Paris Day 2: Ile de la Cite: Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, Seine at Sunset, the Louvre at Night

 After a long sleep, we headed to a cafe just outside our hotel and had amazing croissants for breakfast. Then we headed out for the day to the Ile de la Cite area - the two large islands in the Siene in the heart of old Paris. They are very walkable and absolutely picturesque with narrow streets, stone buildings with boldly painted giant doors and wrought iron balconies with wisteria climbing up the side. We walked by Notre Dame which has a lot of scaffolding in place and even a crane set up to repair the cathedral that suffered a lot of damage from a massive 2019 fire. We went into Sainte-Chapelle, a “jewel box” of a chapel built by Louis XII (Saint Louis) to house the Crown of Thorns relic. It was built in the 13th century in the gothic style and has incredibly high ceilings painted navy blue with gold stars and stained glass panels and a large rose window. The stained glass panels each tell a different story from the Bible or the life of Louis XII. Right next door is the Palais de Justice (similar to the Supreme Court) which proclaims the values of the French Revolution: Liberty, Egalite, Fraternity. We wandered the streets of the smaller island - Ile St Louis and finally stopped at a sidewalk cafe for a traditional French meal: French Onion soup for me and Escargot and Foie Gras for James. For the early evening, we joined Parisiennes along the Seine at the end of the Ile de la Cite to watch sunset. We took a blanket, sandwiches and a bottle of wine and watched the boats pass by. At dusk, we walked over to the courtyard of the Louvre and halfway down the Champs Elysees. To finish the night, we got dressed up and went out on the town to sample the Paris nightlife.

Paris Day 1: Flight, Hotel Elixir, Seine River Cruise

After a seamless 10-hour flight, we arrived in Paris in the early afternoon. It is a bit of a trek from the airport to the city center. Our hotel, Hotel Elixir, is in a great central location right in the heart of the old part of the city near Notre Dame. We had a great first afternoon exploring the charming streets and shops in the Fourth Arrondissement. We also popped into a grocery store for a few provisions and it was a bit different from our supermarkets in the states. That evening we went on a fancy dinner cruise on the Seine. It helped us get the lay of the land and it was fun to see all the monuments and buildings from the river.

Johanna's Birthday

 What a wonderful birthday week - thank you to my friends and family and James for making it extra special this year!

Those of you who know me well know that my birthday is a trigger after many years of being made to feel like it was a pain in the ass and inconvenient and thus not receiving gifts, appreciation or special affection on this day. For the past five years, I've realized that if I wanted anything special for my birthday, I'd have to plan it myself - ditto if I wanted any gifts. I'd have to either get them for myself or give the kids money to buy me gifts and tell them what I wanted. LOL. And while this sounds terrible, it wasn't that bad - it made to be really honest with myself about my needs and what I wanted and not feel ashamed to make it happen (an important life lesson). Each year my friends and family were game and I've been having great birthdays.

This year, however, was a total 180 from the past. On my actual birthday, James had a giant bouquet of flowers delivered to work (like a ridiculously large bouquet), and then planned a fancy dinner for us at a Middle Eastern Restaurant on Cap. Hill followed by a comedy show in Belltown. I was a little skeptical about the comedy show until I learned that it was an all-female line up... at that point I could relax and knew I would be able to relate to the stories shared instead of feeling like the punchline of mansplaining or the tired tropes of alpha male jokes. I also learned that I had to let go of the control and be open to someone else planning the night... and once I was able to do that, I had a fantastic time. In addition to last week's dinner with Rachelle and Rebecca , this weekend featured a super rocking 90s-2000s dance party at McMenamins with Jess and Marissa that included a boy-band tribute from "All 4doras," who claimed to be "Bothell's Baddest Boys around". It was ridiculous and so much fun. The finale was a special birthday brunch at Portage Bay Cafe with the kids on Sunday. I feel so loved!