Tyler's Visit

Tyler came to visit me in Paris this past week. It was nice seeing him and having an excuse to do all of the touristy things in Paris! The first day he was here we took it easy because he was jet lagged and I was exhausted from spring break. We ate at my favorite bakery, Kayser, and we went to my local farmers market at Place Monge. We bought fruit, bread, and salami to have a little picnic back at the apartment. On Monday, we woke up and went to Pere Lachaise (a famous cemetery in Paris). It was a beautiful and HUGE cemetery. We saw Jim Morrison's grave (still a little unsure about why he is buried in Paris) and Oscar Wilde's grave. We both walked around Le Marais and ate falafel (the first place I bring every visitor) and walked over to Place Vosges to eat it. That night, we went to the 11th to eat crepes. I went to a creperie on my Eurotrip two years ago, but I could not remember the name or the location. I had been wanting to find it again so Tyler and I wandered around the area that it was in until we found it. I was so excited that I actually found it, and the food was just as good as I remembered! I had a goat cheese, ham, and egg crepe. Tyler had a potato and cheese crepe.

Oscar Wilde's grave, covered in kisses!

delicious ham, egg, and goat cheese crepe @ Chez Imogene

The next day we went to the Parisian Catacombs, which is an underground tomb in Paris. It was actually really cool- there are tunnels underneath this one area of Paris. All of the skulls and bones were stacked in an artistic manner which was cool, but a little creepy. After the catacombs, I took Tyler to Ile de la Cité to eat Berthillon ice cream. Sadly, I mixed up the islands so we wandered around Cité which isn't particularly cute. Fortunately, we found a cafe that served Berthillon ice cream (the best ice cream in the world!) and we bumped into Notre Dame.

Tyler in the CatacombsSkulls and Bones lined up in CatacombsTyler @ Notre Dame

On Wednesday, we went to the Palace of Versailles. It was beautiful, and extremely decadent to say the least. Everything was either dipped in gold or covered in diamonds. Tyler and I tried to estimate how much the palace is worth- our guesses were in the billions. There are hundreds of famous paintings in the building (many of which I had studied in art history, which was exciting!). We also wandered around the gardens, which were stunning. The only bad part was the masses of 10 year olds who were wandering around the building with their schools. I kept on running into little kids because they are so short! That night, we met up with my friend from high school, Maddie, and her boyfriend Branden. They were both in town on vacation so we all met up at a restaurant in the 11th!

Palace of Versailles

Gardens at VersaillesOut to dinner w/ Maddie

On Thursday, Tyler met me after my classes and we wandered around the 7th arrondissement. We went to the Eiffel Tower and the Champ du Mars. We came home and a few of my friends came over to cook dinner. We made barbeque chicken (Bri's mom sent her bbq sauce, which was delicious...), couscous with raisins and nuts, and an avocado/cucumber/tomato salad. Of course, there was also lots and lots of wine, bread, and cheese. It was a lot of fun!

Everyone at dinner in our apartment

On Friday, we went to the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysees, the Tuillerie Gardens, and the Louvre. At the Tuilleries, we had hot chocolate at Angelina and then we went to eat macaroons at Pierre Herme (of course, we decided to get macaroons the day before FREE macaroon day in Paris- unfortunately, I did not know about this day until after it happened.) At the Louvre, we saw Napolean's apartment. His apartment was even more insane and lavish that Versailles. There were huge vaulted ceilings covered in beautiful paintings. There were dozens of large chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, and luxurious chairs and bedding. After his apartment, we went to see the most famous pieces including the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the coronation crown of Louis XV. We also saw a number of other Italian paintings. After that, we walked around the pyramid outside the Louvre and ate Udon at a Japanese restaurant near there.

At the Arc de Triomphe!

Napolean's Apartment, in the LouvreDrinking hot chocolate at Angelina!

The next day, we went to Montmartre and le Sacre Couer. Montmartre is very touristy, but once you go to the residential area it is adorable. We walked around there for a long while, and then we went to the 6th arrondissement for dinner. Before dinner, we went to Saint Sulpice which is a famous church in Paris. We walked around before meeting everyone at dinner. GW hosts free dinners, so Tyler was lucky and got to come along for free. We went to Creperie des Cannettes, which was delicious! I had a goat cheese, honey, and walnut crepe for my main course. Tyler had a raclette crepe.

At Montmartre, beautiful view of Paris!

On Sunday, we went to the Pantheon and the crypt that is there. I had no idea that so many famous people were buried there. We saw the tombs of Rousseau, Voltaire, Pierre and Marie Curie, Alexandre Dumas, the man who invented Braille, and dozens of others. After this, Pere Lachaise, and the Catacombs, I had seen enough dead people for a while... Afterwards, we went to the Luxembourg gardens. It was a beautiful evening in Paris. The sun was out and everyone was lounging in the park. There were hundreds of kids running around with their parents. We found a few chairs and people-watched for an hour. We picked up a pizza and salad on the way home for dinner.

Luxembourg Gardens

Tyler was supposed to leave on Monday morning, but because of the British Airways strike his flight was moved to Tuesday. This was nice because we had a little extra time to do more things! On Monday, we went to Ile St. Louis (which is the island I originally wanted to take him to, but messed up and went to Cité). We ate at a little cafe and afterwards, of course, had Berthillon ice cream. That night, we went to a french bistro for dinner and after had dessert crepes on Rue Mouffetard.

Dinner at the French Bistro Victoires

Overall, it was a really fun week! I would not have done as many of the tourist stops if he had not been there- so it was a good excuse.