Before I start this particular blog, I must mention that Matt and I do realize how very, very lucky we are. This whole European experience has been so wonderful in so many ways - we absolutely love living together, Amsterdam has become one of our favorite cities, we are seeing so much and really, truly experiencing this time to the fullest, and it's also really great that we can share our experiences with our families and friends, be it through this blog, pictures, hosting guests or going on trips with them. That being said, it's now time to brag about our Easter in Paris :-)
Matt has been to Paris a handful of times, mostly for work. I, on the otherhand, had only spent a total of 4 hours there when we took a too-short pit stop there on our way back to Amsterdam from Normandy last Spring. I fell in love with the city then, and love it even more now.
We literally found out that we had Good Friday and the following Monday off just a week before. Back in Baltimore, we didn't get any time off. So it seemed as good a time as any to shoot off to Paris for the weekend. We took the fast train on Friday at 1pm, and arrived in Paris just after 5. The weather was perfect! We cabbed it over to our hotel in the Latin Quarter, dropped our bags then went out for a stroll. We walked over to Notre Dame, then to the Old Island and awed at the views over the Seine. We stopped at a cafe for some wine, then walked off to another cafe for some more wine, before heading to the restaurant recommended by the lady at our hotel for our 9pm reservations.
I'll just say this one thing about the food in Paris, and then I will leave it alone. We are now not at all curious about why the French say "uoohoohuhoohhouuu" all the time. The food...just spectacular. Everything, everywhere we ate was sublime.
After dinner, we rolled our way back to the hotel. The next morning, we woke up early (7am - way too early for vacation time) and got ready to go to the Louvre. We stopped by the Boulangerie/Patisserie across the street for some delectable crossaints and espressos (all coffee in Paris is espresso). After a rather long walk, we arrived at the Louvre, only to find it completely empty. Walking through the doors to the square and finding this incredibly majestic empty space was breathtaking. It's something we'll remember for the rest of our lives. And we have the pictures to prove it!
We arrived about 40 minutes before the Louvre opened, and there was already a line. We knew that Easter weekend would be a bit crazy, so Matt's plan to get there early was clutch. The Louvre is enormous, and we spent about 3 hours there. Probably the highlight of the Louvre is the Mona Lisa. It was behind glass, which kind of ruined it for us, but it's amazing how small it actually is. And yes, her eyes do follow you around. I tried it :-)
After the Louvre, we walked the gardens to the Champs-Elysses, where we had lunch and wine al fresco. We then walked around the insanely busy streets and did some shopping. We ended at the Arc de Triomphe, and the line was, as aspected, retarded, so decided not to go up to the top, which was fine by us. We then made our way back to the hotel, passing the Military Museum and the Eiffel Tower along the way. We figure we must have walked about 20k that day.
That evening, we had hoped to meet up with Matt's friend Mattheu to go to a rap-jazz concert. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to get tickets, and Mattheu got so drunk that he couldn't even answer his phone when we tried to reach him. Instead, we had dinner at a bistro nearby and stayed out for some beers (which are quite overpriced compared to Amsterdam).
The next day was Easter Sunday, and was fantastic because the weather was great, and we had nothing that we had to do, since we did pretty much everything the day before. The only thing on the schedule was having a coffee/croissant breakfast, strolling around, eating chocolates and going to the Eiffel Tower. Before we arrived at the Eiffel tower, we decided it would be fun to take the boatbus around. I love boats, and it's such a nice perspective to see the architecture. We hopped on and did the entire 2 hour loop, and got off at the Eiffel tower stop. We stopped at a cafe for some Nicoise salads and wine, then walked over to the tower. We decided not to wait on the line to go to the top, it was enough just to see it. It's really such a beautiful structure. And to think that it was created to be only temporary!
We laid around on the grass, looking up at the Eiffel tower, eating chocolates and people-watching. By far, the best Easter ever. You just can't beat that.
We then made our way back to the hotel, showered and got changed to go to dinner. We thought maybe we would go back to the Eiffel tower to go up to the top and catch the views at night, with the city lit up, but decided against it. Instead, we went out for another eating fest in a busy square in the Latin Quarter. But not before Matt entered into a 45 min "politiking" session with the guy behind the desk at our hotel.
On Monday, we did some more exploring around the Latin Quarter, walked along the Seine and sat on the banks, picking out which apartments we would want to live in. We walked along the Botanical gardens and ate ice cream, then grabbed sandwiches to take on the train with us. At 2, we went back to the hotel to get our luggage and then took the metro to the train station.
On the train back, we met another American that is on assignment in Amsterdam. It's good to know that Americans are traveling and taking opportunities like this. Matt and I have met more people since we arrived in Amsterdam than we have since our college days.
So Paris comes recommended. And don't let the French people scare you. Everyone we met was friendly and helpful, and Matt and I went in there presumptious enough not to know much more of the language other than "bonjour" and "merci". Just imagine if it was the other way around: Americans would also be pretty angry if a Frenchy came into a restaurant and didn't know how to speak English.
Au revoir!
Matt has been to Paris a handful of times, mostly for work. I, on the otherhand, had only spent a total of 4 hours there when we took a too-short pit stop there on our way back to Amsterdam from Normandy last Spring. I fell in love with the city then, and love it even more now.
We literally found out that we had Good Friday and the following Monday off just a week before. Back in Baltimore, we didn't get any time off. So it seemed as good a time as any to shoot off to Paris for the weekend. We took the fast train on Friday at 1pm, and arrived in Paris just after 5. The weather was perfect! We cabbed it over to our hotel in the Latin Quarter, dropped our bags then went out for a stroll. We walked over to Notre Dame, then to the Old Island and awed at the views over the Seine. We stopped at a cafe for some wine, then walked off to another cafe for some more wine, before heading to the restaurant recommended by the lady at our hotel for our 9pm reservations.
I'll just say this one thing about the food in Paris, and then I will leave it alone. We are now not at all curious about why the French say "uoohoohuhoohhouuu" all the time. The food...just spectacular. Everything, everywhere we ate was sublime.
After dinner, we rolled our way back to the hotel. The next morning, we woke up early (7am - way too early for vacation time) and got ready to go to the Louvre. We stopped by the Boulangerie/Patisserie across the street for some delectable crossaints and espressos (all coffee in Paris is espresso). After a rather long walk, we arrived at the Louvre, only to find it completely empty. Walking through the doors to the square and finding this incredibly majestic empty space was breathtaking. It's something we'll remember for the rest of our lives. And we have the pictures to prove it!
We arrived about 40 minutes before the Louvre opened, and there was already a line. We knew that Easter weekend would be a bit crazy, so Matt's plan to get there early was clutch. The Louvre is enormous, and we spent about 3 hours there. Probably the highlight of the Louvre is the Mona Lisa. It was behind glass, which kind of ruined it for us, but it's amazing how small it actually is. And yes, her eyes do follow you around. I tried it :-)
After the Louvre, we walked the gardens to the Champs-Elysses, where we had lunch and wine al fresco. We then walked around the insanely busy streets and did some shopping. We ended at the Arc de Triomphe, and the line was, as aspected, retarded, so decided not to go up to the top, which was fine by us. We then made our way back to the hotel, passing the Military Museum and the Eiffel Tower along the way. We figure we must have walked about 20k that day.
That evening, we had hoped to meet up with Matt's friend Mattheu to go to a rap-jazz concert. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to get tickets, and Mattheu got so drunk that he couldn't even answer his phone when we tried to reach him. Instead, we had dinner at a bistro nearby and stayed out for some beers (which are quite overpriced compared to Amsterdam).
The next day was Easter Sunday, and was fantastic because the weather was great, and we had nothing that we had to do, since we did pretty much everything the day before. The only thing on the schedule was having a coffee/croissant breakfast, strolling around, eating chocolates and going to the Eiffel Tower. Before we arrived at the Eiffel tower, we decided it would be fun to take the boatbus around. I love boats, and it's such a nice perspective to see the architecture. We hopped on and did the entire 2 hour loop, and got off at the Eiffel tower stop. We stopped at a cafe for some Nicoise salads and wine, then walked over to the tower. We decided not to wait on the line to go to the top, it was enough just to see it. It's really such a beautiful structure. And to think that it was created to be only temporary!
We laid around on the grass, looking up at the Eiffel tower, eating chocolates and people-watching. By far, the best Easter ever. You just can't beat that.
We then made our way back to the hotel, showered and got changed to go to dinner. We thought maybe we would go back to the Eiffel tower to go up to the top and catch the views at night, with the city lit up, but decided against it. Instead, we went out for another eating fest in a busy square in the Latin Quarter. But not before Matt entered into a 45 min "politiking" session with the guy behind the desk at our hotel.
On Monday, we did some more exploring around the Latin Quarter, walked along the Seine and sat on the banks, picking out which apartments we would want to live in. We walked along the Botanical gardens and ate ice cream, then grabbed sandwiches to take on the train with us. At 2, we went back to the hotel to get our luggage and then took the metro to the train station.
On the train back, we met another American that is on assignment in Amsterdam. It's good to know that Americans are traveling and taking opportunities like this. Matt and I have met more people since we arrived in Amsterdam than we have since our college days.
So Paris comes recommended. And don't let the French people scare you. Everyone we met was friendly and helpful, and Matt and I went in there presumptious enough not to know much more of the language other than "bonjour" and "merci". Just imagine if it was the other way around: Americans would also be pretty angry if a Frenchy came into a restaurant and didn't know how to speak English.
Au revoir!
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