It's so crazy to think, this time last year, we were in Paris! I don't there is a more fitting place to celebrate an anniversary than the city love. November is a lovely time of year but made even more so by Gregg and I celebrating our love story that began November 11, 2011.
Our first stop was The Champagne Bar at Le Hokhans Paris, A Tribute Portfolio Hotel. I'm a sucker for the ambiance a fireplace brings and seek them out when possible, especially in the fall and winter months. The bar itself is very quaint but the champagne list and menu was extensive and the noosh was incredible.
Not only do you get to catch sparkling views of the Eiffel tower, while walking around the city at night but there are vendors all around selling bottles of wine that allow you to take in the view while sipping on something sweet!
It is said would take 100 days to see all the art inside Louvre, which makes since, as it is the largest museum in the world! There is so much to see had we spent more time in Paris I would have loved to roam around the Louvre endlessly. A 100+ day trip to Paris just made its way onto my bucket list! I could easily spend months wondering around and taking it all in.
The last supper above me and to my right, water being made into wine.
We visited Paris for a little over a week and stayed at the K+K Hotel Cayré Paris. Beautiful and historic, located in the heart Saint Germain a marvelous neighborhood in walking distance from the Eiffel Tower, Musée d’Orsay, and Louvre Museum. We rented a car during our stay but quickly learned it was completely unnecessary! Not only was parking very hard to find but its was very expensive as well. We ended up returning the car early, Paris is an such a walkable city!
Food, food all the food. They say you can't find bad food or wine in Paris. We found this to be mostly true, though we did manage this for one meal; unseasoned, raw duck really isn't our thing. Some of our favorite places that offers charm and phenomenal ambiance and even better food are Kong, a chic restaurant with a stunning view of the city. Le Pre a sweet restaurant, cafe with plenty of healthy plant based options that we frequented both for lunch and late night eats. L' Entrecôte De Paris an authentic casual Persian brassiere that only offers a handful of items, they are best known for their steak and fries and a delectable creme brûlée! For a fancy vibe and a stunning view of the Eiffel Tower Les Ombre is a must. For a fun vibe and drink experience Tiger - Le Bar à Gin was a great choice, if gin doesn't sound appetizing the location of this bar is in a great lively place with a lot of nightlife options around.
We spent our actual anniversary driving through the French country side taking in the awe-inspiring view to reach the Champagne region of France. There are so many tour options out there but I had a pretty specific criteria. Firstly, I preferred for us to get picked up and dropped off at our hotel as apposed to meeting at a pick up and drop off location, lunch to be included as we would be gone for 9-12 hours, we preferred a small group of people no more than 8-10 people (some tours have as many as 40+ people), I also wanted to visit Dom Perigean, one of the oldest and most luxurious brands of champagne houses as well as some smaller houses. A tour through Viator was able to meet all of my requirements and went above and beyond my expectations! We toured three different champagne houses of all different sizes learned so much about the process of how champagne is made (the bubbles come from yeast!) and the different grades of grapes. Our driver was quite knowledgeable about champagne as well and was able to educate us on the drive he also had some bubbly for us to sip on the way back keeping the buzz going!
While I think group tours are great options for some things our day trip to the Palace of Versailles wouldn't have been the same if we hadn't rented a car and made the trip ourselves, it was incredible! We stopped at Place du Marché Notre-Dame a farmers market of sorts less than a mile from the palace where we collected the supplies for a picnic, a fresh baguette, the most delicious figs, cheese, jam, charcuterie and a bottle of sparkling rose.
Same place, same pose, different hats :)
We ended our time in Europe with a magical day trip to London. Magical might sound cliche but it was one of the best dates Gregg and I have ever been on.
We took the train in for the day and hit some well known hot spots. First we stopped for fish, chips and a pint of beer. Next we went to Hamley's the worlds oldest and largest toy store seven floors stuffed with toys to pick up a souvenir for Ezra. We made our way over to Buckingham palace to take a look at those statue like guards. Lastly went to the Natural History Museum and had a wonderful time skating at the ice rink and warming up with mulled wine.
As a huge Harry Potter fan and at the risk of missing our train back to Paris I couldn't leave Kings Cross Station without a visit to Platform 9 3/4, of course I dragged Gregg with me!
