I went to Paris! The entire experience was dream-like and I truly felt like I was on a movie set. I flew by myself both ways and slept the majority of both the long flights. Mom says I’m a natural traveler… who knew? This was my first time doing it! I didn’t even experience jet-lag. I totally LOVED Paris, I felt at home there, and some of my high school French even came back to me. We did just about every typical tourist thing there is to do in the short 3.5 days we had, but I’m not going to tell you what we did quite yet… I’m only going to share a couple of images from each day of our trip, and after I get them all edited, I will do a dedicated blog post to share all of them (Curtis took a bunch of pictures too!). I took about 350 pictures and I have no idea how I’m going to curate those down to a more manageable number to share.
Traveling makes me hungry to take the kids out into the real world and have more experiences, see more culture, and live a richer, fuller life. Maybe now that they are older, they will be a little easier to travel with. Each time we’ve ever taken them anywhere that was for more than a few days, we’ve come home and said never again. Now, I cannot wait to try.
Day Fifty ~ United to Paris
Curtis arranged all of my travel and I flew United for all flights. I had a very pleasant experience and got booked in the economy plus section which gives travelers a little more leg room. It was quite comfy! I only had someone sitting next to me on the Washington to San Antonio flight on my return trip. I even had a glass (or two!) of wine on my way over.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2 | 1/160 | ISO 5000
Day Fifty ~ Arc de Triomphe
I’ll go into lots more detail about specifics, but once Curtis joined me in Paris, we walked down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées after exploring a good portion of the Right Bank of Paris. We got to the Arc de Triomphe as the sun was setting and it was beautiful.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/4 | 1/320 | ISO 100
Day Fifty ~ Parisian Florist at Dusk
I cannot begin to describe how beautiful this city is so I will try to do it justice with my photos. The brick-paved streets, quaint street lamps, the corner florist… it was all so picturesque.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2 | 1/320 | ISO 640
Day Fifty-One ~ Starbucks is the Same
I was thrilled to find a Starbucks just a block down from our hotel (I will share all about our hotel experience in my Paris post hopefully soon!). It was funny to see all of the local people ordering the same drinks as here, and I loved listening to them speak. Every person we encountered was friendly, patient, and kind. Many people spoke English, but even those that didn’t, found a way to communicate.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/1.6 | 1/200 | ISO 1250
Day Fifty-One ~ Trocadéro from the Top
The Trocadéro, site of the Palais de Chaillot, is an area across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. Of course, we did the Eiffel Tower (but I’m just going to tease you here and say that one of my favorite images is of the Eiffel Tower and I took it with my iPhone… which I will share later in my Paris post), and the views were magnificent. This was my favorite view of the Palais de Chaillot and its gardens. Pure majesty.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/5.6 | 1/400 | ISO 280
Day Fifty-Two ~ Happy Husband
I think Sunday was our favorite day. It was soul-enriching. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my husband so happy. <3<3<3
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/5.6 | 1/400 | ISO 100
Day Fifty-Two ~ Resplendent
We were reluctant to head back to the hotel every night because we had such a short time to explore. On our last night in Paris together, we wandered after dinner and ended up in the Trocadero area across from the Eiffel Tower. Of course it was on my bucket list to get a night shot of this famous monument!
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2 | 1/100 | ISO 5600
Day Fifty-Three ~ People Moving
Sniff, sniff… time to say goodbye to Paris. Traveling through the passport check and onto my gate took me through this labyrinthine maze of tunneled escalators. You can see some of them through the plexiglass to the right. It was surreal.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.8 | 1/400 | ISO 900
Day Fifty-Four ~ The Jazz Apple
Back to the ordinary life… grocery shopping was a must-do once I returned home. Mom and I went exploring though to a new grocery store in Canyon Lake called Brookshire Brothers. It’s a beautiful store. I was happy to see that they carried my favorite apple, the Jazz apple. It’s very crunchy, crisp, and sweet. The perfect combination.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.2 | 1/400 | ISO 640
Day Fifty-Five ~ Gregarious Gecko
I was working on my Paris photos and took a stretch break to walk down the hall. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something skitter up the outside wall of our master patio. I quickly grabbed my macro and snuck out onto the porch. As I crept slowly closer and closer to this little gecko (he was maybe three inches long), he posed, turned, and posed again. I got some great shots, but this one of his cheeky little smile really captured my heart.
Nikon D750 | 105mm | f/8 | 1/640 | ISO 560
Day Fifty-Six ~ Haircut for Pickle
Long overdue… Dominic desperately needed a cut. He’s so handsome. <3
Nikon D750 | 105mm | f/8 | 1/640 | ISO 560
Thanks for looking! Keep an eye out for my Paris post soon. 😀
