der fremdling

This weekend (or rather, Thursday through Sunday) Ilana and I took a pretty spontaneous trip to Paris. We managed to get a relatively inexpensive flight and hotel room in Montmartre. We arrived around 1 pm on Thursday and immediately dropped off our bags and went out to do as much touristy nonsense as possible. Over our weekend we crammed in as much as we could, but I know we just scratched the surface of what Paris has to offer. Nonetheless, it was a really amazing trip and I know I'll be returning to Paris at the next opportunity. Here are a ton of pictures from our stay. 

Our subway stop - walking distance from the Sacré-Cœur!

My lovely traveling companion, Ilana!

Our first stop was the Arc de Triomphe. We started in the west and spent the afternoon wandering east.

Along the way we found this really incredible building covered in mosses and little vines. I have no idea what it is really, but it was beautiful.

Our semi-successful self timed obligatory Eiffel Tower picture.

On Friday we got up really early, had breakfast and went to the Louvre when it opened to avoid crazy crowds. This turned out to be a really great idea, as it got more and more insanely crowded as the day went on. I think maybe we saw about 1/3 of the collections. We spent most of our time on the 2nd floor. I want to see it all someday, but one day certainly isn't enough to tackle the Louvre. Regardless, it was even better than everyone always says it is, and I'm pleased that we saw as much as we did. I finally saw some pieces I'd been dying to see forever.

What a dork.

After leaving the Louvre, we walked over to the Île de la Cité to see Notre Dame. There was a service being held while we were inside, and though it was obviously beautiful, it really was hard to appreciate because of all the really disrespectful tourists talking loudly and using flash. I left feeling a bit angry. It is amazing though!

Lucky for us, the Sacré Cœur was a really short distance from our hotel. This was definitely my favorite spot that we visited during our stay. The church itself is stunning, and the view of Paris from the top is perfect.

 

Nearby, I got my fix of Macarons. I think the rose one was my favorite. Yum.

Ilana's cousin and her husband happened to be in Paris for vacation visiting his family (he is French and grew up in the suburbs of Paris), so we met with them for a glass of wine at a little wine cellar/restaurant along the Palais Royal.

After we had dinner, Ilana and I walked along Rue de Rivoli, stopping to watch the Eiffel Tower glitter for few minutes. We also stopped in Place Vendrôme, which was so pretty to see by night.

On our last day, we walked the length of the Canal Saint-Martin and then walked west towards the Centre Pompidou, where we met up with Ilana's cousin and her husband again. They have a Dalí show at the moment that I imagine would have been worth seeing, but the wait would have been something like 2 hours out in the freezing cold, so we opted to just look at the permanent collection, which I thoroughly enjoyed. They have a handful of German Expressionist and Fauvist paintings that I really love.

Henri Miller sculpture in Les Halles above the Châtelet Station