First Stop – Paris, France

Paris is hands down my favorite city.

I love everything about it.  I love the sights and sounds. I love the way I feel when I am there. I secretly pretend I am a local and imagine what it would be like if I were.

Paris was our first stop on our 10 day “euro-trip”.  In fact, if your on instagram you can check out our iphone only photos from this trip at the hashtag #humpsdoeurope2013 🙂 This was truly a trip of a lifetime and we were lucky enough to share this leg of the trip with Cole’s parents – Bob and Jo-Ann.  We shared so many laughs and made so many great memories.  I think it really brought us  closer as a family.  We have all been to Paris before but I’m telling you I can’t get enough.  Jo-Ann and I did the bulk of our shopping in Paris and by the end of the trip (and many train stations and stairs later) we were getting an ear full from the boys complaining that our luggage was bursting at the seams because of all of our purchased treasures!  Oops!  Anyways on to the photos!

Bye for now!
Nicole

P.S. Make sure to follow the blog to tune in next week for our next stop – Cinque Terre, Italy!

For those of you who are not familiar with the love locks of Paris… A couple writes their names on a lock (as you can see Chloe is included on ours) then you fasten the lock on the gate of the bridge and toss the key into the Seine to declare your undying love for one another! Ok, ok its a little corny but it was fun!

These shots are in the area in Paris known as the “Latin Quarter” – Cole’s favorite area in Paris.  I love all of the tiny alleyways in the Latin Quarter.

The picture below was shot out of the window of our hotel room. Cole and I would leave the window open and listen to the sounds of the city. Paris in the rain is awesome I might add!

Luxembourg Gardens – We did not make it to the gardens on our first trip to Paris… Huge mistake. It is absolutely beautiful and is now one of my favorite spots in Paris.

Nutella crepes! Our fav! Jo-Ann and I agree that these crepes were the best we had. Bob was not convinced and all Cole cared about was french onion soup…

Our navigators! Jo-Ann and Cole did such a great job guiding us through Paris! Bob and I just went along for the ride!

These two are the funniest people you could ever hope to meet. They have been in my life for the last 10 years and I have to say I never knew how hilarious they were until this trip! Our travels would not have been the same without them. 

I think this red scooter shot is so rad!

Someone must have had a good night…

As I mentioned Jo-Ann and I did quite a bit of shopping.  As Cole waited outside of the store, he sat on the ground and would snap pictures of locals walking by. Notice the Yorkies…they have got to be the dog of Paris. They are everywhere! As you can imagine I loved it!

This was one of our favorite nights of the entire trip. We sat at a little sidewalk cafe, drank wine and enjoyed the energy around us.  We stayed there for about 3 hours or so! It is truly what the city is all about.

Here is a quick shot of my mussels that I ate…they weren’t bad but were no comparison to my favorite curry mussels at Bo-Beau!

Jo-Ann’s famous picture taking stance. We will be posting more pictures from our trip and you will get a better idea of what we were working with! We teased her constantly about this!