Oh Paris, you are such a lovely, wonderful city and I am already sad thinking about leaving you so soon. (Note to self: must start looking for school psych jobs in Paris). Well, you can probably deduce that our first day in Paris was great. Leah and I have adopted a very low-key, minimal plan type of attitude and this is a way better way to travel (for us at least). We have shifted towards more cultural activities and aimless wandering than trying to pack in all of the museums and tourist attractions that we can. Strict schedules = exhausted unhappy travelers whereas no schedules = enchanted satisfied travelers. So each day we pick one or two must dos and just see where the day takes us. We are liking this style much better.
We started off the day with a lovely brunch at a cafe near our hotel. I managed to cross one thing off of my "to-eat" list in this meal, a croque Madame. This is probably one of the most perfect brunch foods although I think the French would eat this anytime. It is a ham sandwich with gruyere cheese melted on top and a fried egg. Leah and I had both ordered one (don't want to have food envy) and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Even the basic salad was delicious with the dijon vinaigrette.
After brunch, we took the metro to the Marche aux Puces de Saint Ouen, a fairly popular flea market in Paris. This really is a hidden gem because it's in a not so nice neighborhood that we named Sketch City where people are constantly showing you knock off jewelry, bags, and probably stolen cell phones. However, if you stick with it and ignore them, you find the real flea market which is a treasure hunter's paradise. I kept saying "oh my mom would go nuts if she saw this" since thrift store treasure hunting is a favorite family pastime. We had the best time roaming through the market stalls and looking at antique porcelain, silver, books, prints, clothes, fabrics...so many things!!
Don't freak out mom
I'm so excited at this moment:
While some of the things were way out of our budget, we were both able to find some gems.
My finds: a soap dish, pitcher, and Limoges teacup and saucer - all for €22!!
Leah's favorite find - a black vintage fascinator hat
After the market, we decided to go to Sacre Coeur to get a good view of Paris before heading to the artists' square at Montmartre. Sacre Coeur is stunning itself but also provides a great view of the entire city.
Cold and rainy for a bit and caught with only one umbrella:
We didn't let the rain stop us though and it eventually let up so we continued to the square in Montmartre where artists are everywhere painting, selling, and drawing art right there on the spot.
It was extremely crowded but worth it as Leah and I both bought original artwork from the same artist.
I'm in love with this. It struck my eye immediately and I kept coming back to it so I decided I should get it!
He even wrote a little note:
After buying the art, we took a brief break for wine and a crepe. I have accepted the Crepe per Day challenge and I think I may win.
This is Van Gogh's brother's house, where he stayed during his time in Paris, which was very influential to his work.
So jealous of this old man right now. He is the cutest!
Our Montmartre tour ended with seeing the Moulin Rouge, which faintly resembles the original one you may think about from the famous movie but it's still worth seeing.
For dinner, we did not do anything special since neither of us were very hungry so we went next door to our hotel to a local bar. We met the nicest bartender/owner/chef who helped us with our French phrases. We have had great experiences with Parisian hospitality despite the stereotypes.
Small dinner of a tomato salad (Leah) and bread/cheese (me)
*Leah and I have decided that we would like to learn French so if anyone has a Rosetta Stone set they'd like to sell....:
Not to be all creepy and stalker-like, but I can get you the Rosetta Stone in French. My husband's cousin has all of them (not sure HOW, but...). She is actually going to send me a copy of German to give to my brother for his birthday. I can have her send me a copy of French and then forward it to you when I get it, if you'd like.
ReplyDelete