and it was pure magic all over again). We continued our stroll over to the Notre-Dame and grabbed some ice cream. One of my biggest regrets of the trip? Only getting one ice cream cone. Again, I guess we'll have to go back...

DAY FOUR//

We had resigned ourselves to the fact that day four would be spent strolling, eating, photographing, and taking it easy. We started the day at Saint Pearl, a coffeeshop I had spotted earlier in the trip. I think it is my favorite coffeeshop ever. Spoiler: we totally went back for a second time later in the trip. We took our breakfast to-go (or à emporter as the French would say) and headed over to the Seine. We sat on the banks and enjoyed our breakfast, watching the Parisians out for their morning stroll. Afterwards, we headed over to the Palais Garnier (the Opera House) to grab some cheap tickets to that night's ballet. The Paris Opera House is one of the most stunning buildings in the city, so even going in to the box office was beautiful. We opted for the obstructed view tickets (because 12 euros each). This was the perfect option to be able to experience a ballet at the Palais Garnier without going broke. Next, we walked across the street to the Galeries Lafayette to do a little window shopping and catch the view from the roof (which, PSA, is amazing. For real, definitely worth braving the crowds to see it). The ballet that night ended being super contemporary (which is not really our thing) so we ended up ducking out a little early to get some food. We found a little Italian place right around the corner from our apartment and ended the night over pasta. (This trip was one of the few times that I terribly abused my gluten-hating body and fed it whatever it wanted, which was mostly croissants, pasta, pastries, and french bread. I think my poor body is probably still recovering.)

DAY FIVE// 

I'm pretty sure this day killed me a little because I walked so much, but sitting down and relaxing when I'm traveling is hard for me. We spent the morning at the Musée de l'Orangerie viewing Monet's waterlilies before heading over to the Picasso Museum. The weather was crispy and grey and it almost felt like fall outside, and there was something about that that made my heart do little flips. We walked through the Marais district to get to the museum and saw old men reading newspapers in the park and moms pushing strollers. It all felt so surreal-to imagine that people call this beautiful city home. We got to the Picasso museum and decided to do the guided tour. While his art is beautiful and so inspiring to me, I felt sad walking around that gallery. Here we all were, marveling at the art of a man who broke so many hearts along the way. I couldn't help but feel sadness for the women that wanted so badly to be loved by him, but were tossed aside and left in the wake of his temperamental ways. 

That afternoon was for Père Lachaise. Thomas and I metro-ed on over to the famous cemetery as he quizzed me on my French and I made him ask for directions to find Edith Piaf's grave (it was a really great system we had, haha). We strolled the walkways chatting and looking for the grave of Oscar Wilde. Let me say, that was one of the most beautiful cemeteries I have ever been to. We ended the day with a stroll around the Notre-Dame and a trip to Le Caveau de l'Hauchette (the jazz club made famous from the ending scene in La La Land). It was incredible. We were almost transported back in time as we watched couples dance the night away.

DAY SIX//

All that walking caught up to me and the next day I was forced into relaxation mode. We made it a pretty low-key day, walking to Le Tour Montparnasse (the big, ugly skyscraper that they put smack dab in the middle of Paris) and a stroll through Luxembourg gardens. On my next trip to Paris (I'm going to speak about it as if it is soon in hopes that the dream will come true), I plan to spend a heck of a lot more time in Luxembourg gardens. The day we went it was chilly and I was starting to come down with a funky virus so I wasn't quite feeling 100%, which robbed us of some good time in the park. But I see it as another perfect excuse to plan another trip ASAP. We ended the night with an evening trip to the Eiffel Tower from the viewing spot on the Trocadero and it was beautiful. I felt like was in the movie Ratatouille (ha!). 

DAY SEVEN//

We spent our last full day in the city drinking coffee from Saint Pearl, buying clogs (FINALLY. All the heart eyes for those new little guys), and seeing all of our favorite sights one last time. We headed back to Montmartre to see the Sacré-Cœur in all it's glory and strolled through the beautiful parks that surround it. One of my favorite moments from the trip was our last lunch in Paris. It was nothing fancy- just some fish and chips from an Irish Pub, but we had a beautiful view of the city as we watched the students from the drama school put up a banner above their theater door right outside the window. I don't know why I loved those moments so much-they were nothing special. But something about it all just became so special in my mind.  We wrapped up our time in Paris with a quick jaunt on the Champs-Élysées. It was the perfect end to such a fun trip, spending time with all my people.