paris, part two.

On our second (and last!) day in Paris, we started the day off with pain au chocolat, per tradition. Then we spent a glorious morning exploring the:

1) Paris Flea Market- Ay, I could have spent all day here. I could have spent all week here! As it was, I probably spent about an hour longer than everyone else was ok with. Whoops. We all split up and wandered the aisles, running into each other every once in awhile, excited to show off what we had found. Christyn bought a delicate vintage baby blessing gown, Stephen found an antique clock, and I left with some carefully selected souvenirs, and a terrible longing for more. (I'm going to give a peek of some of our souvenirs later.) It was almost too overwhelming how many beautiful things there were. We only explored a little corner of the antique section, so I can't imagine how much more there is. There were piles and piles of silver, the prettiest prints from vintage French magazines, rows and rows of vintage clothing and linens, and piles of beautiful furniture and decor. 

Then we hiked up to Montmatre to see the views and eat lunch. Montmartre is the neighborhood you see in films like Amélie and La Ballon Rouge. There are stairways that cut up the hills, lined with pinkish apartments and lush trees. It was one of my favorite neighborhoods. We ate at the best pizza place:

2) Pizzeria Babalou- I know, pizza in Paris?? Yes, pizza in Paris! This place was so quaint and warm. We squished into a table, underneath lights made of tasseled vintage lampshades hung upside down. The pizza was amazing. Our favorite was the pear gorgonzola. And, our waiter was a really nice student from the Bay Area, coincidentally. 

After lunch we took in the views outside the beautiful Sacré-Cœur. It's the perfect photo opp, where you can see the whole city. It was crawling with tourists, but it added to the excitement. 

Sam had a list of shops we wanted to hit up, like Colette and A.P.C. So, he he took this chance to go see some of the more designer-ly things that I wasn't interested in seeing. (Especially after I was kind of a drag when I went along to a few shops the day before!) He said this was actually his favorite part of the trip because he could wander around and really get a feel for the neighborhoods. 

And, the Lundquists and I went out to see:

3) Musée d'Orsay- We knew we would only be able to fit in one museum in our two two days in Paris, so we picked the Musée d'Orsay because the exhibits contained more art periods we were interested in. Also, that building! The museum is housed in the original Gare d'Orsay, the old railway station. This is the train station in Hugo. The museum has kept the feel of the railway station, and still has the ornate clocks. It's a beautiful museum, and has many of my favorites from Van Gogh, Monet, and Degas. 

After the museum we were supposed to meet up with Sam, but we couldn't get a hold of him. We were getting a bit hangry, when we wandered by non other than:

4) Ladurée- Oh, macaron heaven. These macarons were better even than the ones in Amboise. We each bought some, and they wrapped them up in one of those minty green boxes- also just as iconic as a Tiffany's box. 

We finally found Sam and sat around in their lobby for a bit, while we tried to figure out what to do for dinner. A waiter walked past with three tiers of macarons, and as she turned the corner two pink cookies rolled to the ground right in front of some little girls with eyes as wide as saucers. They only spoke French, but Sam joked around with them as they giggled. He picked one up and stuffed in his mouth, then gave the other to the girls. They ran squealing to their mom who looked quite alarmed, and we couldn't help laughing.

We ate dinner, and then walked back to the metro at night. We stopped in one of the courtyards of the Louvre, sat down on a bench and each pulled out our first Ladurée macaron to savor. I took one bite of that chocolate ganache, while the wind whipped around us, and the lights twinkled on the lamp posts. It was a perfect moment.

And, that's it, my friends. We packed up and rode back to Stockholm, where we had a half day to grab another pastry at Vete-Katten, and pick up as many souvenirs as we could. Then, we got on a plane to come home.

Thank you Lundquists for being the best travel buddies, and for Sam for being the best travel love- even when I was a little stressed here or there. And, thank you Nancy for taking care of Eliza while we were gone. I feel really lucky that we were able to go on on this trip. It was so much fun!

This trip was amazing. But, it was too short. I just kept thinking, oh I wish we could live here! I wish I could move to one of these amazing cities and really get to know every inch of it. But, our little taste of a European adventure was pretty wonderful.

So, where to, next!?