Bonjour, Paris!

cropped white jeans, striped shirt, white Chucks, Musee Rodin

When: April 22 // Weather: 80 and sunny // Real life: Day 2 in Paris

cropped white jeans, striped shirt, white Chucks, Musee Rodin

^^My Audrey Hepburn “bonjour, Paris!” moment.

cropped white jeans, striped shirt, white Chucks, Musee Rodin

cropped white jeans, striped shirt, white Chucks, Musee Rodin

cropped white jeans, striped shirt, white Chucks, Musee Rodin

cropped white jeans, striped shirt, white Chucks, Musee Rodin

In Paris, I learned to embrace air dried, “undone” hair. I wish I could say it was my choice to let go of my perfectionist tendencies, but it was actually because our electrical outlet converter ended up being too weak for hair tools. C’est la vie, right?

Day 2 in Paris was another GORGEOUS one. We started out in Saint Germain, which is somehow quaint and fancy at the same time. All the shops were closed because it was Sunday (don’t worry, we went back!), but that meant we could just wander the streets without distraction. We walked to the Musée Rodin, which took awhile because I stopped to take a photo of every cool door I saw. Turns out there are a lot of cool doors in Paris.

The Rodin museum was absolutely amazing, and it made me wonder why it got no mention from any of the many many friends who offered recommendations for our trip. I may be looking for new friends, so if you enjoy good art, wine at lunch, and early bedtimes, please send me your headshot and resume.

Next up was lunch (with wine, of course), then Place de la Concorde, which was high up on my list of must-sees because I have been obsessed with Gene Kelly and An American in Paris since I was a kid. I know the movie was just on a sound stage in California, but still. I had tried to convince Kristin to learn all the choreography before our trip, but weirdly, she did not follow through.

Our next landmark was Notre Dame. I took a whole class on Gothic architecture in college, and I finally got to see this baby in person! It’s a tad more impressive when it’s not in a PowerPoint slide. I’m glad we were there on a Sunday because we got to hear the organ and the bells. (Quasimodo, is that you??) We found Shakespeare & Co. bookstore by accident (although we had both heard of it), and it is quite possibly the coolest bookstore ever. I don’t think I can ever go in a Barnes & Noble again. Barnes & Noble doesn’t have a cat.

We ended Day 2 with one of our fancier meals, on the terrace at La Rose de France. It was almost perfect, except for the table of Americans next to us who were discussing politics. EXCUSEZ-MOI, WE CAME HERE TO GET AWAY FROM THAT.

Those were all the big things from Day 2, but I know I’m missing some of the little things we saw and did along the way. Did I mention Paris is full of magic at every turn?

Shirt // Jeans // Shoes // Bag // Sunglasses // Watch

Dream Vacation

parisian style, print mixing, midi skirt, striped tee outfit, ray ban clubmasters

When: April 21 // Weather: 80 and sunny // Real life: 1st day in Paris!

parisian style, print mixing, midi skirt, striped tee outfit, ray ban clubmasters

parisian style, print mixing, midi skirt, striped tee outfit, ray ban clubmasters

parisian style, print mixing, midi skirt, striped tee outfit, ray ban clubmasters

parisian style, print mixing, midi skirt, striped tee outfit, ray ban clubmasters

parisian style, print mixing, midi skirt, striped tee outfit, ray ban clubmasters

It finally happened.

I took my dream vacation to Paris. But if you follow me on Instagram, you already knew that…probably a little too well.

Some people have bucket lists. I don’t, because the only thing I ever wanted to do was go to Paris, and it’s not a “list” if there’s only one thing. I figured my life would be complete once I went there, but it’s not – now I just want to go back!

We had an overnight flight and landed at 10am Paris time. I did everything I could to sleep on the plane, and I did sleep some, but it was nearly impossible to get comfortable. Luckily, the adrenaline got me through a fantastic first day. We freshened up at our Airbnb in Montmartre, and I put on my best Parisian stripes, of course! I know I said I was going to wear my yellow beret with this shirt, but it was 80 degrees and I couldn’t bring myself to put on a wool hat. Not that I’m complaining about the weather. I could not have asked for a more beautiful first day of my dream vacation.

We walked down past the Moulin Rouge and had our first of many many many wine-filled meals at random sidewalk cafés. The wine in Paris is all so cheap and so good, it would have been financially irresponsible not to have wine at every meal, right?

We made one big landmark visit on Day 1, and that was Sacré Coeur. We walked all the way to the top, which is when I realized that wearing these shoes with no socks on a hot day after being on a plane for 8 hours was not my best decision.

After buying some French band-aids (because…les ouch), we got to cool off at a private champagne tasting in the cellar at Dilletantes. Credit card reward points for the win! It’s not far from the Seine, but once you step off the main road, it’s suddenly so quiet and lovely. (That’s where these photos were taken.) The girl at the shop was so sweet and taught us all about the different grapes and soils in the champagne region. We brought a bottle home with us to save for a special occasion.

We had dinner at a vegetarian restaurant nearby, Paradis Marguerite. Paris is not the most vegetarian-friendly place, so I’m glad we found it! We turned in relatively early that first day to make up for the jet lag, but not before walking over the Pont Neuf during golden hour, taking a moment to pinch myself and cry a little (from happiness, not from pinching).

This was truly the greatest experience of my life, and I can’t wait to share the rest of it with you over the next couple weeks!

Tee // similar Skirt // Bag // Sunglasses // Shoes

*Tee purchased with gift card provided courtesy of Shopbop.

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