ok, so i had promised some pics from the second part of my eurotrip recently from when i went to paris. oh. my. gawd. no joke, i'd been trying to get to paris since i was probably 10 years old. i remember taking french one when i was in the eighth grade, and learning the most important question every person should have in their french arsenal: "où est la boulangerie?" which means, where's the bakery? asking this question means i'll find food, drinks and a restroom. see, this is "tres" important to know!
so Z and i took the thalys train to paris where we met my uncle melvin, who's been living in paris for the past 12 years. i felt very lucky to have a relative who lives there, and was willing to be our french tour guide! the first day we spent hitting up all the major french tourist spots, like the arc de triomphe, the eiffel tower, the champs-élysées . amazing!!
that night back at my uncle's place, he cooked us a traditional french winter meal with a raclette grill. at first i thought it was a panini pres, but upon closer inspection, saw that it was a grill on top and then little iron skillets on the bottom. we first started with an apéritif(or for us americans, basically a before-dinner drink), then enjoyed some smoked salmon with cream. then for our main course, he had cooked baked potatoes. to use the raclette, we grilled meats and mushrooms on the top, and used the little skillets to melt our cheese. you then put all of your ingredients on top of your potato and dug in. absolutely delish. i had two! and then we had salad, followed by dessert. we definitely slept very well that night.
the next day Z and i made our way to versailles. now Z had been to the palace before, and kept telling me how big the place was. but there was truly no way for him to really prepare me for how humongous this historical site would be. i couldn't believe that people had actually lived there! and i finally got to see the hall of mirrors, woo hoo! after touring the grounds, we stopped by the versailles restaurant and enjoyed a chocolate mousse dessert and some yummy hot chocolate.
that evening, we had dinner with my uncle and two of his friends, benoît and annie, who planned a late night drive around paris. seriously! we packed ourselves into benoît 's car, and drove from one site to another, including the eiffel tower, the louvre and notre dame. we probably made about 10 stops in 2 hours and got to see everything in lights. it was truly an experience that most people don't get to have in paris, and one i'll truly treasure.
one our last day in paris, Z and i had decided we wanted to spend one night roaming the city, so we got a hotel in montmartre. this area of paris is on a hill top (living in nyc, i'm used to climbing stairs and thought i might collapse going up that hill) and well known for housing both the sacré-coeur church and the moulin rouge (do the can-can!). this area really felt like being in paris, with its little buildings and cobblestone streets. if i ever get a hotel in paris again, i'm definitely staying in montmartre, which is also a quick train ride to the latin quarter (where tons of famous artists and writers used to hang out back in the day).
and somehow, we even found ourselves near the lover's bridge, and added a lock to the thousands that already adorn the bridge. and then following tradition, threw our key into the water.
overall, paris was a huge success, and i can't wait to be back. hopefully very soon. à bientôt paris!
