Day 3. Paris

I got in a good night of sleep- around 10 hours worth- and felt great upon waking. Amy and I had a full day planned of continuining our exploration of the city. But we also knew we had to attempt to pace ourselves because we had a nighttime adventure that would put us home well past our bed time. Courtesy of Kara, we were going on a nighttime bike tour of Paris! One that started at 7pm and lasted for four hours! More on that later.

We started our day off in search of one of the best bakeries in Paris- a recommendation from my cousin Susannah (she'd know), Poilane. It did not disappoint! The women who worked inside were friendly (bonus!) and the baked goods and breads looked- and tasted- heavenly!

Next, our bellies took us to Ladurée, a Parisian tea salon, which housed the best macarons in all of Paris. Susannah's instructions were perfect (and so Corridan), "Eat a raspberry macaron at Ladurée. The big size. It is my favorite cookie in the world, and I don't think any other macaron in the world can compare to it."

Not that I'd ever think Susannah would lead us in the wrong direction...but holy cow were those cookies amazing. And inside Ladurée is unbelievably beautiful. I'm glad I snapped the pictures I did because after I got a few good ones, I was told (much to my astonishment) that no photos were allowed inside.

Next up, was a crazy search for Shakespeare and Co. a well-known bookstore in Paris and recently featured in the movie Midnight in Paris (which is great!). For some reason it took us forever to find this, but we took some great photographs while wandering around aimlessly

These are some of my favorite photos of Paris. Really beautiful and simple shots of completely unsuspecting people. Well...some of 'em!

Amy reached her breaking point before I did and finally asked directions (thanks Aim!) to Shakespeare and Company. We really were circling it for an hour. I'm glad we checked it out because it was a beautiful bookstore (which reminded me of City Lights bookstore in San Francisco).

And I took another one of my favorite photos

From there we walked around some more, this time in search of the best falafel place (thanks for the hint Erf!). But before getting there, I took a few more pictures

And then I had the yummiest falafel, happily!

We headed back to Montmartre to try and catch our breath before heading out for a long and fun night.

After not enough rest, we went out in search of the south leg of the Eiffel Tower where we were to meet the Fat Tire night bike tour of Paris. (THANK YOU KARA!)

Before meeting up with everyone, we managed to snap some of the most beautiful shots of the Eiffel Tower at night. Which is absolutely stunning

The night time bike tour was super cool. It was one of the only things Amy and I had any time to anticipate actually doing. Thanks again to a wonderful recommendation (thanks Erf!). And it was made even more special because it was a birthday present from Kara.

Here we are getting ready to take off!

On the move!

Notre-Dame de Paris at night

Another food-related suggestion from Susannah was crossed off our list as a mandatory stop on the bike tour. Berthillon! I opted for raspberry sorbet and chocolate ice cream. Delish!

The Musée du Louvre at night!

I didn't know this existed and was pleasantly surprised when we took our bikes across a bridge which featured locks of love

And then we got on a boat for the last hour. Where they filled us with cheap red wine and Amy fell asleep. And we got to see really beautiful views of the Eiffel Tower. It started raining just before we got on the boat, it started raining. Which was a bit of a bummer because it meant we couldn't really venture out on the deck

Amy and I were disappointed to learn we'd have to bike back to the office to drop off the boats and talked more than once about ditching the bikes on the boat. Alas, we did not. But we did one last mini ride in the city and then took a few more photos before heading back home and crashing for the night!

Bon Soir Paris!