PARIS!!!

This past weekend we had the awesome oppurtunity to go to Paris. Our friends,Kari and Josh, were on a European vacation, with a stop in Paris for a few days. We saw this as a perfect excuse to travel, see a new city and hang out with friends.

The whole weekend was amazing, with incredible food, long midnight walks,beautiful sites and just a great time hanging out with friends. I had to pinch myself multiple times to bring myself to the reality that I was actually in Paris, the City of Lights and Love.

Shane and I took the train down from Lille, which was an excellent experience. A smooth, nice quiet ride, arriving to Paris within an hour. It dropped us off a few blocks from our hotel and we were able to see our first sites of Paris. Our hotel was quite the budget lodging- bright yellow walls with painted green furniture. Yet, it was clean and we spent just enough time there to sleep and shower.

We met Kari and Josh at their hotel and then we hit the city! We walked in pouring rain to Notre Dame and realized we had arrived just in time for mass. Since none of us are Catholic, we decided to forego the massive line and come back another time. We also decided to buy cheap umbrellas to fight off the rain. Soon as those cheesy tourist umbrellas were in our hands, the rain stopped and we did not have a drop of wetness the rest of the weekend! From this point on, we wandered the back allies of Paris, taking in the sites and sounds of the beautiful city.

Our goal was to see the Eiffel Tower at night. It was so windy by the time we got there, we could not go to the very top. Instead, we split a bottle of wine in the park while gazing at its twinkling lites. This was proceeded by a breathtaking walk home of all the monuments lit up at night. Truly was romantic!

Saturday we had our first go at the Paris Metro and ended up at the Arc de Triumphe. Another magnificent piece of French history. The climb to the top led to a panoramic gorgeous view of the whole city. We trekked about the city the rest of the day, stopping at cafes along the way to people watch and enjoy French cuisine. Also, to my delight, multiple Starbucks' lined the streets. You can guarantee I was at one each day! Yum! That night, we had a delicious greek dinner in the Latin quarter and then shared some wine in the glow of Notre Dame. Wonderful.

By the time Sunday rolled around, we were all so exhausted, we hit up a creperie for breakfast, Starbucks for a final coffee and then said our goodbyes. I can vouch for all of us that our legs were tired and that we were not used to being up so late at night. We are getting old! It was a fantastic weekend!

To top it all off, when we got home, we realized we could get NFL games through the internet. So thats exactly what Shane and I did- rested our worn out bodies in front of the computer to catch the first games of the season. Love it!

The opera with Kari and Josh

Under the Eiffel Tower at Night- Magical

LOVE NUTELLA ON ANYTHING

Outside Notre Dame- it was COLD and windy

Arc de Triumphe

Defence Monument in background

On top of the Arc de Triumphe with Eiffel Tower in back and baby belly looking huge!

On the way to Notre Dame in the pouring rain