Paris & Giverny, France!

May was the perfect time to take this preggo to Paris-we are 22 weeks pregnant and off to the city of LOVE!  This trip we'd had enough with long drives, so we took the high speed train into Paris from the German/French boarder; it was fast and fun!

Here's how our trip panned out:

-Day 1-

After getting off the train we went to drop off our bags at our AirBnb.  We stayed in a great location Le Marais district.  It is often referred to as "Old Paris" with cobblestone streets winding through a network of hidden courtyards, art galleries, and boulangeries.

Check out our little AirBnb, and by little...I really mean tiny.  It was a great experience staying in an AirBnb the size of a storage unit, in fact, by the end of our four days in the little place we started to think "hey, this may actually be the buildings storage unit that they  converted into an apartment". If you've seen this picture I'm pretty sure you've seen the entire apartment.

This area definitely had a hipster vibe-lots of fashionable youth, Stan Smith tennis shoes, and local cafes to people watch.  After we dropped our bags off it was around lunch time, so we decided do to as the French do: people watch as we dined at a local cafe-and one of my favorites too! Don't we look ready to grub? 

Cafe Charlot is the place to go if you are looking for a great vibe, and a great burger.  The French may know how to make their fries, but they also know how to make a good burger!

 His: With Bacon

 Hers: A good ol' fashion cheese burger

After filling up on a really good lunch we topped it of with a small dessert.  This starts the macarons hunt we had on this trip...our goal was to find the best one in town.  Our first try was at Pierre Hermé- rose, chocolate and chocolate passion fruit.

We spent our first afternoon leisurely wondering our way towards Notre Dame, taking in the beautiful atmosphere, great cool weather, and the city of LOVE.

I love these views!

I think we look pretty good in the pictures too...

During this time of year, the gardens behind the Notre Dame Cathedral are spectacular.  Beautiful flowers and it's great park to find a bench in the shade and enjoy the view of this spectacular building

The Notre-Dame Cathedral is one of the most popular and well visited free attractions in Paris.  

It's history in a nutshell is that it is dedicated to "Our Lady", and Mary is center stage: cradling God right in the heart of the facade, surrounded by a halo of the rose window, Adam is on her left, and Eve is on her right. If you want to go inside, go early to avoid the crazy lines.

The buildings in Paris are beautiful, we walked around the Louvre grounds which are huge!  If you're going to store 35,000 works of art, you should have a large piece of property... I could sit in the courtyard all day and dream about how it was once a palace.  Since Jordan and I have both been inside (if you haven't, you should go! and plan on spending at least half a day inside) we decided to skip out this trip, and we went to one of our other favorite museums instead...read on...

The Louvre courtyard

Next stop, macaroon break at Ladureé- not our favorite ones, and while it was authentic, it is filled with tourists stopping in to get a pretty box of macarons.  I enjoyed a rose and Jordan a blackcurrant.

After going back to our shack and resting up we went for our first dinner at a really good Creperie called Crepe Avenue. They had so many Crepes to choose from and it was time to make some decisions.

For dinner we ordered galettes, which are crepes made of a buckwheat flour-they are a bit more savory.  We were totally satisfied and the service was really quick... I ordered L'Avenue (egg, ham and cheese), and Jordan had the Savoyarde (Raclette cheese, potatoes, bacon, fresh cream and nutmeg).  We were very happy with our choices.

And dessert was not to be missed since they have about 30 different dessert crepes! The best part about eating together is that we compromise, that way we both order different things and can share...and boy am I glad we did, because we had two really good choices that I am happy I didn't miss out on trying: Choco Loco (Banana and Nutella) and Poupoupidou (Caramelized Apples, Caramel, Vanilla ice cream and Speculoos).  

Jordan is excited to share with me:)

Seeing the romantic city of Paris by boat was on our "must-do" list this trip, so we took an evening cruise down the Seine river. The Bateaux Mouches river cruise is a great way to take in some of the many highlights of the city-The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Musée d'Orsay, Notre Dame etc all as you float down the river enjoying the open air and atmosphere.

That concluded our first day of Paris!  Tomorrow we were in for more adventure.

-Day 2-

We started off day 2 feelin' fly!

Our first stop was to breakfast.  Jordan is great finding really good food on TripAdvisor and we started off our morning with a great find close to the Musée d'Orsay called Eric Kayser Artisan Boulanger.  You will not leave this shop empty handed: there is a range of fabulous french cakes, pastries, breads and baguettes!

 The smell of fresh baked bread was so wonderful!

Our breakfast menu included: A custard and chocolate chip filled croissant- this was SOoO good!

Buttery flakey croissant.  I really don't know how the french do it, they seriously make the best croissant.  There's got to be some secret they put in them that only the French know, because they've mastered it.  Maybe it's the butter? This one melts in your mouth.

Last time Jordan was in Paris he and his family went on a search for the best madeline in Paris.  We had to try one in honor of his mom, but he still insists that the ones in the subway vending machine are better.  We tried this for you Florence, it was pretty good!

With full bellies we went to the Musée d'Orsay, our favorite museum in Paris.  We both like that the museum is smaller, and more manageable than the Louvre (really that stands for any museum, since the Louvre is the biggest out there).  By the third hour in a museum our brains are nearly reached their limits, and the only thing this preggo woman is capable of doing is notice where the nearest bench was so I rest my legs!  Hence the d'Orsay is a perfect museum because it has just the right amount of amazing artwork to see before your brain shuts off.

Here we are:

Another reason why we like the d'Orsay is that it used to be an old train station, and still even has the old station clock.

Not to mention, the museum has one of the richest Impressionist painting collections in the world- starting its collection with pieces from the 1860's to its continuing influence into the 20th century. Some of the works from our favorite artists are on display: Van Gough, Renoir, Degas, Manet, Cézanne and Monet.  Some of these famous paintings we are crossing off Jordan's list of "must-see" art.  Can you name the artists of these paintings?

And once your brain is fried being on the left bank of the Seine, the museum has gorgeous views of Paris!

 Lookin good Jordan!

After the museum we had lunch in the beautiful Jardin des Tuileries, enjoying ham and cheese crepes from a little local stand. 

We continued our search for another macaroon, and this one was the best one we think... Angelina was close by, so we had to go in!  They have beautiful dessert cakes, and delicate and scrumptious macarons.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking down the center of the busy Place Charles de Gaulle towards the Arc de Triomphe.  Being pregnant can be hard sometimes (not going to lie) we did have take a bench break or two.

The Arc de Triomphe is one of Paris' most distinctive historic landmarks.  This triumphal arch was envisioned as a dedication by Napoleon to his troops for their hard won victory at the battle of Austerlitz in 1809. Here it is in all its glory (I tried to ask everyone to move out of the picture, but they wouldn't budge):

After the long day of walking on our feet we washed up and got ready for dinner and some entertainment.  It's a bonus that Jordan likes French Onion Soup, because we were on the hunt for some that was exceptional.  We found it, along with great dinner at B.D.J. Cafe in La Marais district not far from where we were staying.  We would recommend this place to anyone who wants a true local French cafe experience-after all the same man has owned the restaurant for the last 20+ years.

Our appetizer was a delicious bowl of French Onion Soup: It was the best we've ever had!

For our dinner: Duck and the Sea Bass special (both wonderful!)

The Tarte Tatin was notable and so good, we each enjoyed our own piece: we couldn't share it...

We had a really fun evening after dinner, a show! The Moulin Rouge! It was very entertaining. The costumes were incredible.  Truly amazing acrobatic acts. Great entertainment, and a bit of ohh-la-la! It was super engaging, I felt like I was in a 70's show...waiting for Donnie and Marie to come out. We enjoyed the can-can, and the little ponies.

-Day 3-

Looking for a great day trip away from Paris? Our third day took us out of the city and into Giverny for a day trip to visit the home and gardens of famous impressionist artist Claude Monet.  We took the train to Vernon, and from there you can take the tourist bus up to the house and gardens.  

Waiting for the train...very excited!

Jordan and Monet, absolutely no resemblance. 

In 1883, Claude Monet and his wife (along with their Brady Bunch of 8 children) settled into a farmhouse here.  Monet was already a famous artist, so he had the finances to stay and work here. He would spend the next 40 years in Giverny, building his personal paradise complete with beautiful gardens, a famous lily pond, and painting studio.  It is worth a visit, especially to see the inspiration for the beautiful gardens that he painted.

The inside of some of our favorite rooms:

My favorite part were the gardens:

Love the flowers

The three of us:

The water lilies were starting to come out, very exciting!

Beautiful landscapes to paint:

We went for lunch after a wonderful half day living in Monet's paradise at Restaurant Creperie La Musardiere. It was delish!

Jordan had a mushroom chicken galette:

 I had a egg, ham and cheese galette!

We walked around Rue Claude Monet to find dessert...

Yep, Ice Cream!

Seriously charming, and seriously green! There were lots of artist galleries that we popped into, beautiful new age impressionism on the rise over here!

Our last stop was to visit where Monet was buried, and here it is:

When we made it back to Paris we spent the evening strolling the streets up to the Eiffel Tower.  It is such a big structure up close that it was hard to get the whole thing in our photos!

A seriously beautiful evening:

-Day 4-
Our trip comes to an end on day 4, so sad, but we did save room for a little more adventure before departing back to Germany.  First stop was for our last Eric Kayser breakfast:

 Seriously...How do you create something like this?!?

Our last walk through the Jardin des Tuileries, admiring all the statues; amazing, a statue that looks like me!

We saved seeing Sainte Chapelle chapel for a sunny day.  It is an amazing collection of the finest stained glass and the sunlight makes for a wonderful view!  The chapel was builded by Louis IX to house his personal collection of holy relics, including the famous Holy Crown (now in Notre Dame).

 Serious mosaic work here!

Before heading back on the train we went to Les Philosophes for a big lunch (since it was the last meal of the day in Paris for us). 

For starters:  French Onion Soup & Foie Gras 

For main meals: Duck and Chevre Chaud Salad with delicious prosciutto and cheese!

Dessert anyone? Yes please, we shared some Tarte Tatin with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream!

And just like that, our trip came to an end.  Very sad, I love Paris...but we'll be back! Pari Je T'aime!