Playful Rooted

Now that it’s officially been a month since we spent a few days in Paris, I feel like it’s time to recap it. Unfortunately, because I really don’t love Paris and I am a spiteful type of person, I took almost no pictures there.

(Yes, I am a grown woman holding a grudge against a city for not being as wonderful as the movies make it seem. I can’t explain myself.)

My favorite (unpictured) parts of this trip were:

• Venturing down “falafel alley” (okay, that’s just what I’m calling it). There were so many falafel places competing in this two-block strip. We went to the most popular one, ordered sandwiches and fries, and hightailed it over to the bank of the Seine, where we enjoyed a leisurely dinner. France had just won a World Cup game, so there were tons of cars driving by and honking. We ate dinner and river-watched while the sun set, and it was just a really lovely time.
• Taking a Seine cruise tour and getting a comprehensive, relaxing view of the city. I had done this previously, but it’s always a peaceful and pleasant event.
• Finding vegan-friendly food at the Louvre. As happens so often in France, I had selected proper veggie restaurants for us to visit, but they were closed (CLOSED!) whenever we tried to go. Paris is totally not a vegan-friendly city, so when our breakfast place was closed, I assumed Ben and I would just go hungry all day at the Louvre. Not so! We stopped for a drink at the restaurant there and found French fries, demi-baguettes, andtabbouleh. Well played, Paris. This time, anyway.

Since it was my family’s first time in the French capital, we mostly stuck to the highlights.

Nôtre Dame:

Lovely view of Paris from one of the towers.

OMG A PIGEON!

Ze Eiffel Tower:

A pigeon here, too!?!

Okay, this was actually pretty cool. Ben has been waiting to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower for years (last time he went, it was being painted or something), and we did it! My brother, Ben, and I climbed the whole thing – that’s a lot of stairs!

As I mentioned before, we spent a morning in the Louvre. It’s always entertaining to see the major works, but none of us enjoyed the museum enough to stay all day. Did you know that, before it was a museum, the Louvre functioned as a massive fortress and then as a royal palace? I think I would enjoy it more if I were seeing it in one of its original roles instead of as a museum. Still, it’s iconic and all.

They even have pigeons here!

Annnd I’m out of pictures.

More interesting recaps to come!

French expression of the day
Avoir la patate – To feel great, be full of energy (literally: To have the potato)