Travel-sized Mise en Place: Lovers in Paris

Saturday we arrived in Paris we took the metro to our apartment where the key was waiting for us. But somehow we tried to unlock the wrong door, the directions said the first floor on the left. I guess in France the first floor means walk up the first set of stairs. The apartment was cute and it had a nice kitchen. The next morning we went out exploring the area we were in the 17th arrondissement. We started walking to the arch of triumph, got a little distracted by all the shops along the way. Paris is like New York City with all the fancy brands and perfume shops and they all were great to window shop from. We did make it to the arch and it was very busy but very pretty. We also saw the opera house and I got my first glance at the Eiffel Tower! As we walked back toward home we amazed at all the historic buildings with big iron gates and iron balconies and the tree lined streets I was in love. We watched the sunset from a park near our apartment and then set out to find dinner. We found a nice local bistro and ordered some beer. The waiter suggested a couscous dish that I ordered and justin ordered a steak. He brought out a big bowl of fluffy couscous and another bowl with vegetables and broth, he spooned the couscous into the serving dish and ladled the broth on top. Then he brought out a plate of roasted chicken. It was delicious and well worth the price.

The next day we took the metro to the canal that runs through the city and walked along the canal. Looking at the new arena they were building and passing by the bistros and gelato shops. Some of the restaurants were even on boats. We stopped at a big park that was having a garden festival and we found a gem and mineral museum, and since both of us love collecting rocks we toured that museum. We made it down to the Notre Dame cathedral and ate lunch with a view of the beautiful church. I had a wonderful salad with goat cheese and Justin had pesto penne pasta. We had to cross the bridge to get to the cathedral. It was much bigger than I expected and it was amazing that they could build something like that back in the 12th century. We went by the market on our way home and cooked dinner in our little kitchen. Only two burners but we made it work. We had pan seared chicken and pasta with a spinach cream sauce.

Next day was museum day we went to the Picasso Museum located in the Hotel Sale in the Marais district of Paris and we also went to the museum of the history of Paris that was interesting learning about the war and revolution. We met up with a friend for dinner at a wonderful bistro known for their seafood. The bistro was furnished and decorated with items for sale which was cool and we sat downstairs so we could talk. We met Henery who is a creative digital cartoon designer working as a freelancer at the moment but soon will be working at Disney. This was Nick and Judy's (marmalady) son. He told us where to find good food and we told him about Disney. Maybe one day we will see him again in Florida. We drank crisp white wine while eating a seafood tower with fresh oysters and prawns. After dinner we walked uptown to a place called Montmartre it's a historic district up on a hill looking down over Paris it was covered with outdoor terraces and artist that paint your portrait.

The next day we went to lovers lock bridge and added our lock(that Nolan and Sam painted red white and blue). We picked a spot on the bridge that still had a view of the Notre dame. And Justin threw away the key. We saw a few other sites including the French army museum and Napoleons tomb but the main attraction for that day was the Eiffel Tower! We took the stairs up the second floor and viewed the 360 panorama of Paris. We went out to eat to celebrate my birthday! We finally got some delicious escargot and Justin got duck confit for the first time and loved it. I got veal in mushroom sauce. Then we found the perfect spot to watch the sunset and see the Eiffel Tower. And at 11pm the tower sparkled over 20,000 lights! That was my favorite part of our trip.

Next I'll tell you about our epic journey from Paris to Dublin and then about our time in Dublin.

At the shops!