Cole had a business trip to Paris at the end of September and since his meetings were on a Monday, we decided to take advantage of the timing and spend the weekend before together exploring the city.

Lucy and I took the train from Amsterdam first thing Saturday morning and arrived in Paris a few short hours later. It was her first long train ride and she did so well that I can’t wait to take her more places 🙂

Cole was waiting for us at the train station and decided to see the city by our favourite mode of transportation, bike! We rented the public city bikes (a steal at 1.50 euros for 24 hours!) and Lucy followed alongside us – perfectly manoeuvring in and out of the busy traffic, passing through the charming neighborhoods, and even trotting alongside us up the Champs Elysee!

While both Cole and I had been to Paris before and seen many of the traditional tourist attractions, we thought there were a few we had to experience together – one being hanging out by the Eiffel Tower. We grabbed some cheese, snacks and most importantly a bottle of wine from a nearby store and spent a couple hours soaking up on the sun on that gorgeous Parisian autumn afternoon. That evening, we went to one of my favourite neighborhoods, St. Germain, and ate at this beautiful restaurant overlooking Notre Dame – Le Petit Chalet. We split another bottle of wine and indulged ourselves in a delicious meal. Afterwards, we wandered through this quaint antique bookstore next door, Shakespeare and Company, and then made our way back home exhausted from an adventurous day of biking and exploring.

On Sunday morning, we set out to grab some breakfast and stumbled upon this incredible restaurant, Once Upon a Time, where we had one of the best breakfasts in my life. The owner welcomed us in with open arms and walked us through the menu, taking the time to explain some of his favourites and offer recommendations. Four courses later along with a coffee and orange juice, we were completely stuffed but so happy. I cannot recommend this restaurant enough – the food, presentation, ambience and even the music, made everything absolutely perfect. Can’t wait till our next visit to Paris and get to visit this restaurant again.

After brunch, we decided to wander the streets of St. Paul and Le Marais, stopping in and out of various boutiques and stores, and enjoying the leisurely pace of a Sunday in Paris. We made our way down to St. Germain and then decided to head north to Montmarte. After exploring the side streets and alleys of Montmarte, we opted to climb the towers of Sacre Couer to see the view of the city. 300 steps later, we arrived at the top of the church and were completely blown away by the view. Since it was late afternoon and nearly dusk, the lighting was perfect and you had a 360 degree view of all of Paris. One thousand photos later, we trekked back down and begun our search for the best steak frites in the entire city. We finally settled on a restaurant on the opposite side of town, Café Du Commerce. It was worth the distance as the restaurant and steak frites did not disappoint. It was a charming restaurant with a very Parisian vibe and all the tables overlooked a beautiful courtyard. We topped off our wonderful weekend in Paris with the only thing stopping us from declaring it a perfect weekend – a strawberry Nutella crepe 🙂