A Weekend in Paris: Day 1

Our friends the Eberts agreed to child share with us.  We insisted on taking their four kids (see future posts) to help us determine how many more we want.  In exchange - over much consternation and tears - we let them take Owen and Emily for two nights.  While we could not imagine having fun at the Louvre without their incessant talking, food requests, and complete inability to focus, we dragged ourselves to Paris for the weekend.

Dave and I took a four-hour train ride to Paris Est station a few weekends ago.  Dave could not leave Europe without seeing the Eiffel Tower in person.  I found a decent hotel for a great price in the Latin Corridor near the Notre Dame.  I did not actually believe the weekend would come together until I sat in my reserved seat cappuccino in hand.  While I read four books on food, art and the city in general, I only brought a loose agenda.  Sleep ranked as high as steak frittes on my must-do list.  After a smooth four hour ride, we navigated the Metro, Europe's best subway system.  Our hotel needed 20 more minutes.   We hit the bakery around the corner for my first Pain au Chocolat of the weekend.  I have no words….

I brought a list of Paris' top ten chocolate shops from my favorite pastry chef and blogger David Lebovitz.  This bakery made the list.  The Gods of Pleasure manipulated my booking.com page and directed me to a hotel right next to one of the Top Ten.  Dave was beside himself.

We made "Pierre Herme" a chic dessert shop our first destination.  I panicked upon seeing the quick moving line demanding immediate decisions.  I almost left, but my better half said "What??  We walked all this way.  You are getting something."

We walked over the love lock bridge to the Louvre.  Couples seal their love and toss the key in the river.

We followed Rick Steve's advice, visit Mona at dusk, and walked right into Europe's "oldest, biggest, greatest and second most crowded museum."  My art loving husband bee-lined to Da Vinci's famous piece.  We sped past, and overlooked, several centuries of sculpture and painting.  He wanted the "main event."  (Umm, this is not  the WWE.)  We debated the paintings location.  I argued Curators carefully placed this painting in its proper time along art history's line.  They did not tuck it away to "force" visitors to walk far.

Mona's smile drew Dave.  We spent most of our time absorbing this iconic piece.  I showed him my favorite French Baroque painting of Napoleon - essentially political adds on the late 1700's.  The Nike and Venus remained in renovation.

Despite my several month study of Parision restaurants, exhaustion sent us to one around the corner from our hotel.  We enjoyed a bottle of red wine - and thought of our friends from home.