Coup de Foudre: Paris

It's taking everything in me to not share even stinkin detail of our trip. Ain't nobody got time for that. We'll just keep it between Tanner and I. Let me share a few of the highlights...

Since we didn't have the convenience of tour buses, it took a little extra planning to make the most of our days. I'll say it again, public transport is the way to do it.

The Louvre. Huge. Excited to go in. It was closed. Dang it.
(for some reason I figured the Louvre was always open and didn't think about checking)
Pictures outside at least?

Any of you heard of a little musical called Phantom of the Opera? Well, we visited the Opera Garnier where the story takes place. This building is better than the pictures show. The gold detailing was breathtaking. What we would give to see a show here back when it was first opened!

"I shall watch the performance from my normal seat in Box Five, which will be kept empty for me..." O.G.

Spent some time in Montmarte and the Sacré Cœur Basilica. This was one of my favorite churches. I especially liked how there was many more paintings and depictions of Christ than other cathedrals.

(St Pierre's market had 5 floors of fabric...so many to choose from)

Down a few blocks is the Wall of I Love You's. The phrase "I love you" is written more than 1000 times in 300 different languages. One of the artists that created this wall said the bits of color represent "the pieces of the broken heart of humanity which the wall is meant to gather together."
I was really excited about seeing this.

(sorry a repeat)

Lachaise Cemetery. So this was out of the "norm" for a visit to Paris but a must for us. Have you ever heard of Edith Piaf (if you haven't, shame on you)? Paid our visit to her burial site. We were in the cemetery for quite some time largely due to it's size.

(oh and Oscar Wilde's grave is here too...notice all the lipstick marks, hence the glass shield)

It is said the view from the Arc de Triomphe is the best of Paris. What do you think?

driving here looks stressful

We started with the Eiffel and we ended with the Eiffel.
Those sparkling lights really are magical.
Shared a few kisses to end our stay in Paris.

P.S. There really are rats in Paris. Saw Remy & friends run across the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower. Eek.

Paris is huge. I knew this. But now even more so than before.

Lot's to see and do but we only had a limited amount of time.

I was a little worried Paris wouldn't live up to it's expectations.
What if it's not all cracked up to be? I was very wrong.

Kicked our Sunday off with the Paris 2nd ward. Didn't understand a majority of the meeting but the feeling was the same. The church is true wherever you may be.

Love the French architecture.

Just a few blocks away we visited Quasimodo. The Notre Dame is an all around cool cathedral. And to think it's first stone was laid in 1163 blows my mind. So many people must have come here to worship. This was the only cathedral that we visited that was completely full during mass.

If you haven't already heard, there is a bridge in Paris (and probably just about any city with a bridge) where lovers go to seal their love and throw away the key. The Pont des Arts is completely covered in love locks. Multiple sections of the bridge had to be boarded up because they were collapsing under the weight. I love love.

Did we lock our love in Paris? Nope. We saved that for Lyon (don't worry I will post on this later, it's super cute and romantic and mushy--yeah really mushy).

We experienced another one of the scams Paris had to offer. A group of men were watching a guy move 3 cups around while a spectator placed a bet on which cup held a little white ball. As we passed through the guy stops Tanner, shoves a 50€ in his hand and asks, "Which cup has the ball?" Now I'll have you know, the guy made it pretty obvious where the ball was. As soon as Tanner guessed, the guy said, "First show me your money." And just like that we were done. Something was up and there was no way we were pulling out a single centime. The whole thing was shady but I had never seen it before. Googled it later to find out it's typically known as the shell game. The guy running the game uses "shills" (people that pretend to be spectators but are actually in on the scam) to make it seem more legitimate. He'll build up your confidence by letting you win a couple times but then with a slight of hand you'll lose it all.

Picnic in the Tuileries Gardens. We split an amazing poulet et a l'avocat sandwich. The best part though was our tarte au passion et framboise and chocolat eclair (oh and a rose flavored macaron). I about peed my pants it was soooo good.

(Phone pic, hence the terrible quality)

There is a ton of things you need to see/do in Paris. We didn't stick to this list the whole time. Just the hipster in us I guess. We wanted to see different parts of Paris that visitors don't typically see. The Musee Des Arts Forains was just the thing. This private museum of carnival games from the 1850-1950's. You have to make a reservation for the tour that is only held a couple times a month. Everything was in French (I imagine because few English-only speakers visit) but Tanner translated his best. We got to play on an original "roll-a-ball" horse racing game from the 1920's. Not to mention we rode the first ever 1897 wooden carousel.

(don't read French? You'll get what NOT to do in the next picture...)

(This place just is eerie and enchanting...ooh and look hot chestnuts!)

Let me give a little back story to the bike ride below. When bikes were first invented they were meant for only the rich. To give the commoners a chance to experience a bike, this ride was invented. Yes we rode it. Not sure how fast it got going with all the people on it...fast enough my feet couldn't keep up with the pedals. We just held on giggling the whole time. As we got going faster and faster I started picturing this was probably how I was gonna die (it felt like it would never stop, I legitimately saw my life flash before my eyes). That ride was insane.

So disappointed I didn't take a picture of my first doner kebab. Walking into this sketch shop with a big chunk of lamb roasting on a vertical skewer while the guy behind the counter is yelling at one of the customers...I was hungry, but maybe not that hungry. Tanner (and every other French serving missionary) raved about kebabs. I couldn't have been more wrong. So. very. delicious. Moist, shaved lamb with tomatoes and onions served with samurai sauce in a pita. For some reason my mind kept screaming the meme, "Eat all the kebabs."