A Paris Weekend

First of all, I have never been to Paris. I did quite a bit of research prior to our trip, but a couple weeks before we left Roy got really sick. He was hospitalized for a while. We still really do not know what exactly caused his sudden illness. I feel like I dropped the ball on making plans before. I got a ton of recommendations from this post. 

I got some other great recommendations from some close real life friends and blogger friends. 

My friend Rachel sent this guide from Oh Happy Day, which was really helpful. 

Day #1

As soon as we got in town we stopped for lunch at Ralph's. I have always admired the classic courtyard. Everything is blue and white, go figure. The food was nothing to write home about, classic American food. The atmosphere was very chic and I honestly could have sat there all day. 

We took Jordan's advice and took a boat tour that goes along the Seine at night. It was one of my favorite things we did. While it was a little cheesy, it helped us see a lot of the main attractions from a distance. 

We stopped in the park and had a bottle of Rose before the tour. 

We set up shop at Hotel Bonaparte. It was one of the only affordable hotels in Saint- Germaine. My favorite part of the trip, other than people watching was our neighborhood. It was off the beaten path enough to feel really authentic but still really close to everything I wanted to see. 

The first night we had dinner at the Le Petit Prince. It was tucked away in an alley and the food was really authentic. If you cannot tell, Doug use to work in the food service industry and loves to present wine. Tourist, I cannot take him anywhere. 

Our walk home from dinner. 

Day #2

We squeezed a lot into our second day. We took a trip to Musee d'Orsay.  We decided to skip the Louve after reading tons of comments. We had such a short timeframe I really did not want to waste any time dealing with crowds or lines. 

We strolled to Champs Elysees. Had an espresso, some proseco and a cheese plate at Deux Magots, which ended up being perfect for people watching. 

Thanks to Alex's recommendation, we grabbed dinner at La Societe. I am still thinking about the tuna tartare. After dinner, we walked across the street to a small cafe that had underground French karaoke. 

Our last day we got brave and made the trek to Les Puces, the flea market. It seemed so intimidating that I was planning on getting a guide. My sweet friend is an interior designer who knew someone who takes you to the flea market and will help you negotiate. We were so consumed with Roy being sick I didn't make it a priority to plan it before we left, so we decided to wing it. Getting to Les Puces was so much easier than I anticipated. We took the metro. Again, Jordan had a great post getting to Les Puces.

The flea market was so huge I have a feeling we only made a small dent. This is not your normal flea market. You are not going to find any steals here. I was lucky enough to come across an original painting and some vintage fabric remnants that were in my very limited shopping budget 

Our last night we decided to grab a bottle of wine and eat dinner on the lawn at the Eiffel Tower. Great way to see the Eiffel Tower without having to deal with lines. They have tons of little take away shops around and even sell crepes in the park. I was in heaven. Again, Doug presenting wine. 

I do not want to be a weirdo, but it is too late for that. I literally fell in love with Paris, as cliche blogger as it sounds. I have never been anywhere that was so inspiring. We tried to fit as much as we could in a couple of days. I would do anything to go back and have more time to explore the city.