Girls Trip To Europe Day 2 - Eiffel Tower, Luxembourg, Notre Dame

Girls Trip to Europe Photography in part by Ari Nordhagen of Amen Photography

Day Two in Paris woke us up to a 5:00 a.m.alarm clock. I had my hair blown out into big smooth curls (vs my usual afro style) so I got dressed and applied eyelashes. Ari spent time curling her long black hair.

We took the metro to the Eiffel tower, decked out in fancy dresses with heals in our backpacks. When we rounded the corner of a building outside the metro, we were presented with a gorgeous misty view of the Eiffel Tower. BREATHTAKING!

We quickly got dressed into heals while my hair curled up tighter and Ari's went straight. Thank you humidity.

Ari has shared a couple of the final shots on her Facebook fan site and I will host a blog post with more photos soon.

We accomplished the whole shoot in about 15 or 20 minutes. We could have gone on but more people were arriving and we were a bit of a spectacle. Strangers really wanted to use her camera to take our photo for us...no thank you. The guards with machine guns were kinda cute though. We were totally tempted but refrained from asking to take a photo WITH them.

Back to our hotel to change and then downstairs to our little coffee shop where we ordered deux cafe au lait and chocolate croissants, our breakfast of choice.

Top of the list for the morning was Le Cordon Bleu. We had looked into their schedule of classes as part of our prep work but most of them were all day and we decided this would take up too much time. Our visit was a bit disspointing as we had hoped for nicer gift shop or perhaps a viewing area or restaurant like the one in Sonoma California. Ari bought an apron and we headed back to the metro.

While walking through Paris, we came across so many beautiful doors. I look forward to gathering these photos together into some sort of collage. I know, I know...they are doors. But you have to remember who you are talking to here...

A little cafe coaxed our tummies to order two slices of pizza to go and a GiAnT macaroon. One of the memories I will always have of Paris is the ease in availability of healthy food. When hunger struck we never had to go far to find a fresh salad or baguette with meats and cheeses.

We enjoyed our little snack or "first lunch" as we sometimes called it while sitting in a park with a beautiful statue of a mother nursing her baby.

Our next destination was the Luxembourg Castle and Gardens via another cafe where we bought baguette sandwiches to go of course. Food Food Food. Food.

The gardens were gorgeous and pink everywhere. Children could rent sailboats for three euro to push with sticks in the pond. We found this to be a common past time as it was available at other locations as well.

The gardens also had a pay to enter playground for children that looked so fun it was a bit tempting. Check out the video we took:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePtpQK5qpSc&feature=youtu.be

Shortly after snacking on our baguette sandwiches it was time for another meal. A plate of assorted cheeses and a Nicoise Salad paired with white wine and a Stella. It is lovely dining alfresco however we moved three times just to avoid being inches away from breathing secondhand cigarette smoke as an appetizer.

The next destination on our list was the Notre Dame. Celebrating it's 850th birthday, our entrance was complimentary. The intricate architecture was astounding. Ari lit a candle inside for her grandmother as we walked a big loop inside admiring all the stained glass and carved tombs.

After the Notre Dame, Ari and I enjoyed the most delicious banana and chocolate crepe. I'm sorry to admit that we apparently neglected to photograph this momentous occasion. I believe this may be the only food we did not photograph while in Europe.

Little alleys near the Notre Dame were home to tourist shops, book stores and just about any kind of cuisine you can imagine. We found ourselves lured into one where we enjoyed people watching with an evening cocktail while entertaining ourselves with the camera...again.

We did a little more shopping before heading back to our hotel, armed with a fresh baguette, meats, cheeses and pasta salad to stock our fridge for midnight snacking.

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