At the end of July, two of my besties and one of their boyfriends travelled all the way from Atlanta to visit us in Amsterdam! We spent a few days showing them all of our favourite places in our new home before heading to Paris for a few days.

In Amsterdam, we took them out on the canals and had a karaoke filled evening singing our hearts out to the streets of Amsterdam. We showed them around Jordaan, the Foodhallen, Museumplein and so much more.

On Sunday, we hopped on the train and a few short hours later, we arrived in Paris on a beautiful summer day. We made the most of the afternoon and spent the remainder of the day exploring the Tuileries Gardens, the Louvre, and walking along the Sienne. We had the best dinner at a restaurant in Le Marais called Benedict – highly recommend it! Afterwards, we stopped by Notre Dame to eat a crepe and watch the sunset. It was a perfect Parisian day and we were so excited to check out everything else the city had to offer.

Monday we started by walking up to the neighbourhood of Montmarte (“like this”), passing by Moulin Rogue and ending at Sacre Coeur. We enjoyed a bottle of Rose (because why not) before heading down to Champs-Elysees. Of course a visit to Paris would not be complete without the obligatory stop by the Eiffel Tower. We skipped going up and instead grabbed a baguette and sat in the Champ de Mars taking in the beautiful view. We then headed to the neighborhood of St. Germain, enjoying an amazing happy hour and meal (complete with Escargot) before leisurely strolling back to the hotel.

Unfortunately, Tuesday I had to work but Olivia, Jean and Spencer headed to Versailles for the day and had a great time despite the rain. We met up that evening at Relais de l’Entrecôte Saint-Germain for a delicious dinner of quintessential steak frites. There is no menu, so you better like steak frites. Also, make sure you get there early to avoid a long line wrapped around the block.

On Wednesday, we woke up early and grabbed a scrumptious breakfast at Claus before making our way over to Musee d’Orsay to view some beautiful artwork including pieces by Monet and Van Gogh. The museum is in an old railway station and is absolutely stunning. Afterwards, we headed to Luxembourg Gardens which was beautiful and then finished up at Notre Dame, where we hoped to climb up the tower. Unfortunately, the line was incredibly long so we had to skip it and instead headed to buy macaroons for our friends and family. We grabbed the train back to Amsterdam that afternoon and made it back in time for dinner in Amsterdam and drinks along the canal.

I was so sad to say goodbye to my friends on Thursday, It was so wonderful having them in town and can’t wait for them to come back next year 🙂 Olivia, Jean, and Spencer – thank you SO much for making the long trek to Amsterdam!

Oh, and we just happened to literally walk right past the same street where I took the ultimate dorky photo probably 20 years ago – so of course, I had to recreate this epic photo 🙂 #awkwardyears #tweetybirdhatFTW #theoriginalpoodle #tbt