Now that this post if officially a year overdue, I thought it was time to sit down and share what was
the greatest Andrus adventure yet!!
As some of you know, Adam and I love to travel! There's nothing we enjoy more than exploring new places and new cultures while spending quality time with each other - fabulous! Because of this, it was on our honeymoon that we decided to take one big trip every year (Lord willing!) as a chance to reconnect and bond through fun memories that we'll hopefully carry with us forever. So far...success!
So, as Adam and I approached our four year anniversary we picked Europe as our next destination. Now...I had never been to Europe and I'm not gonna lie, the idea of trekking through a city while visiting museums and other old sites sounded...umm,
interesting but not as relaxing as sitting on a beach with a little drink in hand. But, Adam is a very seasoned European traveler and couldn't wait to show me why he loved Paris and London.
With that, we packed our bags and headed across the pond!
We arrived in London to a buzzing Heathrow and quickly hopped on the Piccadilly line. We worked our way to St. Pancras where we caught the Eurostar for Paris. Might I say that drinking a glass of wine while watching the English countryside go by is about the most amazing experience ever? Simply breathtaking!
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| St. Pancras |
Around 8pm we arrived in Paris. We grabbed a taxi and headed for our little boutique hotel, Hotel Duquesne. Somewhere along the drive we caught our second wind and decided that Paris couldn't wait another day! So we quickly washed up and headed back onto the streets of Paris looking for the perfect restaurant, which turned out to be La Terrace.
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| La Terrace |
The next few days all started the same way - a fresh croissant, delicious smelly cheese, French bread and a hot chocolate. We'd slowly venture down Rue Cler, an open air market, where we'd find additional treats that we'd take to the green lawn that stretched to the base of the Eiffel Tower. From there, we'd plan our day - where to go, what to see, when to eat...
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| Rue Cler Flower Shop |
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| Rue Cler Fresh Fruit Stand |
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| Breakfast with a view! |
So to not bore anyone with every sweet detail of the trip, I'll hit a few highlights!
Hotel Duquesne:
Quite possibly the most charming hotel! The room was perfect and we had a view of the Eiffel Tower. Hotel Duquesne had such a great location, situated perfectly on the tree-lined, old, wide streets with quick walking to the Metro and some of the most delicious restaurants. We stayed at Hotel Duquesne for the first 4 nights of our trip and it was perfect!
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| Lobby |
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| Lobby |
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| Our view from our room! Pretty great, eh?! |
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| So charming! |
Versailles:
Absolutely one of my favorite days! We took the train to Versailles and worked our way to the grand palace. We wandered through the rooms, stairways and long halls of the palace before making our way to the gardens - oh. my. goodness. The rambling green lawn, the fountains, the lake with quaint boats moving about, and the perfect trees and shrubs lining beautiful walkways. It was perfection! Straight out of Pride and Prejudice or some other Jane Austin novel-inspired movie.
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| The Palace |
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| In the hall of mirrors! |
But the best part of the grounds at Versailles are unknown to many who visit. At the back of the grounds you can find Maria Antoinette's "country home". This is where she would stay in order to escape the hustle and bustle of her royal life. The home is beautiful! But if you wind your way through her own private gardens behind the home you'll find a play village. Maria Antoinette had the village built so she had a place where she could pretend to be a peasant. The homes were all built by different architects and are about half the size of a normal home. She would have people from town come and work the fields and take care of the livestock in her village to make the experience even more "real" - yes, totally twisted. She actually had the livestock perfumed because although she wanted to feel like a peasant, her world didn't include anything that wasn't pleasant smelling. Crazy lady. Either way, this village should not be missed! It is nothing short of enchanting!
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| Marie Antoinette's Country Home |
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| Marie Antoinette's Play Village |
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| One of the homes in the village - so charming right?! |
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| Another home in the village! |
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| So cute, right?! |
7e Vin:
My favorite restaurant! With no more than 10 tables, guests are invited to stay the entire evening while enjoying gourmet food and drinking delicious Bordeaux wine! I bet we dined for three hours the night we went to 7e Vin. Heck, we dined three hours every night we were in Paris! What I didn't realize about this AMAZING city is that everything revolves around food. And not just semi-good food. Each restaurant serves incredibly delicious food that still makes my mouth water today! Because of this, dinner is an experience that Parisians make an evening affair! It's a way of life. Every. Single. Night.
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| These big boards were the only menus for the restaurant - they'd bring them right to your table! |
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Louis Vuitton:
Our most action-packed site-seeing day started with a visit to the Louvre, which was followed by a walk through the Tuileries (where we stopped to get a fresh croissant), window shopping while strolling the Champs-Elysees and a hike to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. There are too many wonderful things to mention about the day so I'll touch on one highlight and let the pictures do the rest!
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| The Louvre |
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| The Tuileries |
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| Arc de Triomphe |
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| Champs-Elysee from top of Arc de Triomphe |
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| Eiffel Tower from top of Arc de Triomphe |
As we walked down the Champs-Elysees I spotted one of Paris's treasures - the Louis Vuitton mothership! It was at this point that my sweet husband revealed that I would be going on a little shopping spree in order to take home a small piece of Paris! That's right - for the next hour I grabbed shoulder bags and hand purses, all different styles and patterns. I felt like a queen! Adam helped me pick out the perfect pursue that totally fit my personality - so perfect, so fun, so memorable! I will never forget Adam's thoughtfulness and the memory we made while shopping at one of Paris's finest!
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| Hello beautiful! |
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| Meet Louis! |
Musee Rodin:
Another must-see in Paris! Adam and I decided to spend the afternoon of our anniversary wandering the beautiful old manner and gardens of Rodin's museum. For those that don't know, Rodin was a sculpture, best known for the Thinker and the American Athlete. His works are beautiful and so perfectly represented throughout the home. The gardens are not large but they feel like a country oasis in the middle of Paris. I recommend eating at the small restaurant on site. It was the perfect way to celebrate our anniversary!
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| Musee Rodin |
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| I think you know this guy! |
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| Anyone home?! |
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Lunch on the grounds
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Park Hyatt at Place Vendome:
Our fifth day in Paris Adam and I left our perfect little hotel next to the Eiffel Tower and taxied our way north of the Champs-Elysees. We had made arrangements to stay our last two nights at the Park Hyatt in Place Vendome. We were a little sad to leave Hotel Duquesne because it was just so charming, but then we pulled up to the Hyatt! Let me paint you a little picture:
We pulled up to the hotel where two lines of screaming fans stood camera-ready to snap pictures of someone whom we could only assume to be much more important than us! I hesitated even walking in the door after watching the smiles fade on the fan's faces when they realized I was not who they had been waiting for. Adam, on the other hand, relished in his new found stardom! As though he was Europe's hottest new star, he cooly exited the taxi, put on his sunglasses and then strutted between the two lines of fans and through the posh Park Hyatt door - seemingly untouchable to those around him!! I mean, you only live once, right?!
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| We had the perfect view of filming from our balconies! |
Once inside we found out that a movie was being filmed right outside our hotel and the actors (who are quite famous) were staying at the hotel. Hence the screaming fans! The next hour felt more like a dream so rather than trying to describe just how amazing our room was, let me just share some pictures!
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| We don't typically take pictures of hotel bathrooms but aren't you glad we did?! And yes, that's a sink and mirror in the shower. The mirror was heated so it wouldn't fog. Gracious! |
Musee d'Orsay:
One old train station + unbelievable sculptures + amazing historic paintings = best museum ever! You must go!
Angelina's:
Established over a century ago, Angelina's is much more than a simple patisserie or tearoom. It is a high point of Parisian gourmet pleasures, most of which are covered in the finest chocolate! After enjoying a delicious lunch in the beautiful old tearoom, we enjoyed chocolate "works of art," some of which were garnished with real gold flakes. An unbelievable experience that we will never forget! A must see for sure.
Paris has stolen my heart! It was the first of many trips that I hope to make so please let me know if you have recommendations for our next trek to the City of Light!
