Paris Photographie-- Day One

Just over 2 1/2 months ago my wonderful, new husband and I left the country for our honeymoon in Paris!! I really wish I would have gone through these sooner, BUT now I get to relive every moment of our trip as I edit and write blogs about it :) 

We left Austin the Tuesday after our wedding. It was so nice to get to relax after the craziness was over instead of just leaving on a jet plane immediately... if you're getting married any time soon, I highly recommend giving yourself at least a day between your wedding and your honeymoon trip. You won't regret it! 

Our first flight was delayed a couple of hours (um, Mrs. Has To Be In Charge Of Everything-- made me nervous JUST a tad!) BUT we used the extra time to play with my camera. Meaning I got to teach Bryan a thing or two ;-) Our first lesson was on white balance. I made him figure out which one was correct... good job Bry-bear! These are our "test" photos. :) Good start for a vacation, right?? I'm so proud of my hubby... 

Our delayed flight almost caused us to miss our connecting flight in Newark, NJ- and by almost I mean literally, by about 3 minutes. If we hadn't run to our next gate there's no way we would have made it. Phew. And 11 hours later, we arrived in Paris, France at about 8:00am. And by the way, long plane rides are way more comfortable when you can put your feet in someone's lap :) Yeah for more leg room!

We got a taxi to take us into the heart of Paris-- commence the most terrifying ride of my life. I think I can almost say that French highways are about as scary as Hwy 59 in Houston. Crazy.

Jet-lagged, exhausted, dehydrated, and thirsty, we arrived at our first destination- which, until the moment we arrived, was a complete surprise for me. (We stayed at two places along our journey, of which I only knew of the second one.) Voila, Hotel Le Six:

It is considered a "boutique hotel," and was really sweet! They had a lot of modern art and wonderful (on French standards) espresso. These are just a few shots of the lobby, where we waited for just a bit before our room was ready. We took a short nap and then started walking for our first taste of French cuisine:

We found a little "mom and pop" restaurant just down the street that was famous for their crepes! So, of course we had to try crepes for our first French meal. This was the first time we found out that almost every drink is served in wine-ish glasses, even water. Bryan's food (top right) was a breakfast crepe with sausage and eggs, while mine (bottom right) was more of a salad, ham and mustard crepe. They were simply "tres magnifique!" Please pardon our sleep-deprived faces.

Just down the street was one of the parks of Paris, Le Jardin Du Luxembourg. Please keep in mind that we went during winter, which was cold, sometimes dreary, and very bare of foilage. So for someone who likes lots of color, beautiful flowers, birds singing... I learned how to shoot very different subjects :)

Everything was beautiful in its' barrenness but still present frivolity.

Now, I must admit a pretty bad fail on my part... As some of you know, Bryan is a huge runner. He loves to run, something I really wish I had the passion for. As we were packing for the trip, Bry really wanted to bring his running clothes-- to which I replied incredulously, "Are you nuts?? It will be SO cold, and then I'll be worried sick about you while you're out running in a foreign country." Well. I wish I had let my sweet husband bring his running clothes. Runners were EVERYwhere in Paris. And I mean, everywhere. The locals would even run around Versailles, right on the very grounds of the palace... Needless to say, the moment we stepped into the Luxembourg Gardens, I was humbled. Very, very humbled... I'm still sorry Bry!! :)

There was also a very peculiar sight to behold as we entered the park. There were a few leagues of men playing a game that looked like bocci ball, but apparently wasn't. We still aren't 100% sure what it was, but it was quite fun to watch them. They were reallll serious.

As we walked some more we came upon a large lawn with trees shaped like boxes, ponds and fountains, and birds that had no sense of personal space. I've always wanted a photo of flying birds...

I think I can honestly say that EVERY building or statue we saw in Paris was breathtaking. There was actually a law passed in 1974 declaring that all new buildings in Paris had to match the architecture type that sprung up around the 1850's. Anywhere you walked you would see trees, sculptures, and beautiful buildings.

As someone who now lives in a condominium complex, I will be investing some time and money to set up some beautiful balcony box flowers. Even though they weren't in bloom while we were there, you still felt the beauty of them.

After walking around for quite a while and trying to feel Paris, we decided it was getting high time to head back "home." We'd probably gotten 2-3 hours of sleep the night before due to our red-eye flight, so going to bed at 7:00pm was very appealing. But before we were allowed to make it back, these lovely delights stole our eyes and our appetites:

Oh, French desserts, how I miss you. Any bakery you walked into was sure to have delicacies of this kind, and it definitely became our greatest weakness during the trip. Yes, we purchased the "mousse chocolat" that you see on the bottom left... mmmm :) But little did I know it, the galette you see on the bottom right was soon to become my absolutely favorite French dessert. I'll have to describe these wonderful little things later, but believe me-- they were incredible. I'll certainly be going to La Madeleine sometime soon, I've been told they have true galettes.... I hope you enjoyed getting to experience our first day, I'll be back soon with day 2!!