The Powers' House: The List

Showing posts with label The List. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Paris, Day 2

Our next morning in Paris, I woke up feeling much better. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower (walking the 700 stairs to the second platform before riding the elevator to the top). It was one of Aaron's "bucket list" items, so even though it was a bit terrifying (for me), it was worth it, and admittedly pretty spectacular. (I seem to be missing photos from the top, so I'll have to track those down.) Afterwards, we went again to Marais, then to Montparnasse. Then on total impulse toward the end of the day, we decided to take a train to Versailles, which was spectacular, and I only wish we had made plans to spend at least a whole day there. Late that night, we ended up back at the apartment, cooking dinner with the leftover ingredients from the night before. An hour or so later, though, we decided it hadn't quite filled us up, so we headed back out to find a bit more to eat. We ended up at McDonalds, which I'm pretty sure is wrong in about 1,000 ways, but at that moment it was perfect. I think we just wanted something familiar, and to not have to stumble through a broken French-English conversation. I wish I'd had a picture from the outside looking in--the two of us dressed to go out for the evening, sitting together over a burger, fries, and a large Diet Coke shared between us. Again, I'm pretty sure it's a sin to eat at McDonald's while in Paris, but in that moment, it was just about perfect as far as we were concerned.

Paris City Hall

Notre Dame

Chateau de Versailles

Versailles

City of Lights

Paris was lovely. So beautiful. So full of history. And as you walk around, you really do get the sense that it's a city that embraces relationships and just being and enjoying life. I never saw anyone sitting around and staring at their phone (unless they were alone on the metro), ever. The cafes are always full of people leisurely enjoying their meals and laughing and talking with friends or lovers. They don't hurry through any of it. I enjoyed our time there, but I did feel as though we hurried through it (and what choice did we have?). If I ever return, I want to stay longer so that I can just take it all in... and I want to have a basic understanding of French. (Even though most people there did speak English, it was just stressful not speaking the language.)

Monday, September 23, 2013

Paris, Day 1

First of many shots of the Eiffel Tower. It's kind of hard not to get pictures of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It's everywhere you look somehow.

Us in front of the Lourve. I don't feel good at all (obviously).

We drove in late Saturday night from Belgium into Paris, and didn't get to bed until about 2:00am (after meeting the apartment owner for keys, finding a gas station to fill up the rental car, returning the rental car, walking back to the apartment, and calling the kids to say hello). The next morning, we slept until 9:00 (or was it 10:00?) and just lounged around. The rest of our trip had been so go go go that we hadn't taken any time to just relax. Hunger and excitement eventually drew us out of the apartment and we found ourselves walking the streets of Paris with fresh French pastries in hand. We spent the day just walking the city and being amazed at how beautiful and historic and big Paris was in so many ways. The Eiffel Tower was only about a 15 minute walk from our apartment. Our plan was to go to the top, but it was Sunday and the lines were outrageous, so we kept on walking and saw the Louvre, the Jardins des Tuileries, Notre Dame, and about a thousand other noteworthy sites. We had lunch at an outdoor cafe under the trees at the gardens. Classic Paris.

I had a killer headache, so that afternoon we ended up going back to the apartment for the evening. I laid down in front of the fan because, really, it's the only thing in the world that sounded good to me. (And then I cried because I was in Paris and all I wanted to do was lay in bed.) While I laid there all miserable, Aaron went out to get stuff to cook dinner at the apartment, which ended up being quite the ordeal since most shops and butchers and bakeries are closed on Sundays. But finally (after eventually finding an butcher open and managing a conversation in Spanish of all things), he came home with fresh pasta, proscuitto, and basil and got to cooking. Dinner was so delicious, and I think I loved eating there with him more than any other cafe or french restaurant we might have visited otherwise. We sat at our little table with the windows open, and even though I was still feeling bad, it was good.

Later that night, I was feeling slightly better (or was at least propelled by the fact that my future self would absolutely kick my behind for laying in bed when I was in Paris), and we got out again to explore the "City of Lights". It really was pretty magical exploring the city and areas like the Latin Quarter at night. Gorgeous. Romantic. And there were crepes. (Filled with Nutella, might I add.) I still had very little energy, but I loved walking hand in hand with Aaron through the streets and laying my head on his shoulder as we rode the metro. No words necessary. Just us and Paris.

The Lourve

A guy juggling pigeons. Yeah. Pretty crazy!

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Belgium

The second leg of our trip (after Ireland), we spent in Belgium and France. We arrived in France late Friday night and stayed in a cheap hotel in Beauvais for a few hours of sleep. Saturday morning we got up early to drive to Leuven, Belgium where my friend Kristien lives. (She was my best friend while I was in New Zealand, and we hadn't seen each other in 14 years.) When we arrived, she and her boyfriend, Jan, served us a traditional Belgian breakfast of yummy pastries and coffee, and then drove us to Antwerp to experience some of the best of Belgium. It was such an incredible day, and it was over too soon. There's still a lot on the agenda for our next trip there, but we did manage to fit in a ton!

Reuzenstoet This parade of giants is a tradition that is over 300 years old. Giants are a huge part of Belgian folklore, and this event only happens once a year. We just happened to be there on the perfect day!
Cathedral of Our Lady This was a spectacular cathedral that also housed a huge number of paintings by Rubens.
The home of artist, Rubens
Walk through the Grote Markt and all over
French Fries at Frituur No. 1 (did you know the french fry was invented in Belgium?)
Belgian waffles
Belgian chocolates

A photo of us with some of the "giants" from Reuzenstoet (which apparently doesn't happen much, but our friend, Kristien, told them that we came "all the way from America" to see them and we really wanted a picture. The locals were a bit disgruntled when they asked to also have a picture and were dismissed. Oops!)