I'm spoiled... I know! :)

Yes, I know... I'm a very lucky, very spoiled girl. And I intend to take full advantage of it! :) This past weekend, I drove to Paris with my Francophile friend Karyn. She's been to Paris around 15 times, and so her knowledge of the city is much more complete than mine. We left work at around 3:30pm on Friday, thinking that after the 5 hour drive, we'd be to Paris in time for a casually late dinner. That's what you get when you plan... traffic was TERRIBLE!!! It took us nearly 7 hours to get there, so we checked in and had just a quick dinner in our cute neighborhood (St. Germain). I crashed early - I was exhausted from the drive! I got up at around 9 and went for my long run in the city (Karyn's kind of a night owl, so I'm not even sure she heard me leave!). I ended up getting completely lost and ending up in a part of Paris that I didn't even know existed! I learned a trick a long time ago though - just run along a bus route, and then you always have maps to figure out where you are. So... I was not where I WANTED to be, but I wasn't totally clueless as to where I was. It was just a detour - about a 5 MILE detour, but it all worked out. It's so inspiring to run in this city - how can you not be excited to run past the Notre Dame or the Louvre?!? :) I got back to the hotel and woke Karyn up, and then we began our shopping excursion. Since we have both seen most of the touristy things, we kind of skipped most of that this trip... and focused on fashion! :) I didn't get too out of control, but it was fun to see how some of the most fashionable people in the world shop. :)

Sunday, we got up around 9 again, and we parted ways for a few hours. I really wanted to tour the Invalides, which is where Napoleon is buried, and Karyn went to an art museum that she hadn't seen yet. The tomb is pretty fascinating - evidently it's like 5 tombs in one (2 tin layers, something else, something else, something else, and then the marble on the outside that you can see). There is also a WWII museum on site there, which was fascinating. It was cool to read more about all the sights that I saw with my parents last summer in Normandy.


Invalides


Napoleon's Tomb

After that stop, I met Karyn at the Musee d'Orsay, which I had NEVER been to, despite many of my friends telling me that it is the best museum in the world. It was pretty darn fantastic. I enjoyed the sculpture especially - more of my favorites - Rodin & Camille Claudette. Before we knew it, it was time to head home. A nice weekend in my favorite city with a great friend. :)

Karyn & I in the Orsay Museum - it used to be a train station - can't you tell?? :)

Better shot of the museum

My very favorite sculpture - "Maturity" by Camille Claudette

Until next time, Paris! :)