Now that the marathon was complete (and our runners were heroes in my mind), we were able to fully explore the wonderful city of Paris and go to some of the restaurants that we had been looking forward to so much. (So great ready for another foodie post) My brother had one day remaining with us, so we visited the Louvre for awhile, and enjoyed the Google Translate picture capture to read the descriptions in french on the paintings. For dinner, we went to one of the main stops of the trip, L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, a two Michelin star restaurant. We chose their set menu, and it was definitely a treat. All the food was so delicious, but to be honest there were cheaper restaurants that I liked better. Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice stroll along the Seine on the way back to our apartment in the Opera district. I love the big windows in our apartment at night. It was so nice to have my big brother Jacob in town, and it was interesting to have my family and Michael’s family travel together. We made a great travel group.

The next morning Jacob headed out, and we had salmon sandwiches in the garden outside of the Louvre and took in the sunshine while watching people walking, picnicking, and enjoying their day. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. Paris in the spring was so much better this time around than when we were here in December a few years prior. We crossed the famous Love Lock Bridge, and headed to the Musée d’Orsay, one of my very favorite art museums in all of Paris. We had a long, laid back lunch at Le Comptoir du Relais. I love the open cafes and windows.

We walked down the Champs-Élysées, seeing the Arc de Triomphe. Allison and I went to the famous Ladurée macaron shop. There was a long line, but it was fun just to watch people choose and admire the fancy treats. I’m not even a huge fan of macarons, but these were pretty good, and the experience was fun. That evening, we met up with a man and his wife that work with Mike. They live in Paris, and they took us to a spot we would have never had found on our own. It was down an alley full of restaurants, and it was small and quaint (no tourists but us). The food was amazing and so simple. I had a simple chicken and roasted vegetables, and it tasted like a dessert.

 

We also visited the Exposition Hall and saw some more art on our way to the Eiffel Tower. We had a very memorable lunch at Le Dome, an all seafood restaurant that opened in 1898. We shared a seafood platter that was HUGE, so huge. We had all the tools to pick at the food and crush the shells. The dessert was Mille-Feuille (a thousand leaves), a layered pastry cream. It was light and delicious.

On another day, we stop off for more fallafel, at another popular spot called L’as du Fallafel and we had L’Eclair de Génie for dessert. I’ve never loved eclairs, but these were so much better than the ones I’d had at home.

Our final restaurant visit of the amazing trip was the one I’d been looking forward to the most: Frenchie. It was amazing and so good. Mike, Michael, Allison, and I met up with another couple from Mike’s work, which during the dinner we found out was their honeymoon. We all gave Mike such a hard time about asking an employee out to dinner on his honeymoon (can’t say no to the boss, right?), but we were teasing him so much. We found out later that they’d been married a year, so it wasn’t quite as bad… but still. Haha. It made for good company, and the food was absolutely amazing. It was a phenomenal end to a perfect trip. I realize why people fall in love with Paris.

To read about the first part of this trip, visit A Run of Paris, Part I.