Paris on Film | Dallas Texas Photographer
I LOVE PARIS. The architecture, history, food, the people, the views, everything! We decided to hop on a train and spend a long-weekend in the romantic city that everyone rants about. It did not disappoint and has definitely made it to our top 5 favorite places. Paris is a quick 2-hour train ride from us via the speedy ICE train. If you book far enough in advance, it ends up being much cheaper, and faster, than driving. Unfortunately for us it was unusually hot the weekend that we went, so I would highly recommend booking a hotel with air-conditioning if you plan on going anytime in the summer. Between the dreadful heat and Tony's bum heart, we spent a good portion of our time inside the only air-conditioned cafe we could find.
We started our Parisian trip with a pit stop at Frenchie To Go for lunch. It was recommended to me by several friends, specifically the lobster roll. I was a bit taken back at first by the price (€28 for one lobster roll and fries) but I had to remind myself that lobster isn't cheap and that it would be worth it. It definitely was! Freshly baked and toasted bread crammed full with lobstery goodness, with a side of freshly cut fries and homemade ginger mayo. Yes, we eat mayo with our fries here in Europe. And it's delightful. Try it sometime! Anyway, we spent the rest of our afternoon checking into our hotel and wandering around aimlessly. We stopped by Notre Dame cathedral, which is home to THE Holy Crown of Thorns, as well as one of the Holy Nails. We happened to be there just as Sunday mass was starting, it was such a neat sight to watch, the songs resonated throughout the entire cathedral. Also- if you happen to be near District 2, make sure you grab a schwarma at L'as Du Falafel. It's legit, y'all. We also did the Paris Catacombs but honestly felt it was overrated, I would much rather visit the bone church outside of Prague. For dinner we went for Indian food at Kashmir House which is honestly the best Indian food I've had since leaving the states. I would come back to Paris just for Indian food!
The highlight of our trip was a food tour (suprise) through the Latin Quarter with Sight Seekers Delight. The tour company is run by an American woman, Karen, and her French-native husband. If you know Tony and I, we love food. We LOVE food tours. We had a wonderful time with Karen learning about buying local, fresh food in Paris and how each of the artisan shops makes and procures their specialty foods, picking up a few pieces here and there to eat at the end of the tour. The best part was sitting down at a quaint little cafe (which made an appearance in the movie Julie & Julia) at the end of our tour and having a big charcuterie and cheese feast, complete with wine and crème brûlée. Wonderfully delicious and so filling! The stories and food history Karen shared while we ate kept us interested and laughing the entire time. She has a bright, infectious personality and we felt like long-time friends by the end of our tour. If you find yourself in Paris, do yourself a favor and take this food tour, you won't regret it!
Our final day in Paris was spent avoiding the heat (about 90F, or +30C) inside the Louvre, where we unintentionally spent most of the day. You can actually get lost in there! It's such a cool place though, so much history that you only hear about in history books. Venus de Milo, the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, etc. Some of our favorite historical pieces weren't actually in the top 10, mostly the Mesopotamian antiques. They even have a mummy there if you've never seen one of those. Pretty crazy! You could easily spend weeks inside the Louvre and still not see everything, there's THAT much art inside. We also stopped by the top attraction in Paris, the Eiffel Tower. It's actually much bigger and cooler in person than we had anticipated. We laid in the grass for what seemed like forever, just looking up at this huge structure you're only used to seeing in the movies. Or the tiny version in Las Vegas. :) Before heading back to Germany, we made one last pit stop at the infamous Angelicas. Unfortunately it was WAY too hot to try their world-famous hot chocolate, so we settled with an eclair and some other traditional french pastries.
Paris is the land of romance, food, history, and should absolutely be at the top of your list of places to visit! Have you been to Paris? How did you like it?
Photos taken on a Canon EOS 1V with 50L lens. Shot on Fuji 400H film rated at 200. Developed and scanned by Carmencita Film Lab in Spain.
