Bonjour!

Our weekend in Paris was amazing! We arrived Friday morning and after a couple rides on public transport, we made our way to our hotel in the Louvre district (we were about a 10 minute walk) and dropped off our luggage. We walked to the Louvre and strolled around the Jardin des Tuileries and ate baguette sandwiches (shocking choice for Paris, I know) and just enjoyed the sights of Paris for a little while. Then we headed back to the hotel to relax for a bit and then headed to dinner at Spring, a restaurant also in the Louvre district about 10 minutes from our hotel.

Dinner. Was. Amazing.

Seriously. We've been lucky enough to eat some amazing meals in our lifetime, but this one rates in the top 3, no contest. The owner-chef of Spring, Daniel Rose, is American, but the food is unmistakenly French. And delicious. Spring opened just a few months ago in July (they apparently had another location previously) and the wine bar that we sat in just opened in September. Here is a link for my foodie buddies out there if you want more info for future trips to Paris: http://parisbymouth.com/our-guide-to-paris-spring-restaurant/

I pushed myself to learn as much conversational French as possible before our trip, but was relieved that our waiter spoke good English and the bartender in the wine bar was originally from the UK. The menu was still overwhelming so we literally told the waiter that we were hungry and we were up for anything. What followed was a 8-course meal (including dessert) that was out of this world...Matt and I certainly wouldn't have chosen quite so well and we were happy to have put our meal into our waiter's hands. We started with oysters, which was followed by a course of foie gras with lemon gelee served with rustic warm bread. I had never been a huge fan of foie gras, but after that course, I now understand what the fuss is all about. Next, we had a plate of...well, smoked ham pieces? I am no food writer (clearly evidenced by the last sentence), but I'm not sure how to explain what this dish was besides pieces of smoked ham that they freshly carved off a pig's leg from the bar...little crazy, but yummy! Especially since we had begun to drunk the bottle of red that our waiter paired with our meal. He originally suggested a shiraz, but I think we ended up with a French syrah. We took a picture of the bottle in hopes of tracking down a bottle in the UK. It was (again) one of the best wines we'd ever had; every taste was as good as the first. Sigh. But back to the food. Our fourth course was deep fried squid with what I think were carmelized shallots - so essentially calamari, but so light and crispy and delicious! Next, they served us 2 dishes simultaneously: lamb stew and sauteed mushrooms with pomegranate. The lamb stew was perfect for the season and the pomegranate seeds with the mushrooms was unexpected and a variation I will absolutely try on my own. Our last "dinner" dish (yes, we know - lots of courses - luckily most were modestly-sized, but we weren't sure when we were going to be done because we hadn't ordered any of the food) was a tarte of veal sweetbreads. And not a tarte like you'd eat in the states, but more like a savory pie. It was another very seasonal and cozy dish. The whole meal was actually incredibly cozy. For dessert, we were leaning toward a cheese plate until our waiter told us that we could get a "surprise dessert." It's really the only sweet option and the diners never get to know what it is...so obviously, I wanted that because I love surprises. Good decision. Dessert consisted of peanut ice cream, chocolate ice cream, and creme fraiche topped with chocolate wafers, served with an olive oil ganache. The last item seemed an odd choice to serve with the dessert, but the combination of flavors was outstanding and a perfect way to end our perfect meal. After a very cool tour of the wine cellar below the restaurant (accessed by a staircase from the 17th century), we left around midnight and walked back to the Louvre for a view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower at night. It was incredibly romantic. Especially when I called Colette to tell her about the view. :) But I had to pay homage to my first date in Paris - the lovely Ms. Gallagher.

Saturday morning, we woke up and got ready for our trek over to see Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle. Unfortunately, we had some phone/time/clock issues and realized it was actually an hour later than we thought. That was a bummer, but we continued on. The line at Sainte Chapelle was incredibly long so we took a detour to the Latin Quarter to find a boulangerie that supposedly makes the best baguettes in Paris (Eric Kayser). That also took longer than expected and we ended up splitting a baguette for breakfast/lunch. It was good, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. We walked back to Notre Dame, wandered through and then headed back to Sainte Chapelle, where we stood in line until we realized it was not meant to be because we had to head to our next destination.

I had booked us on a 4-hour bike tour of Paris through a group recommended to me by a friend who used to live in Paris (Paris Charms & Secrets) and we needed to meet our group at 2:30pm in the Place Vendome. Upon arrival to the square, we realized we were smack dab in the middle of the finish line of some crazy car race/drive/something called Peking to Paris. At that point, all we know is that it involved lots of people driving old cars and popping champagne all over the place. And honking. Lots and lots of honking. After further research, we now know it's a "motor challenge" to drive the 14,000+ km from Peking to Paris in just 37 days. Here's the website for more info: http://www.pekingparis.com/. Anyhoooo, our bike guide, Siul, found us and informed us that it would just be us 3 on the tour. Score. What followed was a seriously awesome experience. We rode on electric bikes so effort wasn't really an issue because the bikes essentially drove themselves. However, the tour did require us weaving in and out of busy Paris traffic, which I still cannot believe I did without getting hit by a car, but we got to ride all over the city and see the sights in a way that was really special. Because there was only 3 of us and Siul had some serious connections, we got into places that the public isn't usually allowed, like old churches and a small courtyard that contained some of Paris's most expensive addresses (because he knew the gate code, crazy!). But we would hands down recommend this tour to anyone headed to Paris. It was a really, really amazing experience.

After, we wandered around for awhile trying to find something to eat (remember that a baguette=breakfast and lunch), hoping to find something small because we were planning to go to Le Chateaubriand for dinner around 10pm. Unfortunately, our hunger and exhaustion got the best of us and we ended up happily eating pizza in our pajamas and hitting the hay early. Oh well. Next time, Le Chateaubriand.

Sunday, we got up early (and checked that we were accurately aware of the time) and headed to Sainte Chapelle in hopes of avoiding the long lines - mission accomplished. It was my second trip to Sainte Chapelle and I loved it every bit as much as the first time, despite the renovations of part of the stained glass. It's just a beautiful, beautiful church. After, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and wandered over to the Eiffel Tower so Matt could see it close up. By this point, it was freeeezing outside...somewhere in the neighborhood of low 40s with a nasty wind so we took some quick pictures and got back on the metro. We made a quick stop near the Concorde for a crepe with Nutella (for me) and waffle (for Matt) and then went back to the hotel for our luggage and headed to the airport. All-in-all, it was a really memorable weekend and the perfect way for us to celebrate 2 years of marriage.

The only other news to share is that we will be home for the holidays! We'll be in Chicago Dec 27-30 (and Colorado Dec 23-27) and hope to organize some sort of night out in the city to see as many of you as possible. As much as we're enjoying our time here, we definitely miss home. So yay! Christmas!!

Alright, I'm done typing for now. Time for a gym visit to work off some of those good French eats!