A quick 3 hours later, and we were on the streets of Paris. It was just about getting dark that evening, so we figured it would be the perfect time to hop on a river cruise and give Maggie a nice introduction to the city. After the tour, which I always enjoy (that view of the back of Notre Dame at night is to die for), we headed to dinner. I had made a reservation the week prior for Le Bistrot des Comperes in the Marais. And as any diligent travel guide would do, I had the address marked on my map. So we found the address and a restaurant in that spot, but the name of the restaurant had completely changed as well as the menu! I did a quick double-take around the street with a befuddled look on my face, but decided I should just go inside and ask. They did in fact still have my reservation, but apparently the ownership of the restaurant had changed, along with the name (now Chez Mademoiselle) and the menu. The place still looked great, so we sat down. And boy am I glad we did! We had an incredible meal, definitely the best of the trip. Why didn't I remember to take pictures? Although my salmon was fantastic, the stars of the show were the sides of mashed lima beans and potatoes. So. Good.
On Wednesday, we woke up ready to take in many of the traditional sights of the city. First up, Notre Dame.
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| Walking over Pont Marie to get to Notre Dame. |
Next up, the Musee D'Orsay, gotta love those impressionists, and the impressive building that houses them.
After that, it was on to the Eiffel Tower, we didn't go up, just basked in its hugeness from below.
Following our trip to the Eiff (we're on a nickname basis), we went to the Champs Elysees. At this point, I left the ladies for an hour or so to meet up with my friend Kerri. Kerri and I were friends back in my Aix days, and I haven't seen her in 5 years! It was so wonderful to catch up and hear about all of the exciting things happening in her life. While I was with Kerri, plenty of shopping was done on the Champs.
In the evening, we headed up to Montmartre, for the best view in the city. Sacre Coeur is definitely one of my favorite spots in Paris, so it was great to get to see this stunning basilica again.
That night we ate in Montmartre, another great meal, where they even gave us some candy since it was Halloween. I think we maybe saw 10 total people dressed up that day; I was surprised more people weren't out and about in full costume.
The next morning we hopped the train back to Eindhoven. It was a whirlwind of a trip to France, but I think we did the best we could for such a short amount of time. Arriving at nearly the same time as us into Eindhoven, was our friend Ross. He lives in Prague and we had been trying to figure out a weekend for him to come and visit for awhile. We spent the afternoon all together, and then Angie and Maggie headed up to Amsterdam for the weekend. Ross, Todd, and I stayed back in Eindhoven to chill, reminisce, and talk about life.
One of the highlights of the weekend was a Halloween party our friend Sam's haunted apartment. We had no clue what to dress up as, so we found a very bootleg looking Halloween store in town. Stuff was literally just stacked and piled everywhere, not a whole lot of organization going on there. But we did manage to pull together 3 costumes.
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| The mustache is clearly necessary to pulling off this look. |
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| Black widow, ??? with a mask, and Grumpy Cat |
It was nice to spend time with Ross again. Ross and Todd have been friends since they were kids, and I think it's great they've been able to maintain their friendship over the years. Thanks for coming over to see us!
On Sunday, we went up to Amsterdam to join Angie and Maggie for a last dinner before their flight out on Monday. It was sad to say good-bye, but I'm very glad they were able to come out to visit. Thanks for making the trek across the ocean!
As usual...love your posts! And you are rocking that green coat! Haven't seen it, but maybe I recognize it from Zara? Love the color!!! :)
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