PARIS JE T'AIME

after a few days in london we took the eurostar to paris.  taking a train via london and paris has been something i have wanted to do for years.  i took french for 12 years and the chunnel was something we discussed almost every year.  laugh if you must but i was like a kid in a candy store!  after taking it there is no other way i would travel between the two cities, it was just so damn easy. 

first thing on the parisian agenda was vogue paris' fashion's night out.  we all got a little dressed up and headed to avenue montaigne for the festivities.  we danced in dior, browsed beautiful clothes at marni, but mostly we just stood in lines and enjoyed the insane people watching.  it was as if every stylish person in paris was out parading around in their best.  it was such an inspirational night for a fashion lover like myself.  afterwards, we decided on just having a low key night at a bar/cafe in the marais, one of my favorite neighborhoods in paris.  i wore a band of outsiders button up, 3.1 philip lim blazer, theory tie, and gap rigid selvage jeans...quite an american ensemble for vogue paris' fashion's night out!

our hotel had some amazing graffiti near it, i really am loving graffiti at the moment and the below were quite beautiful.  i found them to be refreshing compared to the stereotypical graffiti one normally sees.

there really is no city in the world like paris.  there are just so many identifiable aspects of the city that immediately tells one where they are.  notre dame, sacre coeur, the eiffel tour, the architecture, i could go on for pages.  i've been to paris a couple of times before this trip and i am quite happy that the sites never get old.  if i lived in paris i would find it difficult to not spend every weekend visiting the main tourist attractions!  i just absolutely love paris.  it is beautiful in the sun and beautiful in the rain.  i could wander the streets for days.

the eiffel tower is just so beautiful both in its entirety and its details.  i can't get tired of it.

this is actually the building that the host family i lived with for a summer during college live in.  it was right in between the montparnasse cemetery and place denfert rochereau, which was perfect.  there is little i wouldn't do to call this building my home.

la grande arche out in la defense is surprisingly one of my favorites in paris.  la defense is the no-so-central business district of paris.  its quite bizarre to take a lengthy metro/bus ride out to what feels like a city of the future compared to central paris.  this building is stunning and well worth the trek out to it if you are in paris, it is even more amazing in person.

sacre coeur!!!!  just watch out for the sketchballs trying to put bracelets on you and then charge you ridiculous amounts of euro for them.  tip for sacre coeur: if you have any sort of metro pass you can take the furnicular (tram) up/down the hill.

la defense in the background.  photo taken in the tuileries gardens, one of my favorite parks in paris.

musee d'orsay, up there with the tate modern on my list of favorite museums of the world.  unfortunately they don't allow photos inside, and for some reason i didn't sneak one, but the inside is absolutely amazing.  the building used to be an old train station so it is bright and open in the middle.

these next four photos are from my favorite park in paris: les jardins de luxembourg.  i could spend days here and would love to have an apartment in paris that overlooked the park.  the green plaid is from steven alan, and yes i wore it in london too...

sitting alongside the seine watching the world go by in my cheap monday t-shirt with amazing self fabric applique and gorgeous neckline.  i love a large neck opening in almost any shape and in almost any style top.

i'm not sure exactly what these locks represent but i believe they have something to do with relationships and those in love.  i'd love it if someone could tell me what they mean.  we saw them on several bridges throughout the city.

delicious dinner at chez janou.  the food was excellent, the wine was flowing, and the company were nothing less than perfect.  this dinner was one of my favorite things of the entire trip.  sitting at an amazing table in a restaurant hidden away deep in the marais full of local parisians with three of my best friends...it doesn't get much better than that.

the only thing that beats walking around paris during the day is walking around paris at night.  especially if that walk takes you by the eiffel tower while it is sparkling or notre dame & ile st. louis.  i refused to take cabs home at night so i could walk through the surprisingly extremely safe feeling streets and take it all in.  if i lived in paris i don't think i would sleep because i would be up wandering the arrondissements the entire night every night, especially considering you can run into late night crepe stands. mmm....nutella.

paris subway in my new vuitton shoes.

being a tourist taking a break from the rain by having lunch at les deux magots in st germain des pres - another of my favorite neighborhoods in paris.  (notice the slightly larger than normal neckline of my apc t-shirt, i'm not lying when i say i love a good neckline)

i've been fortunate to have lived in paris for a summer during college and if i don't live in paris again i will not die a happy man.  the city just speaks to me (and i can surprisingly still speak to it, my french still exists and is semi-good!).  it is a place i could visit time and time again and never get tired of it.  i'd go tomorrow if i could.  

paris je t'aime.