weekend in paris • day 2.2

happy monday, my friends. oh, and happy 4th of july, fellow americans!

i’m celebrating being an american on the blog today by posting more about my trip to paris last week. hehe. i mean, it makes since, right? as an expat american, i have the amazing privilege to be able to access europe + the rest of the world in a completely different way than i did when i lived in the states. i am fully aware of my situation, the opportunities that i have, and i vow to not ever take that for granted.

and, i am so proud to be an american – to celebrate the diversity, the free-spiritedness, the volunteerism + community, and the beauty of the fifty states.

wherever i am, wherever i go, i hope that i represent americans well. and i hope that i never lose that carefree, relaxed, spontaneous, everyone is equal, anything-is-possible drive to be the best person that i am, who makes a difference in her community + in the world. not because i am better, but because we are all one. something that i learned because i grew up in the united states.

so, now, how about we continue with the photos + stories from my saturday in paris… the conclusion of our first full day. (you can see the first part of the day here). and, my god, the rest of the day was freaking magical. i literally felt like it was the perfect way to spend an evening in paris. it was the stuff of movies. ok… here we go!

Paris 2016 Le Marais

buskers by the river

after leaving le marais, we headed back to the river to cross to the left bank… heading toward the latin quarter/5th arrondissement, where we were staying + where my cousin lived. 

on our way, of course, we just went with the flow. so, when we came across some buskers, playing on the bridge, we decided to stop and enjoy the music for a while. turns out, they were american. southern american, actually, i could tell by their southern accent. hehe.

Paris 2016 the seine

Paris 2016 buskers street music

Paris 2016 street music buskers

Paris 2016 music street buskers

Paris 2016 me kat lina buskers

wine and fries for dinner!

Paris 2016 metro

after the music, we headed back toward my cousin’s place. we kind of had a plan now. food. wine. and relaxing in her apartment. you’ll understand why this was our plan in just a minute…

just below her apartment was a little cafe of sorts that specializes in french fries. my absolute favorite food in the whole entire freaking world. and here, the fries were supposedly out of this world. so, it was definitely a place for me to visit. 

lina and i stood in line with tons of others and ordered two huge orders of fries , while kat ran next door to pick up a bottle of wine. it was time for dinner!

a big bag of hot fries + spicy sauces in tow, we met kat with the wine, and headed into her building. 

to access her apartment, we walked through the building and into the back courtyard, then up TEN flights of stairs (i think it was ten. it felt like 20.). but, as we walked, lina and i realized that this climb was going to be so very worth it.

Paris 2016 french fries de clercq

yep. this is the view from my cousin’s kitchen window. u n b e l i e v a b l e.

Paris 2016 kat view eiffel tower

Paris 2016 de clercq french fries

Paris 2016 de clercq french fries wine

Paris 2016 me view paris

ok, so you’ve seen the sick view that my cousin had from her apartment window. now, it’s time to see even more…

sunset over paris

after our dinner of wine and fries (you only live once), we headed outside, bottle of wine in tow, to the outside staircase that you use to reach kat’s apartment. the staircase is actually just to the right of her kitchen window, so the view is the same: a stunning overlook of paris and the eiffel tower.

Paris 2016 wine view

Paris 2016 staircase sunset

i think it was about 6:30 pm, and we vowed to sit on the staircase together until the sun set, which would be about 3.5 – 4 hours. so, we hunkered down. sweatshirts, blankets, and our wine. chatting, sitting in silence. laughing. videoing. just being. and it was pure magic.

paris staircase wine view

Paris 2016 me lina kat sunset eiffel tower

just before sunset, about 9:45, we realized that we wanted more wine. so, my sweet cousin, ran and got her wallet, flew down the 10 flights of stairs, and ran to the wine store just below on the street. she grabbed two bottles of wine, sprinted up the 10 flights of stairs again, and made it back to our little staircase hideout within 7 minutes. she’s bad ass.

while she was gone, lina and i made a little video…

so, we refilled our glasses. toasted life. toasted paris. toasted family. and we watched the sun sink down on the horizon, while the eiffel tower slowly began to light up.

Paris 2016 sunset eiffel tower

Paris 2016 sunset eiffel tower

sunset eiffel tower paris

sunset paris eiffel tower

eiffel tower paris sunset

it. was. cosmic. breathtaking. mystical. beautiful. and one night in paris that i will not soon forget.

Paris 2016 staicase me eiffel tower

je t’aime, paris.

xoxo. liz.


weekend in paris series //

day 1 → here

day 2.1 → here

day 3→ stay tuned!

7 thoughts on “weekend in paris • day 2.2

  1. Wow, what an incredible way to spend the evening. The views from your cousins apartment are stunning. I can totally see why you wanted to spend an evening sitting out there with wine and watching the sun set. Beautiful!

    1. Hannah, there are truly no words to express my emotions and awe during that evening. It was pure perfection.

      How are things with you? How’s the move going?! xo

      1. It definitely looked like perfection! Moving is going good…busy, but good. I will say, being in Paris sounds like a lot more fun 😉

  2. Fries, wine, and a sunset in Paris with people you love? Could it get any more magical? I think not.
    You didn’t say anything about the fries: Were they as good as advertised??

    1. Oh my gosh! How could I leave out my review of the fries? What was I thinking?! 🙂 They were just as good as everyone raved about… as in some of my favorite fries ever! It truly was a magical, magical, heart bursting night. xoxo

    1. Oh yes! The stairs were brutal. Like ridiculous! But, sooooo worth it, as you can tell. I am still in awe an the honor I had of spending one of my nights in Paris like this. I feel so very blessed. xx

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