A Walk Down Memory Lane and the Seine River...

A year ago today I was getting on a plane with my husband to head off to Paris. There are over a dozen places in this world I want to see but since I was a little girl, for as long as I can possibly remember Paris was my dream. Even stepping aboard the plane I couldn't believe it was actually happening, it was totally surreal. We flew on a local airline so the stewardesses and pilots only spoke French, it was awesome. On the plane we were served tuna fish sandwiches and omlettes a few hours later. On the way back they served us Ratatouille....on a plane. How cool is that?

When we touched down in Paris I felt transformed instantly, we opted to stay in Montparnasse and rented a flat there. It was so charming and lovely. Montparnasse is the SoHo of Paris, it's an artsy neighborhood with lots of shops, boulangeries, patisseries and grocery stores. It was also home to the best ice cream my husband and I have ever had....ever. Even more amazing is when I looked up their website to share with all of you I discovered that Amorino has exactly one location on this side of the Atlantic Ocean...in New York City aka my own backyard. I'm smelling a road trip....but that's for another day. Amorino's website can be found here my favorite flavor was Cioccolato Amorino, hubby's was Nocciola. What I loved the most about Amorino besides the fact that their gelato was just amazing was that they crafted every cone into a flower and served you this beautiful creation that was almost too delicious to eat.....almost.

It's a terribly blurry photo, but you get the idea....

And since we're on the topics of desserts for the moment, let me share this photo of McDonalds. Most people couldn't believe that this was a patisserie, but lo and behold this is indeed a Parisian McDonalds. 

It's safe to say it's a whole new world over there. A typical day for us was we'd wake up and I'd jump into the shower. My husband would stroll down the block (literally) and buy us a fresh loaf of bread and pastries from the boulangerie and some fresh eggs and cheese from the market. He'd then come home and fix us up some delicious eggs, the pastries we'd save for a mid-morning snack. A typical morning for us looked something like this (don't mind the shower hair and no makeup!)...

I have never and probably won't again until I got back tasted eggs so delicious and fresh. And bread? I can never look at bread the same. A perfectly crispy outside, with a soft doughy center, it was perfection, a little piece of heaven on earth. We would spot Parisians walking down the street with the loaf of bread in hand just biting pieces off the end as they walked, some would even have a chunk of brie cheese in their other hand, some carried around bottles of wine. It was beautiful just watching them. 

Anyway, after breakfast we would walk down the block to the local Metro stop and take it to the Musee D'Orsay, from there we would jump on the Batobus (which is essentially a water taxi) and start our day. We visited countless museums, stores, even supermarkets and came home with lots of great treats to eat and lots of shoes for me! We even spotted juice boxes filled with wine which came complete with a little plastic straw! Some of the treats we picked up were a nutella filled breakfast cereal, Nutella (the Italian and French version), white truffle oil and Banania which is chocolate banana flour - yum! 

And of course we ate like kings and queens some crowd favorites were crepes - for sweet crepes salted caramel and bananas won me over and for savory crepes was one with fresh mushrooms and cheeses topped with a sunny side up egg. Delicious! Another favorite of mine and my husbands was a hot dog, imagine a hot dog placed inside a baguette and topped with melted Gruyere cheese and toasted. I've never had anything like it and probably never will. I wish I had a photo of one to share.

In addition to eating our way through Paris (which we totally did and didn't get a single pound due to all the walking we did!) we visited an insane amount of places and it was just amazing to see the Mona Lisa up close and personal, Van Gogh's Water Lilies collection, Picasso paintings it was crazy. Even if you don't love art you will appreciate it there.

All in all, Paris was the best vacation of my life. If I could I would pick up and move there in a heartbeat, I even say a little piece of myself was left behind there waiting for me to come back. To leave off here's a few more photos of our trip...

Home Sweet Home for the week...