Paris, France : Travel Part 1

The routine is the same every time we travel: Nathan pulls out the suitcase, opens it up, Huck jumps in. He stares at me like this the whole time while I fill up the empty gaps around him… It’s not so much a Don’t go! look as it is a Please take me with you! which is almost even more heartbreaking. I don’t care how cool the location is that we’re going to, I always hate leaving my little man. Pathetic, I know, but just look at that face!

“Paris, First Class, International.” – View from the Top

What Paris looks like from a cab window:

Nate grabbed this one from the car and for the life of me, I can’t figure out what I’m looking at. Love it, regardless. :)

We were lucky enough to meet up with Lorie and Jon on this trip! Lorie and I planned for us to rent an apartment while we were there together, and found a swoon-worthy flat just down the street from the Arc de Triomphe. Well, Lorie and Jon got in town a day before us and headed to the apartment, only to find it flooded! We had to be relocated to a smaller two bedroom place in the Montmartre district (where Amelie was filmed!). After a confusing few hours, we were all finally united at our home for the next 4 days! The photo on the left is of Lorie in front of “Le Petit-Vietnam.” (She’s 1/2 Vietnamese.)

My favorite thing about walking around Montmartre was seeing all the artists at work on the streets. :)

Our first stop was to see the Sacre Coeur, which was just a few miles up the road from where we were staying. And I do mean UP the road! I pretty much thought I was gonna die hiking up these cobblestone roads that put San Francisco hills to shame, but we were there before I knew it. And if nothing else, the walk down to home was that much more enjoyable! :)

*Happy sigh.*

Our nightly ritual. :)

Oh, come-on, you’d buy em, too! ;)

I always think groups of kids are cute, but seriously… There’s something ridiculously adorable about hearing kids talking, yelling, and giggling in French. (Yes, I’m convinced even their giggles are different over there!)

THE MOST AMAZING part of our trip was eating in this restaurant- Dans Le Noir. Seeing as that translates to In the Dark in English, I’m sure you can guess what that meant- We ate in the dark! It was so much more of an experience than that, though… When we checked in for our table, they had us lock up all loose bags and anything that emitted light (watches, cell phones, etc.) Then our waiter came out to meet us- Sorry… Our blind waiter. No- Really. He had us put our hands on each other’s shoulders and led us through the pitch black restaurant, helping each of us find our seats. When we sat down we kinda felt around and tried to get acclimated- Felt for our silverware, glasses, and such. Our waiter then brought us a pitcher of water and explained to us how to fill up our cups- We held one finger over the edge and into our glass and poured until it touched our finger.

The coolest thing about the experience is that they don’t tell you what you’ll be eating. This is typically a terrifying thought for someone as picky an eater as me, but it was amazing. Absolutely amazing. I couldn’t believe how heightened my other senses became so quickly. All four of us had individual  moments of claustrophobia at different times (seriously, there’s something just plain disorienting about not being able to see your hand .5″ from your face!) The whole experience was amazing, and I’ll absolutely be visiting their other locations whenever I’m in town. It was the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced. And the way the waiters just know their ways around- Amazing. Anyway. If you ever get a chance to go, do it. You won’t regret it!

Since the restaurant is well, in the dark, this is the one photo we have from the lobby. :)

Whew! We spent the next day in Disneyland Paris (those photos to come next week!), and then it was Thanksgiving! Lorie, Jon, Nate, and I started the day at Versailles.

So, I’d been to Versailles once when I was 16. I was expecting to come in and walk the halls and see amazing locations like this…

… And this…

… But nothing could have prepared me for THIS!

And I dunno, man. I can appreciate art, and would have loved some of American Jeff Koons’ work if I’d seen it elsewhere (or even known it was gonna be there), but I couldn’t help but have this Wtf, mate?! moment going through the palace. It kinda disappointed me. Looking back, I get a kick out of it, but it was completely and utterly unexpected. Which, I suppose is what Mr. Koons was going for, hanging an inflatable lobster in Versailles! (And yes, that’s Michael Jackson and Bubbles the monkey below.)

We did our best to take a ‘mirror shot’ in the huge inflatable balloon hanging in the Hall of Mirrors.

We then headed outside and made some friends:

Bahahaha. :)

Remember how I mentioned that it was Thanksgiving?! When we all finally made it back to our apartment late that night, we put together the ultimate Thanksgiving Day feast: Big Macs, Wheat Thins, canolis, Nutter Butters, and mashed potatoes? Oh! And wine, of course! Anyway, I kid you not, this was the best Thanksgiving I’ve ever had. Ever. :) We even pulled up You Tube on our laptop and watched clips from Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from earlier in the day. Only one thing was missing…

… Waffle s’mores!!!!!!!!!!

Some jowling love (never heard of it? Google it!) ;)

Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaavorite! <3

From there on, it was just me and Nate left alone to explore! We headed to their Museum of Modern Art, where my favorite thing about it was the view from the top floor of the building.

Chim chim-in-ey, chim chim-in-ey, Chim chim cher-ee! A sweep is as lucky, as lucky can be!

I love how blunt this sign is. No sugar coating going on here! ;)

Yep.

Let’s take a closer look at the detailing on that gown, shall we, brides?

I love my blank ?@$#! face on the right. Pretty much exactly how I felt the whole time we were there! (No offense to you modern art types! I was just out of my element!)

I mean… Really.

On that note, come back tomorrow for part two! <3