We went to...Paris!

For a few weeks Will has been talking with international investors.  He kept telling me he might have to go to Paris for work sometime this summer.  I didn't think it would really happen, after all, we live in a post COVID world where all meetings can happen on zoom.  Imagine my surprise when Saturday Will said he had to go to Paris to meet with investors and was leaving Monday.  We only had to to a tiny bit of scrambling to make sure everything was covered so I could go too!

Colter went to his cousin's house on the peninsula for a week long baseball camp we had already signed him up for.  Adell and Clare were confident they could hang out at home for the week.  So Monday night we headed to the airport and flew through the night to Paris! 

This is what two parents look like leaving for a week "work vacation" in Paris: 

 

Knowing we would only be there for five days I decided not to stress about getting myself onto Paris time.  Will, on the other hand, had to prepare for meetings and be more on Paris time.  I took lots of naps whenever I wanted.  Our first day we walked around the city a little bit as the sun set.  It was beautiful!

The next day we did a little more exploring.  Will took a run between the two ends of the Arc de Triumph. We walked together through the Tuileries Garden by the Louvre.  I got this great picture with a stature of  my name sake: Cassandra.  We both have exceptionally fine bums.

We got a peek at the Eiffel Tower and ate some yummy cafe food.

The next day was Will's actual work meetings.  He was gone all day so I explored on my own.  We stayed right in the center of Paris so it was easy to explore.  I tried to get lost and succeeded.  Only gaining my bearings by finding Ru Du Rossini and making my way back to the hotel from there.  

I found gifts for the kids, including some sweet Paris fashion for the girls.  I took myself to lunch at a little cafe and walked until I got blisters.  After some rest I did another long walk zig-zagging myself across the Seine River.  There are some 13 bridges that cross the Seine in Paris.  I crossed seven of them and made it all the way from my hotel to the Eiffel Tower.  It was fun to see the tower get bigger and bigger as I walked.  

The next day, and our last full day in Paris, we went to the Louvre Museum.  We got tickets for 9:00 am and were some of the first into the museum.  That meant the line to see the Mona Lisa was "short" and we got to see some very cool stuff before the crowds got wild.

We walked around for three hours and didn't even scratch the surface of what there was to see!  I loved seeing the parts that were preserved palace rooms.  Stunning!

We walked down towards Noter Dame to find a cafe Will had heard had amazing Kouign-amann.  Unfortunately, the bakery was closed for renovations!  But we still enjoyed the walk and eating at another bakery.  We met up with old friends from our Boston/Stanford days, the Furrs.  Nathan and Suzanna Furr  live in Paris now.  It was so fun to see them and catch up.  

Nathan and Suzanna walked with us back up to the Eiffel Tower for our tickets to walk up the tower.  I was pretty tired from the museum in the morning and the walk all evening.  Still we hiked up all those thousands of steps!  The views at the top were wonderful and worth every step.

We caught a taxi back to our hotel and tried to get packed up for our 5 am flight to Iceland and home.  It was such a bonkers, amazing, wonderful time.  I still cannot believe I got to go to Paris.  I am still pinching myself.