Paris Magic

A list of Paris magic:
1) Waking up early one morning, putting on my best Parisian outfit to walk the neighborhood and buy crossaints for breakfast
2) My favorite neighborhoods are Montmartre and Le Marais (18th, 3rd & 4th arrondissement)
3) The plants are lush.  The buildings, beautiful.  The people are stylish.  A hint of je ne sais quoi in the air.
4) There is no such thing as a sophomore slump when visiting Paris.  It delivered an even deeper, richer experience the second time around.  
5) Late dinner culture- sipping wine, eating a salad of frisee, and perhaps a savory crepe.  Perhaps this overall ties into my love of defined mornings and evenings.   



Thoughts from my journal 7/15/16:
"Sad to have left Paris.  Its charm and beauty is a hard thing to capture in one's mind permanently.  You think you've had enough time to take it all in, study it, to keep its legacy going when you return home- only to find it quickly slips through your fingers".  

Paris has remained my quintessential favorite city.  The fresh breath of air.  This time around we stayed in an apartment with a view of the Eiffel tower.  Since we've done the tourist stuff, we watched around neighborhoods, took the metro, lounged in parks and indulged in long meals. My favorite time of the entire trip- it really is unfair to all the other cities that I play favorites this badly. 

Prague VI & VII

I have no photos from the sixth day of the trip.  We essentially slept in, ate food, and went shopping.  Huzzah!

For our last day in Prague, we had a lazy lunch across the street at the cafe we'd been eating all of our lunches at.

My mom trying to look intellectual with her coffee.

Not pictured: our visit to the Communism Museum!  Ever since high school, communism has been a huge interest of mine, specifically communism and espionage.  Despite no picture, I managed to take a picture of some graffiti close by:

This store will forever hold a special place in my mom and I's hearts.  It was a store that crossed generations to provide both me and my mom with our most favorite shirts ever.  We went back countless times to where the sales ladies smirked every time we came back.  But we didn't care, because we were in love.  My mom and I were heartbroken to find out that they didn't ship to the United States.  So in order to preserve it's memory, I took a picture of my mom in front of it (wearing one of their shirts). 

We spontaneously went to a pop-opera concert.

Explored some of the Old Jewish Quarter.

And then one of my favorite moments from the trip happened.  Since it had been raining, I borrowed an umbrella from our hotel.  It was a big old fashioned Mary Poppins umbrella with a curved handle. After we were done with site seeing that day, we found an empty alley and took some flying Mary Poppins pictures with my umbrella.  My mom is pretty cool.

Her picture taking skills were better than mine :D

And to finish off the trip we had dinner and ate some Czech sausage.

Thanks mom for such a wonderful trip. 

Prague V

After touring the tops of Notre Dame, my mom and I got on an airplane for Prague.  On the plane ride there, we swore we were sitting next to a spy.  He had a piercing cold stare and talked to no one.  He also carried no baggage with him, a quick escape eh?

That night we slept in an interesting hotel that my mom and I affectionately referred to as an old communist bunker.  We switched to a hotel the next day that was much closer to in town.

But first, I want to start off with how much I wore this skirt.  It felt like everyday.  Ever since I was a child, I cannot escape my love of navy.

Back to Prague.  People always say that Paris is the most beautiful city in Europe, until they go to Prague.  I could see how this could be true, however they have two different energies to them.  Paris exemplifies the epitome of European sophistication with well dressed citizens, street side cafes, and overall "je ne sais quoi".  Prague has a darker, more mysterious feel that plays a foil to it's friendly people and colorful buildings. 

Our first stop was a tour of St. Vitus Cathedral and Pražský hrad (the Prague Castle) which sits on top of a hill overlooking the river.

The city from the castle.

A little piece of lavender.

Obviously had to get me one of these while in Prague.

Countinuing our tradition of river boat tours, my mom took one down the Vltava River.  You can see the famous bridges center and the castle to the right.

The beginning of the famous St. Charles bridge.

After the boat tour, we walked around Old Town Square:

Saw the famous Astronomical Clock.

View from dinner.  I tried my best to eat the local dishes while I was there.  The first night I had
Czech goulash:

I was enamored with this old man who had a cane and a pony tail.  He was like a real life story character.

Walking to cross St. Charles bridge.

Completed in 1402, St. Charles bridge is now a mix of old bohemian Catholic symbolism and modern day Prague artisans.

The sun going down behind the castle.

An artist packing up on St. Charles.

The view from our hotel of the castle.  A little Harry Potterish eh?