Paris is always a good idea.

In the last week I have found happiness in many great adventures, including...

Parc Monceau with CeCe

 "It is not necessary for gardens or nature to be presented in the most agreeable forms. It's necessary instead to preserve the charm that one encounters entering the garden, and to renew it with each step, so that the visitor in his soul will have the desire to revisit the garden every day and to possess it for himself. The true art is to know how to keep the visitors there, through a variety of objects, otherwise they will go to the real countryside to find what should be found in this garden; the image of liberty." -Louis Carmontelle

 Carmontelle was a French dramatist, painter, architect, set designer and author, and designer of one of the earliest examples of the French landscape garden, Parc Monceau (pictured above)

CeCe and I have encountered the charm and now must visit at least once a week.

The Louvre, Place de la Madeleine, Shakespeare & Company, benefit concert, and drinks with new friends.

I picked up this sweet treat at Fauchon, a hyper-upscale mega-delicatessen, at place de la Madeleine. The minute I walked in I wanted a million things. I read that lots of food bloggers attempt the Fauchon macaroon recipe, but I'm guessing this beauty is not DIY territory. It was perfect, crust was crumbly to the touch. Thanks for the recommendation Aunt Erica!

Nutella-filled street crepes are a wonderful indulgence after a day of walking.

Cocktails arrived lavished with glow-sticks and Haribo candies.

Visit to the Marais, Paris' Jewish quarter, with the girls.   

Too comfortable to move after a perfect afternoon of fun (shopping vintage clothing stores) and food (chatting over delicious authentic falafel sandwiches). I would love more days like this!   

I picked up this beautiful vintage jacket, with its real fur collar, at a vintage clothing store with phenomenal prices. I'm so glad vintage isn't as "cool" in Paris as it is in Portland.

   

Monmartre on foot with CeCe

Paris has a lot of babies, and therefore a lot of strollers. Sometimes the popular metro-friendly umbrella strollers are spotted hanging from bars outside apartment complexes. 

The views continue to impress and amaze.

The ground beneath our feet is often very bumpy. 

On my Paris to-do list is an authentic French experience at the legendary Monmartre cabaret Au Lapin Agile (literally, the Agile Rabbit). Once frequented by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Maurice Ultillo, and Toulouse-Lautrec (all of whom have paintings hanging inside), the cabaret has been putting out live entertainment since the turn of the twentieth century.

Seesaws in France could actually be called SAFE.  

  This is Saint Denis, holding his head in the quiet square Suzanne Buisson. I had no idea what I was looking at until an English-speaking tour guide showed up beside me with a group of tourists. I stuck around and learned a little something. The story goes, he was the first bishop of Paris, back in the third century when Paris was still very much a Roman city. The number of conversions Denis performed got him on the bad side of the local pagan priests. So the Roman rulers of Paris had Denis arrested and brought him to the highest hill in Paris, now known as Montmartre, where he was executed by beheading. According to the legend, once decapitated, he stood up, picked up his severed head from the dirt and walked 6 km to the North, preaching a sermon the entire way. He is apparently a figure that is here and there all over Paris with his distinctive neck stump, like the front of Notre Dame for example.

Place du Tertre is the square most artists come to display their artwork. We've found amazing art pieces from the artists themselves. It's always a treat to visit. It's well known for being a throw-back to the days when the world's best artists lived in Montmartre and did the same. I snapped this picture while CeCe sat beside me nibbling a crepe.

Paris is always a good idea. 

-Audrey Hepburn