Amidst all the heartache and horror of Friday the 13th, I couldn’t help thinking back to our little trip there during the hazy, dog days of August. I swore to Sunny that I wouldn’t stomp and storm from monument to museum as I usually do, that instead we’d stroll and sit and savour the last few days of summer. And that’s exactly what we did! We left the camera, the map and the guide in our hotel room and snapped the little Parisian moments using Instagram.
The beautiful sandy columns of the Palais Royal.
We stayed in the Maxim Folies boutique hotel in the 9th. Tucked down a quiet street with a Velib bike rack right outside and a few steps from some lovely bars and restaurants.
Lounging in the shade in the Tuileries.
Hey sister, soul sister… better get that dough, sister!
L’Artisan Burger, mingled amongst the shops and restaurants of Les Halles, was a stumbled upon surprise 🙂 (…Those chips were lush!)
We limited ourselves to *one* museum/gallery and decided that it had to be the Louvre. We did our homework though and dodged the queues by entering through the Porte de Lyon, and scrubbed Jaconde (The Mona Lisa) off the list first. We didn’t see everything, but in 5 hours made a pretty decent dent.
The original selfie…
For breakfast one morning we climbed to the roof terrace of Printemps department store for a beautiful (and free!) view of Paris.
My favourite!
We stumbled upon L’Éclair de Génie on Boulevard Haussmann and *had* to try one. We picked a raspberry and lemon one and stupidly decided to try and eat it while walking. The first bite oozed raspberry sauce all down my arm (did you know it’s impossible to lick your elbow?) and caused a terrible mess… but, non, je ne regrette rien!
Croissant Cat taking an afternoon snooze halfway up La Grande Butte.
We finished our last evening by taking a baguette boat at sunset from the Pont Neuf. We rented a velib bike each and cycled from the hotel, through Les Halles and down to the river.
👋🏻
It doesn’t cost a lot and you can even book your tickets online. We went at around 8pm. The boat was reasonably quiet, the guide was excellent and the light was beautiful 🙂
When the world reveals its worst side we must never ever allow it to change us and force us to shy away from who we are. Instead, we must be stubborn, stand firm and keep on keeping on. Keep on living, loving and laughing – something that is quintessentially Parisian.
Nia, these pictures are STUNNING. Bravo! I’ve never been but so desperately want to go and this has made that craving a gazillion times stronger! Lovely. x
Nia, these pictures are STUNNING. Bravo! I’ve never been but so desperately want to go and this has made that craving a gazillion times stronger! Lovely. x
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Thanks 🙂 you should go! There’s nowhere quite like Paris!
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Paris was on my To Travel To list and your photos have just enticed me even more.
Coco at coco hatter.blogspot.com
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