Le Train Bleu | Paris, France

Le Train Bleu is a stunningly beautiful restaurant that was built for the Exposition Universelle in 1900. It's located in the Gare de Lyon station and is a full service restaurant. Le Train Bleu is an incredible restaurant that takes you back to another time period. The restaurant is covered in elaborate and ornate decorations and 41 original paintings from popular artists from that time period. Markus and I kept talking about what it must've been like to travel by train and stop in for a meal. It must've been a stunner in it's heyday. 

When I saw photos of the restaurant, I knew that I wanted this to be where we spent our last night in Paris. We couldn't have chosen a more magical and perfect place. I knew the minute we walked in that it would be a meal and experience unlike any other I've had before. We ordered the foie gras, liver mousse, veal cutlet, roasted leg of lamb, blue cheese potato gratin and ended with the rum baba, which came with a whole bottle of rum. You know I liked that part! Our meal was so decadent and really delicious. My favorites were the foie gras and the blue cheese potato gratin. If you know me, you know I love pate, liver mousse and foie, so that was a no brainer. The real surprise was the gratin because I don't normally go for potatoes, but these were a game changer. We kept ordering and eating even though I was stuffed. I think it was because I didn't want to leave. It also helped that the servers were hilarious and kept telling funny jokes. Overall, our experience at Le Train Bleu was unforgettable and I'm pleased that it was where we spent our last evening in the City of Lights. 

Strolling Around the 7th arrondissement | Paris, France

In Paris, there are 20 arrondissements and we barely scratched the surface of even one. On our second day, I made a reservation at the only Michelin starred restaurant still open in August. All the other restaurants were boarded up for the summer holiday or were ridiculously expensive. I know that it's a once in a lifetime to eat at a French Michelin starred restaurant, but it doesn't have to be thousands of dollars. Do you know how many shoes and sweaters I could buy with that money? No thanks.  I'll share more about our incredible meal in a future post.

Before our lunch reservations, we left our hotel a bit early so we'd be able to explore the 7th arrondissement. I honestly couldn't tell you how we got there, but we passed all these beautiful storefronts and buildings. We even came across the Assemblée Nationale and the Hotel Matignon, which I just found out is where the Prime Minister of France lives. It totally makes sense why all those people were staring at me strangely when we were taking photos. They must've been like, "Look at this strange person taking photos in front of the Prime Minister's house." What can I say? I can't pass up a pretty door, especially if it's a big, beautiful and blue! 

Louvre and Jardin des Tuileries | Paris, France

One thing that I knew that I did not want to do in Paris was go inside the Louvre. As someone who really likes art and museums, I tend to get annoyed at museums, especially if they're popular ones. They tend to be overflowing with tourists who want to get that obligatory photo in front of "that famous painting". Also, I kept reading that I should avoid the Louvre at all costs. So that's what we decided to do. We didn't even plan on being in the area but on our first day we somehow found ourselves at the Jardin des Tuileries at dusk. As we walked through the garden we realized that it led to the Louvre. Since we didn't know when we would ever get the chance to see the Louvre, we walked over. It was probably one of the best decisions we made because there were barely any people around. Walking around the courtyard and seeing the glass pyramids without the crowds was a pretty cool moment. I'm glad that we decided to skip the lines and just "happened" upon the Louvre.   

Joyeux Noël 2017 | Château de Boucéel, France

It's Christmas time again my dear friends! It's crazy how fast the years keep going. I feel like I just sent out last year's card. Everyone loved last year's photo and have to admit, I felt the pressure for this year. On a whim, I asked Markus to bring the tripod just in case we came across an amazing setting. We took a two week road trip through various French cities and only ended up using the tripod once when we stayed at Château de Boucéel. Of all the fantastic places we stayed, this château was my favorite. It's been in the same family for centuries and is still run by the count and his family. I'll be writing a more in depth post about our experience, but I wanted to share this year's Christmas card photo. Joyeux Noël dear readers and have a happy new year! 

Sacré-Cœur | Paris, France

The final stop on my tour of Montmartre was the beautiful Sacré-Cœur Basilica. It's one of the most popular sites in Paris and droves of people visit every day. Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, translates to Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As someone who has Catholic parents that planned trips specifically to visit churches and basilicas, I've seen my fair share of religious monuments. Sacré-Cœur was definitely a stunner with the most beautiful facade. The walk there was quite lovely and I was hoping that there wouldn’t be too many people there, but I was unfortunately mistaken. It was a beautiful Summer Sunday, so I should’ve known better. The line snaked all around from the doors, across the street and to the top of the stairs. We had so much planned that first day, so we opted to skip out on the inside. I'm a bit bummed we didn't get to go inside, but it's okay because the outside and surrounding areas were beautiful. 

The one thing that really ruined the vibe was dudes aggressively hawking bracelets. They were stationed in groups all over the hill. They would go up to unsuspecting tourists holding the ends and tying them onto their wrists. Obviously it was a scam and they would harass people until they paid them. That kind of thing really annoys me and at times. Even though we didn't make eye contact, the would still come up to us. I would get really aggressive back and just say “no” really loudly. It stinks that these sort of people and scams exist, but it’s all about being aware and just avoiding it. So, if you ever make it over to the Sacré-Cœur, just avoid the shady dudes with string!