Back from Vacation

So, my millions of followers might have noticed my blogging absence over the past couple of weeks. Well that's because we've been in Paris, silly!  We had a great time, but in truth, I'm glad to be home sleeping in my own bed. And I missed our crazy doggies as well.  Here's a rundown of how our trip was.

Day 1/2 - Traveling
We left Kansas City and traveled to Chicago and then boarded our plane in Chicago for Paris. Our seats were not so good - right by the bathroom. So we got to hear flushing for an entire 8 hour flight. Lovely. We arrived in Paris around 9am on Friday the 17th of June. When we made it to our apartment rental (which I would highly recommend), we broke all the rules and immediately took a five hour nap. We woke up briefly to run to the grocery store to stock our small fridge for the week with snacks and breakfast foods for about €18. We then right back to sleep after eating a frozen pizza. That's right, we had a frozen pizza for dinner on our first night in Paris. How very American of us.

Day 3 - Montmartre and Sacre Coeur
On our first real day in Paris, we decided to take ourselves on a little tour of Montmartre, since it was the closest neighboorhood to the apartment rental. The apartment actually looked out over the Montmartre Cemetary.  Here's a few photo highlights:

The Sacre Coeur Basilica

Lots of cute little cafes. We stopped and had crepes for lunch on this day.

Moulin Rouge in Pigalle - the red light district.

Day 4 - The Louvre and the Champs Elysees
On our second day in the city, we strolled through the Jardin du Tulieries to the Louvre. The Louvre contains some 35,000 works of art, and it would take you 9 months to view them all. Fun travel tip: if you want to go, enter through the Pont Des Lions entrance across from the Seine. The entrance is flanked by, appropriately, two giant green lion statues. No waiting in line!

The view of the Pyramid from inside the Denon Wing (where the Mona Lisa lives - among numerous other Italian, Spanish, and French paintings)

Napoleon III's apartments. This was one of my favorite exhibits - such opulence in all the rooms! They even had the crown jewels on display.

One of my favorite Caravaggio paintings. I didn't realize it was this big in real life - as you can see, it's almost as twice as tall as me! I'm thinking I'm not painting large enough...

One of my all time favorite statues - Cupid and Psyche. I've painted this statue in watercolor many times.

After the Louvre, we walked all the way down the Champs Elysees and saw the Arc de Triomphe. Then I got to stop at Laduree and get my macarons! I waited in line for 40 minutes, but they were so worth it. I think the raspberry macaron is literally the best thing I've ever eaten.

That night we ate a little cafe off the Rue St. Honore. Scott had the duck with potatoes au gratin, and I got a delicious white fish filet in a butter sauce (of course..butter). Our legs were KILLING us after this day.

To be continued with the rest of the trip at a later date (and more photos to come too, I promise!)...
All photos taken by my wonderful husband, Scott.