France
September 2015
PARIS
We landed in Paris pretty late so we took a cab to the apartment we were staying at (right near the Eiffel Tower- another AirBnB find!) and crashed. The next morning we woke up, walked to the Eiffel Tower just to see it, and then went to find something to eat. The first placed we picked sat us down but then left us waiting for about 20 minutes without taking our order so we left and went next door. We had an alright lunch and it cost like $60. Pretty disappointing first meal in Paris (but don't worry, it got much better).
We walked along the river down towards where I had left a lock for us back when I was in Paris in April, but it was gone. We found the spot (using pictures I took in April), but no lock. I guess we kind of expected it but we were still bummed.
Then we found Kristen and Meg! I had been texting with them and knew the general area where they were but we literally just randomly found each other right near Notre Dame.
It was so nice to see some familiar faces. Even though we were just with Dennis' family a few weeks before, we knew it would be awhile until we saw family or friends again. We walked around the Isle Saint-Louis and got some ice cream at Berthillion. Then it started to rain so we walked back towards the Eiffel Tower where we parted for a bit. The rain eventually let up so Dennis and I got some wine and sat by the Tower while we waited to meet up with the girls for dinner.
We met K&M at Café Constant for dinner (I went there with my mom in April) and it was so yummy. The food was great and so was the wine- we drank quite a bit. After dinner we got some Hoegaarden Rosé (who knew that was a thing?) and went to the Eiffel Tower to see the sparkly lights. It was beautiful and at this point we were all pretty silly. K&M came back to our apartment where we played Heads Up! and drank more rosé. It was a perfect first night in Paris.
The next day Dennis and I woke up early (early-ish) and went to Père Lachaise to see Jim Morrison's grave. After Dennis paid his respects we walked around the cemetery for a bit. It was so beautiful and felt like fall in New England, which I had been missing a lot.
After a few hours at Pere Lachaise, we made our way to Place Denfert-Rochereau to check out the Catacombs of Paris. This underground cemetery is made up of miles and miles of tunnels and holds the remains of about 6 million people. It was pretty eerie... and pretty awesome. Tourists are only allowed to explore about 2 km of tunnels but that was enough underground creepiness for me, anyways.
After the catacombs we got more wine and met K&M back at the Eiffel Tower. We drank the wine and chit-chatted for a bit then went to dinner at Les Crocs de L'Ogre. Dinner was great, and then Meg bought us all a cigar and we hung out in the cigar room for a bit. Bought more Hoegaarden Rose, went back to the Eiffel Tower, and watched the sparkly lights some more. It was lovely. We had so much fun with the Rollins ladies, I hated saying good-bye.
The next morning Dennis and I dropped our stuff in lockers at a train station and went to the Arc De Triomphe. The line was incredibly short so we walked up A LOT of stairs to the top where we were greeted by a magnificent view of the city.
And of course we went to Lauduree.
Before we headed to the airport we ate our favorite meal in Paris at a restaurant called Le Paris Montparnasse. We had escargot and onion soup to start and then I had a great salad while Dennis ate super yummy lamb chops.
Then we grabbed our bags and headed to the airport. Next up, Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest!