I was nervous that Paris is overrated and crowded and sometimes I like mountains better than cities, but it ended up being a really really great weekend!
We took a train from Bonn Friday night. Paul's international data plan stopped working and we had a few moments of freaking out since we had no idea how to get to our hotel at 11 pm in a shady neighborhood of Paris. Luckily we figured it out with the sweet blessing of train wi-fi and arrived at our hotel safely.
Saturday we spent a lot of the day at the Palace of Versailles. It was opulent and nuts, and neat to see but we ended up feeling much more comfortable in the quiet gardens and little servant villages and farms that were out on the grounds. We walked 15,000 miles or so through the 17 acres and at the time I thought my feet would never be the same again, but it was WORTH IT.
I was just starting to get a tiny bump (19 weeks and 2 days pregnant here) and we thought these bushes looked kind of pregnant too.
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| HOGGIES! |
Saturday night we checked into our "Knight Bus" hotel (tall, skinny, and quirky), the Hotel Roubaix and rode the tiny, old fashioned elevator to our room. Then went to an amazing restaurant, L'ange 20, for our anniversary dinner. We didn't have reservations but luckily a reservation fell through and they let us in! We had stuffed King Prawns as an appetizer, then for the main dishes I had lamb that had been slow cooked for 24 hours and Paul had rabbit stuffed with chorizo. The sides were perfect. We shared pistachio creme brulee for dessert. I've never seen plates eaten that clean! Everything tasted so perfect.
After dinner we went down to see the Eiffel Tower. We arrived close to sunset and sat on the lawn and chatted for a while until we could watch the Tower lit up. Besides being asked if we wanted to buy champagne and souvenirs every couple minutes, it was the perfect chance to sit and reminisce on the past 6 years together.
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| (stinking strangers and their blurry picture taking skills! oh well! this restaurant had to be documented.) |
Sunday we walked from our hotel to "downtown" Paris to see the Louvre. We walked through the Touileres Gardens and staked out a spot there for the Women's race and then the Tour! We ended up with a great spot overlooking the Champs-Elysses. We borrowed the green chairs from the Gardens so we weren't standing all day. We took turns walking around the city (while one saved our spots), and bringing each other ice cream. It was no neat to see my high school/ward friend Tayler Wiles compete on cycling's biggest stage with her team Specialized-Lululemon. Watching the final stage of the men's race was great too! It was a really neat experience to be at something so iconic.
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| That's Tayler! Leading the Peloton!!) |
After the race we had some daylight left to see some other iconic sites in Paris. There were some stressful moments at Notre Dame with hunger, fatigue, and an urgent need for a restroom but we survived and checked out the gargoyles and loved walking along the Seine.
We ate dinner at a little restaurant on our walk back to the hotel. Paul got pizza and I got the worst risotto ever. It put me in a grumpy mood for the next hour or two until Paul convinced me that I couldn't let that be my last taste of Paris and we scouted out some gelato. :)
Monday morning we had a rainy walk to the train station then took a very early train back to Bonn and said au revoir to the city of love.
