snaps of paris, part sept.

and here’s the end of our girls’ trip to paris, according to our iphone photos. [but don’t get too excited to be done, because i still have DSLR photos to post! ha. you know that my trips are pretty much never-ending!] these last couple days of the trip were very sweet and included some of my favorite parts of the trip: a food tour in the bastille neighborhood and exploring/shopping in the marais neighborhood. [although it’s admittedly pretty hard to choose a “favorite part of the trip,” when i think about everything we did. and i mean, it’s PARIS.]

{our food tour was again booked through viator [they should really be thrilled with all the free advertising i’m doing for them!], and it included a visit to the marché beauvau [a covered market] and marché d’aligre [an outdoor market] near the bastille district.}

{we walked around the bastille neighborhood and learned lots of history about the city…}

{…and our first stop was this tiny little bakery that supposedly has the best croissants of paris. they were easily the best i’ve ever eaten in my life, melt-in-your-mouth hot and fresh and so unlike any croissant i’ve ever eaten here in america. i almost died of pure pleasure. and i will definitely be going back to this little place next time i’m in paris.}

{they had so many other goodies too, so we took some to go.}

{photo credit: aunt debbie}

{next we visited the marché beauvau where people were selling seafood, meats, cheeses, and all kinds of other items. we tasted raw oysters [they had a different flavor than the kind we have in america], sausage, pâté, and all kinds of different types of cheese. photo credit for four photos above: ashlin}

{isn’t that heart-shaped cheese cute? photo credit for three photos above: debbie}

{and the outdoor portion of the market, marché d’aligre, had so much produce! i was in heaven!}

{i start drooling just looking at all those pretty fruits and veggies. we got to taste some cherries and they were wonderful.}

{look at those gorgeous pomegranates! photo credit: ashlin}

{the last part of the food tour involved going into a little wine store and doing some wine tasting. we weren’t complaining.} :)

{photo credit: ashlin}

{more scenes from the market… those african crafts were particularly interesting…}

{after the tour, we had our tour guide take our photo.}

{city scenes… this was our “backyard” in paris – the pompidou centre. more about where we stayed here.}

{pylones is such a fun store in paris, and we actually found one in amsterdam too. those eiffel-tower-shaped cheese graters in the window made perfect gifts for my coworkers.}

{paris, you’re too much.}

{exploring the marais neighborhood and indulging in gelato.}

{wandering around marais was one of my favorite parts of our visit, because one of the things i enjoy the most when traveling is exploring a neighborhood – walking around, taking in the sights and sounds and smells, stopping wherever seems interesting, and just getting a feel for an area and the culture and people. it’s so fun to me.}

{i didn’t feel parisian until i had a baguette in hand!}

{more of lovely marais}

{while mom, mimi, and i were exploring marais, poor ashlin was at the apartment because she wasn’t feeling well, and aunt debbie and aunt carol were checking out the hôtel des invalides. these are a couple of photos that aunt debbie took while they were there.}