In case you're wondering, yes, the previous post was inspired by an actual trip to Paris. And trips to Paris are always fun, but this one was even better because we didn't have to pay for it. What??? Free trip??? How do I get one of those? you may be asking yourself. Simple... get your workplace to send you! Ben actually had real live business reasons for being there (a software demonstration that he had to go to, blah blah blah), but we (especially me) enjoyed it for the fun time that it was.

So this trip was different for several reasons. 1) We stayed in an apartment instead of a hotel. 2) Ben actually had work to do. 3) I was left with a lot of free time to roam the streets of Paris on my own. Ben working wasn't the best, but the apartment and the wandering were definitely great.

First, the apartment. We found it through the website www.perfectlyparis.com, which is a site for vacation rentals mainly in the Montmartre area of Paris. We had already planned on staying in an apartment on our next trip, and figured this would be the perfect opportunity. So, here is where we stayed...



And these were the views from the balcony



We loved it. It was tiny, but much bigger than a hotel room. And much cuter too, and it had a kitchen and a really comfy double bed (hard to find in european travels), AND high speed internet. Okay, and maybe that means I could have updated the blog while we were actually there, but come on, I had THINGS to do! PLACES to go! FOOD to eat!

Which leads me to what I did all day while Ben was off making money to support my travel, shopping, and eating habits. Before we left for Paris, I researched and plotted and decided on places I needed to go. Most of these places were restaurants or stores that sell food or cooking stuff. What can I say? Paris is the city of love, and of food. The city of food lovers! So I consulted my new Pudlo Paris restaurant guide as well as Chocolate and Zucchini, one of my favorite blogs, and compiled a list.

And so once we got there, I set out walking and taking the metro all over the place, to a fantastic patisserie, a hole in the wall Vietnamese sandwich place with delicious sandwiches, a cute little chocolate shop just a couple blocks from our apartment, and a restaurant that serves yummy soups (and not much else). Okay, and maybe we managed to make it to the Musée d'Orsay for an artsy, non-food-related outing, and the Galeries Lafayette for some mega shopping. And we did our usual walking around and sitting in cafés, people watching. So it wasn't completely food-centered.

It was our fourth trip there so far, and not our last. We're feeling more and more at home in Paris, and Ben's even taking a beginning French class now, one taught by a brilliant and beautiful teacher (me, of course) so he can start ordering his own crepes and wine the next time we go.

Reasons why we love Paris

It's just so pretty.

I could never get tired of the view of Paris from Sacre Coeur. It always makes my heart speed up a little bit.

The language is so nice to listen to. Conversations in French make lovely background noise.

There are trash cans everywhere. Maybe this doesn't seem like a big deal, but I have walked for miles in other cities carrying around a napkin or an empty water bottle before eventually giving up and shoving it in my purse.

Wine is so cheap and so good. And the same can be said for baguettes.

As much as they have a reputation for being rude and snooty, Parisians are more often than not pretty nice to the tourists.

The grocery stores have fun things like packaged crepes and chocolate mousse and fois gras and tagines.

People call you "Monsieur" or "Madame"; I find this completely charming.

The Metro is so easy and goes everywhere. And it's mostly clean and almost always on time.

Sometimes, you'll be walking down a random street and suddenly you'll be enveloped by the smell of freshly baked bread and pastries. This is one of life's greatest simple pleasures.