What can I say... The macaroons changed my life! :)
So, outfits carefully planned and packed, we set off on Friday morning and a short little plane ride later, we were there. Europe is amazing like that! ha ha
After taking the 'scenic route' we found our hotel, which was so typically French. A little pricey, old, and small. No, really, the entrance was just a doorway in between two shops... if it wasn't for the small sign I would probably not have seen it. Okay, it wasn't that small, more, well, vertical. A narrow, steep staircase and we were on the top floor. And yes, we did race each other up it every night.
A quick bag drop off and we were off to the Louvre, which was quite close to where we were staying, which is huge, so we needed to prioritize artifact-seeing. My main priority being the Mona Lisa, but there were some other nice pictures too! (Insert cheeky grinning face here).
After that we met up with Frenchie, aka Charlotte (A REAL French Girl) who walked around with us and then took us to a lovely little typically French restaurant for some Quiche and wine. My kind of meal! Plus, there were tea pots in the window, so I felt right at home.
The next morning we were up, dressed and eating breakfast by 8am, (not even I recognised this Early Rising Couple we had morphed in to, but there was a lot to see and not much time!!!!) and off we went to... The Eiffel Tower. Mind blowing, really. One minute you're walking along, the next there is this thing in the distance and by the time you've convinced yourself that yes, that is, in fact, It, boom, you're standing underneath it. The queue was redonkulous, even that early, so we took the short-queue-option (aka the Stairs Only queue). A short wait later, we were on our way up the (approx.) 704 steps to the second level. Man, oh man... the view... look at me, speechless AGAIN!
(Pause for sip of tea... aaaah)
Then it was a slush puppy as we sat gazing at where we had just been, and off to Arc de Triomphe followed by a little meander down Champs Elysees. Charlotte met us there and took me to heaven. By heaven, I mean Laduree. It's been around since 1862, which the decor more than mildly represents, and they make The Best Macaroons In Paris.
(Pause for another sip of tea, bigger sigh as taste buds tingle in memory).
We then did the only thing one can do after a taste explosion like that, lay on the grass at Invalides. F promptly dosed off while Charlotte and I gazed at the funny French people playing hockey on rollerblades and throwing an American football.
Saturday night we went for a quick photo in front of Montmarte, a traipse through the 'seedier' Sex Shop Section of Paris (sorry, I mean 'Love Shop') before... Moulin Rouge!
The most wonderful array of sequins and feathers I have ever seen! Nimble dancers shimmying, shaking and shimmering. Wonderful! Plus there was the girl that swam with pythons...
Sunday, up early again, we went to see Notre Dame with it's ridiculously long queues (took me a while to realize that it was Sunday, therefore Mass, therefore Very Busy), put a lock on the Lovers' Bridge, and took a boat cruise around Paris to see the bits we may have missed in between, before we headed off to Versailles where we lay on the magnificent lawns sipping wine, eating pizza, and reading Madame Bovary. Well, I read, F slept a little, and then I slept too. The weather was amazing, and the sun just japped out all our resistance...
Charlotte made us a wonderful little pasta for dinner and then we headed home for an early night before our early flight back to Munich.
(Pause to drain the last bits of tea from tea cup, biggest sigh, I am a lucky lucky girl).
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