Our Anniversary Trip to Paris

{wearing: dress | shoes | purse}

When our Tuscany plans were flipped upside down (you can read more about that here, if you’d like!) I was secretly kind of pumped. Our new plan (a trip to London, Bath, and Cornwall, instead!) simply meant that Justin and I would then be able to hop on a quick flight to Paris just in time to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary. Are we the cheesiest or what? But truly, I can’t imagine a more wonderful place to celebrate a year of marriage* than in the most romantic city in the world. 

*If you’d like to see any of our wedding posts, you can check them out right here
 
The day of our anniversary was admittedly a bit of a mess… We ignorantly didn’t realize it was also Bastille day, and almost everything we had originally planned on doing was closed, or inaccessible, which was a bit of a bummer. But after hitting the reset button with a long afternoon nap, we made up for the nothing-is-flowing portion of our itinerary with the most inrcredible evening. We started off with cocktails at Harry’s New York bar (where both the sidecar and the bloody mary were invented in the 20’s!), which felt so quintessentially Parisian in the very best of ways. And then, upon the recommendation of a good friend who never leads us astray, we treated ourselves to dinner at Ellsworth, which was a meal I still dream about to this day. 

By some stroke of luck, we happened to have reservations on an evening wherein they were hosting a special Mexican feast. Upon arriving, they immediately filled our champagne glasses to the top and from there it basically never stopped. Nobody ever really explained exactly what was happening (which was actually kind of fun), but food and drink pairings simply kept arriving, and each dish (and sip!) was more unbelievable than the last. It eventually got to the point where we had to ask them to stop bringing things to our table because we couldn’t possibly eat another bite (a decision I’m now regretting! I would like to eat that entire meal again a hundred times over please and thank you). The best part is we actually had *no* idea what this experience was going to cost us, since we were kind of thrown into it all unexpectedly. We actually played a fun, albeit slightly terrifying, game where we tried to guess what the damage would be. When the bill finally came, we were shocked to have realized that the entire meal was a mere 55 euros each – I truly thought the wine pairings alone were going to cost at least that. All in all, it was the most wonderful anniversary dinner, and I’m so grateful for the entire experience. 
 
The rest of our days were spent in the most Parisian ways we could muster. We enjoyed cafe au laits and pain au chocolats for breakfast virtually every morning. We visited Les Puces fleamarket, where I met a ton of incredible furniture and hardware vendors I’m excited to start sourcing from for projects going forawrd. We toured both the Musee D’orsay and the L’orangerie, which were both incredible in their own right. We spent an afternoon meandering Montmartre, stopping to rest at quaint cafes, and picking up mini bottles of wine and champagne and watching the clouds roll by in tiny parks before ducking into 10 person restaurants for foie gras en cocotte (I sound like I’m bullshitting, but that was for real our life for a second and I would like to go back to it IMMEDIATELY). 

While, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all perfect (see: Bastille day hiccups and waiting 5 hours in the blazing sun to tour the Catacombes – note: they were cool but not worth the wait**), all in all it was a magical trip in many ways. I’m sharing my coles notes below with regards to where we stayed, ate, and what we did. Plus, what we missed and will be returning for.

**we also realized, while we were standing in line on our last day in Paris, that you can actually book tickets in advance that will give you a specific timeslot. Please save yourselves and do that! This would make it worthwhile for sure. 

{montmartre}

{aux lyonnaise}

{one year strong!
wearing: romper (old) | glasses | necklace | cardigan (old – similar)}

{l’as du falafel

wearing: jeans | top | purse}

{where the bloody mary & the sidecar were invented}

{our anniversary dinner at Ellsworth}

{dinner at Mama Primmi}

{Musee D’orsay}

{midday snacks}

{les puces flea market

wearing: jeans (my favourite!) | shoes | top | purse}

{vintage french wallpaper}

{pre-dinner drinks}

{Jardin des Tuilleries}

{the best ice cream in the world: le Berthillon}

{the last night of our fabulous trip
wearing: dress | purse | cardigan (old – similar) | necklace}

WHERE WE STAYED

WHERE WE ATE & DRANK

note: I’m only listing the places I’d happily recommend

WHAT WE DID

WHERE WE’D LIKE TO EAT NEXT TIME

WHAT WE’D LIKE TO VISIT NEXT TIME