La vie en rose

When we arrived in Paris, it was eight in the morning. So, we grabbed our bags and navigated CDG (which looks nothing like it should according to fave HS flick French Kiss...maybe that was the other one?) to the connecting train station where we navigated by, yes, plane, then train, then automobile to our charming little corner-closet-room on the top floor of our boutique hotel. Tres cute.

Me, and all our luggage (since we nearly always travel, like carpetbaggers, with all our belongings!)

We spent a bit of time on the Champs de Mars and Champs-Elysees and planned the sights of our trip, because, of course the Eiffel Tower and famous streets are iconic images of Paris that had to be mentally (and photographically) documented immediately! Plus, cafes...mmm...food. I already mentioned baguettes, brie...there was wine and pain au chocolat and croissants and cafe au lait and duck and butter and...mmmm...

We also saw Versailles (actually pronounced correctly! It's a revelation after living in Kentucky so long! I kept having to tell myself: don't do it, don't say Ver-say-lls!) and Notre Dame and one of my favorite spots: Ile St. Louis, where there was a little band and kids and dogs everywhere and an impromptu "free massage" service all along the bridge and, of course, streets lined with flea-market stalls full of old books and maps and kooky pictures and knick knacks.

A charming little side street.

The band on Ile St. Louis.

The absolute highlight of Paris, though, was the evening that started the week before when a book showed up at my mom's house. It was my birthday hint. A copy of "The Sun Also Rises," Ernest Hemingway's first major novel. On our last evening in Paris we visited the famous restaurant "Les Deux Magots," where Hemingway is said to have completed a large part of the book, for a spectacular dinner and fabulous wine and great atmosphere. We sat at a table on the upper level of the tiered patio and talked, ate drank, imagined and watched the people - and the day - fade away. It was one of Jacob's more notable successes in events (and that's hard to say considering his record!). So thoughtful.

Following Paris, we headed to Provence, but more about that later. Here are all the pics of Paris. Enjoy!