Europe // France: First day in PARIS

After a perfect lunch in Belgium, seriously so many toll stations (not our favorite), and a few more hours in the car, we finally hit Paris! Ahh!! 

 Wow. It was so different from Amsterdam. It was HUGE! The buildings towered over us, random whiffs of pee would hit you in the face every now and then, and there were so many people! But wow. It was amazing!

^^ Dinner on the evening we arrived in Paris - shawarma from a street vendor. The first time I've ever tried the stuff. It. was. amazing. 

 The buildings were just breathtaking. I couldn't stop looking up. The gorgeous gray roofs, tall windows, light stone, and delicate iron railings were just as pretty as could be. I love the architecture of Paris.
Our AirBnb was an apartment literally on top of a metro station, so we were set to explore this beautiful city for the next week!

Ahh I love this museum. It was my favorite one of our whole trip. The Musee D'Orsay satisfied every corner of my impressionism-loving soul. The Monet pieces especially just took my breath away. So much beauty in this museum. 

Drooling over buildings while walking from D'Orsay to the metro on our way to Arc de Triomphe.

I love the pathways along the Seine. They are so romantic to me!

First glimpse of the Louvre.

The beautiful Arc!

Walking through Paris was just addictive. What could be down this tiny street? Or this one? How old is this building? How can we possibly pick a restaurant among all these adorable corner bistros?

Finally, le Tour Eiffel.

Next was a tour on the Seine. Very cool, but oh my goodness we couldn't stop laughing at the audio. It was so French. So much talk about Paris as the best place in the universe and making love to the river and other creepy things said by people in French accents... But we learned some neat things and saw some beautiful sights.

Then we split up for dinner and Ryan and I followed the advice of our AirBnb host for our restaurant choice.

This was the momentous evening where we experienced three things for the first time:

1) Truffade, the French dish of potatoes, cheese, and onions that inspired scalloped potatoes. But oh. my. goodness. It was off-the-charts better than any FORM of potatoes I have ever tried. 

2) Duck, and holy goodness it was absolutely mouthwateringly incredible. 

3) French service, in which they take their sweet old time with just about everything and often forget about you or pretend to forget about you even while you try to get their attention. [: Ah, the French.

Still, SUCH GOOD FOOD.