John and Samantha's Adventures: London, Paris, New York City

That's right, 3 fabulous cities in the same week!

John had a business trip to London and, for my birthday, he decided to take me to Paris for the weekend before. Do I have the best husband in the world or what?!!

Paris was magical! It exceeded every expectation I had - the city is so pretty, the people so friendly, the art amazing and the champagne delightful! We spent three days walking around, popping into museums and just enjoying being there. It happened to be fashion week while we were there (funny since John and I so don't belong in that scene) and the people watching was amazing!

The first night after we strolled the left bank a bit, we met an old colleague of John's who is now back living in Paris. He took us for drinks at Harry's bar (a total dive bar in the middle of Paris - a bit strange, but good to see) and then for dinner. It was so nice of him to spend his friday night with us and help us get acclimated to the city.

Our hotel with right next to the Louvre, you could actually see into it and look at the statues from our room

Even on a gray afternoon, it looks like a postcard

This pedestrian bridge had all locks attached to the fence with words of love written on them - can you se the heart next to me? Paris stole my heart, so I completely understand!

The next morning, we walked around a bit, stopped at a cafe on the left bank for lunch and then hit up the l'Orangerie where Monet's waterlilies are on display. When you walk in and see these enormous pieces of art displayed on white walls, it takes your breath away! Afterwards, we walked over to Sainte-Chapelle, a beautiful old church with dynamite stained glass windows. We could have sat in there for hours! That evening, we went to the Hemingway Bar at the Ritz for drinks and then out for a great dinner at La Fontaine De Mars. The evening ended with a walk under the Eiffel Tower. It was beyond fabulous - I felt like we were living in a fairy tale!

The windows inside Sainte-Chapelle - the picture doesn't do it justice.

The outside of Sainte-Chapelle

Unfortunately we did not go inside the Notre-Dame because the line was insane, but here is the outside. Perhaps we'll go in next time.

Just a park with lovely fountains and....

a view of the Eiffel Tower in the background.

A late afternoon stop in one of the many cafes. I love that Parisians sit outside even in the winter!

John at the Hemingway Bar drinking his Old Fashioned.

My cocktail came with a red rose on the glass...and yes, it's real.

John's attempt to photograph the room on the sly!

Yes, we took these pictures - it was probably about midnight when we left the restaurant and walked a few short blocks to the Eiffel Tower. There were a few people milling about, but for the most part, it was all ours.

John loves that he got the moon in this picture

Yep, we walked right underneath....it's a long way up!

The next morning, after a quick stop for coffee, we headed to the Musee d'Orsay to check out all the fabulous impressionist works. Once again, I was blown away! Any of you who know me at all know that I'm not one to spend hours in a museum. I much prefer to hit the highlights and move on (thanks to my sister who took me on a 30 minute tour of the vatican museum all those years ago, I know it's possible), but I could have stayed in this museum for hours; John could have stayed for days. We managed to leave and head to Cafe de Flore for lunch . Here, I could have stayed for days! Did I mention that it was Fashion Week in Paris? Well, this place had it all, a fabulous lunch, great waiter and ridiculous people watching! Once again, we managed to move on and after an obligatory stop at Laudree, we went to the Louvre and did a 45 minute run through and hit the highlights!

Stopping for morning coffee - our hotel is right behind John

My beyond perfect lunch at Cafe de Flore :-)

If you ever see a Laudree, please stop in and have a macaron - they are to die for!

I'm sure the Louvre deserved much more than the 45 minutes we had for it, but we did manage to see the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory (which is stunning!) and Venus di Milo - all of which were very impressive!

That evening, we had cocktails at the hotel bar followed by another wonderful dinner at Brasserie Gallopin. Another fabulous day in Paris!

The next morning, we were to get on the EuroStar for a 2 hour journey to London. Unfortunately, the two hour journey turned into an 11 hour journey, complete with hours on a train in northern france with no power, no water, no food..... This picture of John was taken 5 hours into the trip....just before the sun went down. Who knew an inch of snow could cause so much trouble?!!

Yep, a smile - a "is this truly happening to us?" smile

Once we got there, London was just as it always is, a great, fun city! We stayed out in Kensington this time, which was wonderful for me - we were right on Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, it was so pretty! John was at work, so I just walked, shopped, had tea and explored for 3 days.

You have to love London with things like this is the middle of the park

This was the view out of our window. The hotel gave jogging maps, so it was easy to navigate the park in the morning.

We tried to sneak a trip on the London Eye one morning before John's meetings - turns out we had to go at night, but had to snap the pic of Ben Ben while we could

Tea at the Langham was lovely! It's always a nice thing to do anywhere, but especially in London

Seriously, are these desserts or works of art?!

John had told them it was my birthday when he called and made the reservation, so the piano player played happy birthday and they brought me this.....so nice!