We started our journey with a week spent in Paris, stationed in an apartment in Saint Germain.  Paris, for me, was paradise.  Every street we walked down was more beautiful than the last and I was pretty much in a constant state of awe at the buildings, the restaurants, and the people.  Somehow, I’ve only been gone a week, and I’m already nostalgic.  Before our trip, several friends sent tips about all the things to do and eat in Paris, and we found them so helpful that I wanted to do the same for you.

Eat:

All of the things.  Just eat them all.  But most importantly, banana nutella crepes, jambon fromage paninis (the crepe stand just outside of the Invalides metro station has ones that I would kill for), croque monsieur sandwiches (delicious grilled ham and cheese sandwich, can you tell we ate bread?), ice cream from Berthillon, and anything from Eric Kayser boulangerie (my favorites were the sesame seed baguette and pain au raisin).  For our dinners, we always had good intentions of going to restaurants that were recommended to us, but we mostly just wandered into a brasserie that seemed to be crowded with locals.  You kind of have to work at it to have bad food.  Be adventurous and try things you haven’t before, because everything is good.  Do avoid places with pictures of the food on the menu.

Do:

Obvious musts include going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe.  Our Louvre visit was actually much more delightful than we expected because we downloaded the Rick Steves tour app which gave us a tour of the good stuff in about an hour and a half, just enough time to appreciate without getting tired.  We also really loved Musee d’Orsay, filled to the brim with Monet and Van Gogh and Renoir.  But our favorite part was wandering the city aimlessly, watching Parisians playing tennis in the Luxembourg Gardens or strolling the hills in Montmartre.  So be sure to leave plenty of time for getting lost.

Paris by night is like nowhere else; you can almost feel the electricity in the air.  I could have spent hours upon hours roaming.  Walking along the Seine and lounging in Champs de Mars, waiting for the Eiffel Tower to sparkle.  This last picture of Corey in the park is my absolute favorite because it makes me feel (just a little bit) like I am still there.