Fin

Our final night in France.  We stayed at a luxurious hotel off of Avenue Montaigne (near the Champs Elysees).  We found the original Longchamp store (tucked a few streets up from the Place de la Concorde).  We dined at Chez Andre and I finally was able to have my favorite dessert ever - profiteroles. After dinner, we walked down Avenue Montaigne, past Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Nina Ricci stores until we could see the Eiffel Tour sparkle at night.

Notre Dame + Ile Saint Louis

Sunday evening of our trip we metroed over to Ile de la Cite to attend mass at Notre Dame.  The weight of the history and all drama of the architecture was humbling and awe-inspiring. After mass, we walked through the little garden behind Notre Dame and across the bridge to Ile Saint Louis for a delicious dinner at Cafe St. Regis.  The light on Ile Saint Louis is magical. 

Provence (Avignon)

After roaming the streets of Paris for several days, I longed to breathe cleaner air and maintain a slower pace.  Lucky we had tickets booked on the fast train to Provence - Avignon.  It roared through the French countryside, speckled with tiny, old towns and herds of sheep, with the Rhone Alps in the distance.  We arrived and walked A LONG WAY to our inn, a small establishment tucked in one of the many winding streets of Avignon (most famous for the Pont D'Avignon and the Palais de Papes, where the Vatican ruled in the fourteenth century). We spent two nights there, enjoying the Provencal pace and gorgeous Spring sunshine.

View from below the Palais de Papes

Rhone Alps in the distance

Somebody is not paying attention

Sur le Pont D'Avignon...

Walking up to the Palais de Papes

My camera was snatched by my mum!

French dogs are tres chic

Reminded me of the Sound of Music

 

Palais de Papes

My favorite dinner of the whole trip at L'Epices and Love

Louvre

Yeah, so I am incredibly slow with these France pictures.  I don't blame you if you've lost interest. There are so many pictures and so little time on my part to do them justice.  Time is just not to be had these days.  And I miss being in this space.  I want to connect with it again.  But alas, these days it's merely a photo dump from my incredible journey.

We woke up early Monday morning of our trip and walked several city blocks, crossed the Pont Des Arts (where they were filming a movie with Isla Fisher) and walked into the Louvre.  Early mornings are the best times to visit French museums. Period.