Best of Paris

What a week! I arrived in Paris last Sunday for a 4-day workshop and then Jason joined me on Thursday for a long weekend of intense sightseeing.

We strolled along the Champs Elysees (forgive me for not adding all the accent marks here ...) and The Seine, saw the Arc de Triomphe and Tour Eiffel at night, toured the Musee d'Orsay, visited Monet's Water Lillies at the Musee de l'Ongerie, saw The Thinker at the Jardin Rodin, marveled at the stained glass in Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame, and checked out the view from Sacre Coeur.

Sounds like a lot, right? It was, but in between all that, we also had a lot of time to just relax and experience life in Paris. We walked around the different neighborhoods, took the Metro, saw the city in lights, sat in cafes and watched the people go by ... it was wonderful.

We learned a few key phrases from my mom before the trip and felt like that saved us from acting like total Americans (we couldn't believe how many people we sat next to at cafes who didn't even attempt a basic "Bonjour" or "Merci ... come on, man!). My favorite phrase of the trip was definitely "eau du robinet, s'il vous plait" (tap water, please) ... it earned smiles from a few French waiters who seemed to appreciate the effort. In general, communicating in Paris was much easier than I thought it would be and people were pretty friendly and helpful.

We had hoped to take a day trip to Versailles, but ran into logistical problems with the Paris Marathon and train station closures. So that means we'll have to come back! There's still plenty to see and do, cafes we need to visit, and macarons we need to eat. Au revoir, Paris!

Selfie at the Arc de Triomphe

Tour Eiffel. These 2 fraidy cats only made it up to the second level, but still, it was quite the view!

Feeling French in my new scarf :) Purchased in Montmartre after climbing the hill to Sacre Cooeur

A flower shop and motorcycles ... this corner felt very French

We took this picture for Molly ... a fancy chocolate shop that specialized in ducks :)

Impressive-looking clock at the Musee d'Orsay. We saw a really cool exhibit here: Beyond the Stars. The Mystical Landscape from Monet to Kandinsky

Surrounded by Water Lillies ... hard to pick a favorite, they were all so beautiful