april in paris: overview

How to blog about our trip. That is the question. We have decided to give a brief overview of each location followed by separate posts telling more specific stories. So that's what you get. :)

* PARIS *



My French sister Marie (whose family I stayed with when I went to France in high school and who stayed with my family one summer) invited us to Paris for the week, put us up in her brother's awesome apartment and was our exquisite personal tour guide of Paris and of French food!

We were in Paris for 6 days and here is an outline of what we did:
(I apologize if this is WAY more information than anyone else cares about, this is for our moms!)

Wednesday, March 31
- Arrived in Paris - met up with Marie (when we EVENTUALLY found her). Went out for our first tasty French meal. mmmm.

Thursday, April 1
- Montmartre - Ate pastries and drank coffee a sidewalk café, wandered around Painter's Square, went into Sacré Coeur. Love that neighborhood. Walked from Place de la Concorde up the Champs-Élysées, went under the Arc de Triomphe, bought lunch. Took our lunch to Trocadéro and ate it by the Eiffel Tower! Sunned ourselves in the Jardin des Tuileries, saw the Louvre. Met up with Marie's sister Claire for pastries then went to church at Notre Dame des Champs. Ate crêpes for dinner.

Friday, April 2
- Had the day to ourselves. Went to Notre Dame and Île de la cité. Explored the Latin Quarter and had lunch in a little café. Saw the University of Paris - Sorbonne (where Aquinas was!). Started pouring so we decided to go to a museum. Walked to the Musée d'Orsay but the queue was half way around the city. Went to the little Musée de l'Orangerie instead, and saw Monet's water lilies. AWESOME. Saw a rainbow over Place de la Concorde. Walked up the Champs-Élysées and went to a movie. No butter for popcorn. Ate pizzas and pastries from the little Patisserie by our apartment for dinner.

Saturday, April 3
- Ate an AMAZING huge authentic French brunch for over 2 hours. Went to Musée Jacquemart-André in gorgeous Parisian home from the 1800s (looks like Versailles on the inside). Walked around Paris and went to the "covered streets." Ate dinner at a café with a view of Notre Dame. Went to the 3.5 hour Candlelit Easter Service at Notre Dame. Event of a lifetime.

Sunday, April 4
- Patisserie for breakfast with Marie. Monet museum. Wandered the Jewish quarter. Lunch at a café. Wandered le Marais. Saw Picasso's house. Passed the Centre Pompidou. Went to a neighborhood of old crêperies, and had an authentic Bretonne (from Brittany) meal (Marie is Bretonne). Had the best crêpe on earth!

Monday, April 5
- Another A & B day. Pastries in front of the Eiffel Tower. Back to Montmartre to hang out. Lunch on Painter's Square.  Relaxed on the steps of Sacré Coeur. Met up with Marie. Had crêpes. Sat at a café. Just B and I went down to the Eiffel Tower and sat on the ground in front of it for over 2 hours to watch the sunset and to watch it sparkle. Ate pastries on our way home.

Tuesday, April 6
- Breakfast and goodbyes with Marie. Flew over Paris and the Swiss Alps and the Mediterranean to Italy.