4 Country Sisters: Europe adventures

When we first arrived in Paris I felt it was a little lackluster honestly. I'd built it up in my head so much and I imagined it would be like all the old movies. Well, it was too loud, too crowded, kind of dirty and everything smelled like cigarette smoke. I wasn't impressed. But as the days wore on the city won me over. I completely fell in love with it and all of it's quirks. The food in Paris alone will win you over. I've never eaten that much bread in my whole life! They service it with every meal and it's so delicious every time! Like the best bread ever! There are cafe's on every corner and sometimes you literally have streets completely filled with cafe's. For a foodie such as myself, I was in heaven! Being in such a cramped city, you would think that the foods freshness would be subpar but it was so fresh and the best food I've ever tasted! Everything was cooked to perfection and it really is an art form there. My favorite things to eat there were Duck (seriously they know how to cook it!), French Onion soup or as they call it "soupe aux oignons" (I might have had this once a day), and the croissants! I now know why they are known for these. They are airy, buttery, heaven! I ate 2-3 a day....no seriously! So worth it!!! I actually wish I would have eaten more in fact. I could keep writing about the food but lets not focus entirely on that.

Paris is not only know for it's food, it's also known for it's art, architecture and Joie de vivre which means "joy in living". And that is something the French are wonderful at. Living with Joy!

Some people say that the French can be snobs or that they are rude but Shawn and I found the French to be charming, helpful and amusing. We kind of liked them and get this...they liked us to! We were invited to "hangout" with a few of them. Given recommendations by others and we had lovely, long conversations with yet more. They are delightful.

I know a very little of French and Shawn knows even less but I was very proud of the fact that I was able to speak, order and request things in French without much issue. I was even told by two people that my pronunciation was perfect (yes I was very proud).

When we arrive in Paris the train station was old and slightly damp smelling but it was still cool.

We has lunch in a café by the Louvre and loved seeing all the sights

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My handsome man!

Finally arrived in our flat. It was so cute.

Our first view of the Eiffel Tower

Shawn and I walked 11-14 miles a day and earned every meal! My feet would feel like they are about to fall off once we returned to our flat at night. We walked almost 10miles in the Louvre alone and at one point my legs were so sore from walking on the flat marble floors that Shawn sat me down on a bench amongst the most beautiful art in the world and gave me a leg massage that was pure perfection! I didn't care that some people stared or that a few even took pictures of this "odd, likely American" moment. It was the best massage of my life!

Overall the Louvre was amazing! Some of the art was questionable but for the most part it was incredible. The pic on the right is in once of the statue gardens and they were likely my favorite part of the Louvre.

Cappuccino's in Paris were extra special.

We went to Versailles and it was one of my favorite places. The main castle was impressive and HUGE but it was Marie Antoinette's mini chaetae that was by far my favorite! The grounds around it were glorious and you can just imagine Marie and her ladies taking strolls through the vast meadows and walkways with sheep grazing in the background.

I wanted to move in right away! Darn French government property!

The Arc de Triomphe was one of our favorites. It had such amazing views and ooh boy do they have spiral stairs! It you get dizzy easy this is not one for you but after a quick workout you get a 360 view of Paris. Worth the dizzies!

Yes we look like tourist!

Pano of Paris.

If we weren't walking we were riding. Paris has one of the best bike share programs I've ever seen and we biked close to half of our stay! Easiest was to the Eiffel Tower!

We toured the Catacombs and it was "interesting". Don't get me wrong, it was cool, creepy and very thought provoking but Shawn and I still haven't figured out exactly how this place made us feel.

The Eiffel Tower! It was super amazing

I love the details of this structure! Every line is in perfect uniformity. Every bold is aligned and ever curve is at the perfect angle. Monsieur Eiffel knew what he was doing. It made us OCD's happy!