We Will Always Have Paris

A few weeks ago, we had two events on consecutive weekends in Boston, so Melissa and I took the chance in-between to visit a new city (I've never been and Mel hadn't been in fifteen years).

We had three consecutive days of prix fixe menus, foie gras, chocolate croissants, and butter butter butter with everything (even ice cream!).  We don't necessarily consider ourselves foodies, but strangely our itinerary became dominated by our meals (we also had a ton of recommendations)

Our favorite items: fried foie gras and lamb chops at joel rubuchon, salted caramel macaroons at Laduree, a falafel stand in Marais.

Paris is truly a unique city.  Few places have such rich history, literally miles of museums (the louvre alone has 16km worth of art), culinary Mecca, and beautiful parks throughout.  We logged over 20,000 steps each day (according to my iPhone).

Some sightseeing highlights:

Driving a cart around Versailles, watching the sunset behind the Eiffel Tower on our last day, seeing the Mona Lisa (louvre) and beautiful Monet pieces (Musee D'Orsay).  Also spending an afternoon with one of Melissa's old Tulsa friends who happened to be in town with her husband and daughter.

These days some time away feels like a great luxury.  As life continues to plod forward -- a mix of grief, heaviness, but coupled with the hope of new things in Year 2 of life without Louie. Experiencing a taste of this beautiful city was wonderful.  Mel and I pride ourselves as being able to see most all major highlights of a city in 2 days.  

After four days, we felt like we just scratched the surface in Paris.

(From Mel)  As with most things after Louie, life is filled with complexity.  We're officially a family of four as I am due with baby girl Chiang in September.  I was grateful for the ability to "spontaneously" visit Paris, but still wish I could share every experience with our son.  And someday...in heaven... we'll get to share a family photo where everyone is together.  The road to hope still feels long and slow yet I'm proud that we're at least walking.