KATIE COMES TO PARIS PART II AND III

Katie and Natalie take Paris: days two and three.  

After enough calls that they became my number one contact, we decided to start our morning off with a trek to Breizh, in pursuit of a dinner reservation.  We walked too fast and got there before they opened, so we had a wander around the Marais.  It's the place to go for great doors.  

Remnants of Valentine's Day in Paris

Quick stop in the bird and flower market on the Île Saint Louis: one of the more unique markets in Paris.

The love locks bridge

N for Natalie!  (and Napoléon)

Check out that blue sky!

A darn big painting by Jacques Louis David

And some selfies with Mona

Up to Rue des Martyrs, to recharge with the best coffees in Paris, and camp out on the sidewalk with some fellow Parisians.

After a dinner of crêpes at Breizh, we decided to go on a quick walk-those crêpes take some digesting.  Our walk ended up going a smidge longer than anticipated, but (an hour and fifteen minutes later) we made it to the Eiffel tower just as it started to glitter!

After 7.5 hours of walking on day two, we were dragging a bit this morning.  The fact that, when we finally arrived, the modern art museum was closed did not help matters.  But we got ourselves some chocolate and headed off for Pompidou.  Unfortunately, the labyrinth that is Les Halles sucked us in, and we got a touch lost.  Made our way out, got to Pompidou, saw some great art, took some sub-par photos, got some more chocolate, and were off to Merci.  It's a good thing we have no money, because if we did, we would have bought everything in this place.  Red car included.  

After six hours of walking, it was once again time to recharge with some hot chocolate.  This time at Café de Flore. 

 They must have oompa loompas or Polar Express chocolatiers back there, because this stuff is magic.  Best part is, you get little chunks of chocolate every once in a while.  Other best part: each pitcher fills your cup up four times, so lots of choc, and lots of great people watching.

The perfect end to the perfect weekend in Paris! (for which we had uncharacteristically perfect weather)

We came, we saw, we conquered.

KATIE COMES TO PARIS PART I

Day one in Paris off to a good, and busy start!  Katie's in from Rome, and we have lots of sights to see, and hot chocolate to drink!  We started off at the market down the hill, picked up a chocolate-almond croissant for the non-g-free among us, and got our picture taken in front of this great purple door.

Then headed off to Beurre & Oeuff, a store that sells old books and postcards and boxes and things in the 15th.  

From there, we trekked over to the Eiffel Tower.

Where we tried to wrangle our hair into a few selfies.  The wind won this battle.

Thank goodness for friendly italian tourists.

Off to the Orsay, for one of the best views of Paris!

The view alone probably justifies eating in the restaurant up here.

Five hours of walking later, it was time for hot chocolates.  (It should be noted, on our way over we also stopped in Deyrolle, and the oldest church in Paris, Saint Germain des Prés) We headed over to Une Dimanche à Paris, for what must have been chocolate bars melted straight into our cups.  It was all kinds of delicious.

Demonstrating proper hot chocolate-pouring technique, as learned at the Musée du Chocolat (elbows in!)

Day two, here we come!