{glam style app: globetrotter edition}

The newest edition of the Glam Style App might just be my favorite one yet!  It's their Globetrotter edition filled with packing lists, outfit inspiration and trip itineraries for destinations around the world including a section all about Paris from yours truly.  Here's a few snapshots from the app and you can get all the details by downloading it for your Ipad or Iphone right here!

{a day at Versailles}

One of the biggest things on my list for our time in Paris was to take a day trip out to the Palace of Versailles which is located about an hour by train outside of the city.  When we visited Paris the first time we were only here for a handful of days and couldn't justify spending a quarter of our trip outside of the city.  We waited until March to visit the palace hoping for the nicest weather possible given the winter months were here and we were not disappointed.  Temperatures in the high 60s and radiant sunshine awaited us when we got off the train and made our way up the steps to Versailles. Read below for my tips on visiting Versailles.

 {view of the back of the palace from the gardens. in the winter months the fountains are drained which isn't ideal but certainly doesn't take away from the beauty of the property.}

 {hall of mirrors}

 {maria antoinette's bedroom. epic floral overload.}

 {adorable swans in the pond outside the restaurant}

 {golf carts. best kept secret at versailles.}

 {marie antoinette's hamlet- aka peasant town where she pretended to be one of the "simpler" folk- definitely do not skip this part of the property as it is completely intriguing to see in relation to the over the top spectacle that is the palace}

{pink marble at the grand trianon}

Tips for visiting Versailles:

1. Buy Tickets in Advance: This is really not negotiable- you need to do this. It's very simple and they can scan the tickets directly from your phone at the entrances so no need to print.  Unless you enjoy standing in 1 to 2 hour long lines upon arriving, buy your tickets online here.  
2. Pick up the audio tour of the palace: While most museums offer audio tours at an additional cost, the one for the palace at Versailles is included in the ticket price and it really enhances your experience walking through the interior palace portion.
3. Where to go first:  A lot of sites recommend starting out at the Grand and Petite Trianons at the far side of the grounds first and then doing the main palace last.  Even the Versailles official visitor website recommends this, but the day that we went it wasn't that busy so we started with the Palace first, then went through the gardens following by the Trianons and Marie Antoinette's Hamlet ending with a lunch.  After lunch we leisurely walked back through the gardens. 
4. Rent Golf Carts:  There are golf carts available to rent by the hour outside the back of the palace which you can use to quickly get you to opposite end of the property where the Trianons and Hamlet are located.  This may sound incredibly lazy to rent a golf cart to get you around, but the palace property is massive.  If you would like to see everything at a nice pace and not feel incredibly rushed then the use of a golf cart will cut out hours of time walking between the sites. Golf carts cost $30 euro per hour and we used ours for 2 hours.  Note there is a 4 person maximum on the carts.
5. Eat lunch on the Property: While normally museum restaurants are overpriced and not all that great, the ones at Versailles are absolutely wonderful.  You basically have 4 options for food ranging from a nicer restaurant (aka white tablecloths) to a casual sit-down bistro to a take-away cafe.  We chose to eat at the casual restaurant (which has beautiful outdoor seating if the weather permits) and were surprised at the great food at reasonable prices. 

{paris: week 11}

This past week was our last full week in Paris before we leave on a 2 week traveling stint with 4 other friends of ours who escaped Chicago winter (some have dubbed it Chi-beria) to meet us here.  Our time here flew by which is something I definitely didn't anticipate as 3 months living in a new city seemed like forever before we arrived.  I am content knowing that there is nothing left on my list that I feel I didn't see or experience in this amazing country.  In addition to taking in all the sights, I feel like we got to experience what it is really like to live in Paris not just visit it for a few days.  I'm not quite ready to write my "love letter" post about our time here, but I promise it will come soon along with a big PDF of all my recommendations for this wonderful city.  One thing I will say now is that this city has definitely given me a new perspective on life and changed me in ways that may be subtle to an outside observer, but feel significant in every way to me (sounds incredibly cheesy to write that, but it's undeniably true).

{welcoming our friends to paris with a sunday morning eiffel tower picnic}

{paris: week ten}

This past week in Paris was a total dream- the weather warmed up significantly which was perfect for showing our friends around the city who stayed with us during the week.  We crossed a lot of sights off our list that we had previously never seen before like the breath-taking Sacre Coeur Basilica and the impressive Notre Dame cathedral.  We also took a day-trip out to the Palace of Versailles which I'll be doing a full post on soon!  Having friends in town meant we got to have a lot of fun nights out for dinner and drinks including one of our new favorites, Club Raye, and a delicious dinner at one of our restaurant neighbors, Les Cocottes.

This upcoming week is our last full week in Paris before four of our friends meet us in the city and we embark together on a two week trip to Spain, Morocco and Bordeaux in the south of France.  I want to soak up as much of this city as possible in our last couple days here, but I know this week will probably be spent preparing and packing for the upcoming trip as well as shopping for a few things to wear in the 80 degree heat of Morocco!

{first spring blossoms}

{pont alexandre- my favorite bridge in the city}

{enjoying the sunshine on the steps of the Sacre Coeur}

{candles at Notre Dame}

{dramatic beauty inside Notre Dame}

{relaxing along the fountains in Luxembourg Gardens}

{entrance to Versailles palace}

{eclairs to end an amazing night at Club Raye}

{hamburgers are kind of a big deal here and in my opinion the best burgers in Paris are at Blend}

{spending sunday afternoon drinking wine along the Seine}

{paris: week nine}

Settling back in to Paris last week after a fun 7 days of travel in Amsterdam & Florence, made for a bit of a slower week for us in the city.  We took a beautiful walking tour starting in the Montparnasse neighborhood (including their centuries old cemetery) winding through the Luxembourg gardens and ending with rewarding cocktails in the afternoon sunlight at a tiny cafe in the St. Germain.  I also took a little time to shop around the newly arrived spring clothes in stores in search of the perfect pieces to bring on our Morocco trip coming up in a few weeks.

On Friday, we hopped on an early morning Eurostar train to London to stay with with some friends and enjoy the UK for a few days.  We got lucky with the normally rainy weather and were able to spend a gorgeous Saturday walking around the outdoor markets (sampling British meat pies!) and drinking champagne served from a tap.  We ended the day by bouncing around between a few fun English pubs including one that was overflowing with kitchsy collectibles of the royal family and Princess Diana.

 {the fountains at Luxembourg Gardens}

 {Montparnasse cemetary}

 {adorable London streets in Primrose Hill neighborhood}

{paris: week eight + florence & amsterdam}

Our eighth week in Paris was actually not spent in Paris at all!  We spent Sunday to Wednesday in Florence, Italy (I shared a glimpse at our awesome hotel room in last week's recap) then flew to Amsterdam until Saturday afternoon.  Florence was such a relaxing city to getaway to and I was convinced we should cancel our Amsterdam trip in order to stay there all week if only to facilitate more pasta eating.  I'll be sharing a full recap including a short itinerary for Florence later this week so I won't go into too much detail about that city now.   

Amsterdam truly surprised me as I was not expecting to enjoy our time there nearly as much as we did!  We stayed in Hotel Vondel which felt like the Dutch version of The Ace hotel chain.  The three days we spent in the Netherlands were enjoyed by wandering around the city's curvy streets and getting lost in shops and restaurants along the numerous canals.  Decadent Dutch breakfast spreads were one of the highlights of the city for me- my favorite of which was at G's Really Nice Place.  G's  is located in a more residential neighborhood and the decor is quaint with pink tufted sofas and quirky comic book tablecloths, but the restaurant has a playful edge with a stripper pole gracing the edge of the coffee bar and the photo background of the menus reminiscent of an American Apparel ad.  Another dining highlight was getting to try a traditional rijsttafel meal (translates to rice table) which is a spread of 40+ tiny Indonesian dishes served alongside heaping portions of white rice which we experienced at Indrapura.   We returned to Paris late Saturday via high speed Thalys train which took about 3 and a half hours.

I can't believe we only have a few more weeks left of our time here which I know will fly by especially with a trip to London coming up this weekend, friends visiting the following week and a trip to Morocco at the end of March before we head home. 

 {Florence- beautiful even when it's gloomy}

 {a small sampling of the perfumes at Santa Maria Novella}

 {all the pretty things I purchased in Florence}

 {feeding swans in the Amsterdam canals. Chris practically had to yank me away from this activity or I would have stayed there all day.}

{Ksumi tea boutique in Paris makes some of the most delicious tea blends I have ever had.  They are bit pricey, but truly luxurious in flavor.  We walked over to their Opera location in the beautiful weather today to pick up some of the Prince Vladmir tea}

{paris flea market find}

Leaving the famous Marche Aux Puces french flea market empty-handed last month didn't discourage me from staying on the hunt for a fabulous flea market find to bring home with us.  A couple weekends ago, my girlfriend invited me to go check out the smaller street flea market in the south of Paris called Puces de Vanves.  This little outdoor flea is much smaller with temporary stalls set up early in the morning.  Most of the stalls here sell small house wares or artwork and the prices were much more in line with what I am used to from trips to the Rose Bowl or Long Beach flea markets back in California.  

I spotted the lighter of these two floral oil paintings sitting in the back of a stall and when I asked the owner if I could get a closer look he pulled out both the light and the more vibrant painting for me as they were to be sold as a pair.  I hesitantly asked for the price and was pleasantly surprised when he told me 42Euro for both!!  Some quick and friendly haggling had me walking away with both of these floral oil paintings for 30Euro total!  A total steal if you ask me since I would probably be willing to spend that much for just the gorgeous gold frames alone.  Each oil painting is about 16" by 20" contained in a thick wood frame and appears to be in great condition.  I cannot wait to get these home to find the perfect place for them to live in our home.