15 May ~ Paris (Day 1)

Today begins a trip I've wanted to take my entire life. The City of Lights. Paris, France. I can't believe it's finally here!!! And while most would want to come to such a romantic city with their husband (and I do sometime very soon), I'm so glad to experience it with my mom first. First, she's been before and knows the good, the bad, and the must not misses of the city. Second, she (like me and unlike my sweet hubby) completely embrace the brilliance of patio relaxing with a great glass of wine, while you just take it all in and simply enjoy the moment. And really what better place in the world to do that than here. Finally, my mom and I enjoy the same things.... the same types of shopping, the art, the culture, the architecture, etc. Not to mention, she is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to art, so I can't wait to go to the museums with her.
After the flight, which was surprisingly not too painful, we arrived in the city. We found our hotel... in the beautiful opera district. We checked in and then, grabbed a quick lunch at a nearby cafe.
Oh.... the sensation of not feeling guilty at having 2 glasses of wine with lunch.

We, then, bee-lined it to the world famous Paris Flea Market. My sweet hubby had put aside cash for me to take just for this one stop. I was determined to find some furniture to have shipped back. Well, this was the only disappointment of the trip for me. While the flea market is beyond amazing and HUGE.... the vendors where I actually wanted to purchase things didn't have a great system of getting things shipped back to the states.... or made it financially difficult to do so. They believed their antiques should remain right there in their true home. Oh well. We did find some goodies, and just to see all of the beautiful french antiques was worth the time and drool.
The other thing I loved about Paris (and miss here) is the smell. Everything smells fresh... either of some bread baking or of flowers. Due in large part to the fact that they have a fleur market at every corner.... it was amazing.
We actually took it easy our first night in an attempt to avoid the dreaded jet lag. So far, it is what I dreamed it would be.... but honestly, soooooo much more. I can understand now when Gertrude Stein said, " America is my country and Paris is my hometown." Oh, how I wish that were really true.....