Day 5 - Last Day in Paris...

Our last day in Paris turned out to be the most beautiful...the sun finally came out and it was the perfect temperature.  Which made leaving even more bittersweet...

We started early by meeting up with the Smiths at the Conciergerie...the medieval prison which were the holding cells before the guillotine....most notably for Marie Antionette.

Marie's cell...

Then we strolled around Ile de la Cite and made our way to the Lock Bridge.  We put our (really tiny luggage) lock on the bridge (the tiny one in the center of the pic, above Kevin & Kristen's) and threw our key in to the River - which guaranteed our undying love and that we will return again to Paris.

Parting shots of Notre Dame...

St Michel...

We spent our last couple of hours having a picnic under the Eiffel Tower on the Champs de Mars.  (We did not go up the tower - we tried to buy tickets online a month in advance but they were already sold out the dates we were in town, and the line to buy tickets on a Saturday afternoon was literally hours long.  So we passed and enjoyed the view upward instead.)

I can still taste the bread and cheeses...and I miss my daily chocolat au pain...

It was a wonderful afternoon...and it was especially nice to stop and sit for a minute after all of the go-go-go of the previous days.  But after our relaxing lunch, we headed back to the flat to grab our luggage and head to the airport for the next leg of our journey.

There was a huge promotional push for Hangover 3 while we were there - the translation made me laugh...

Au revoir #42...

Au revoir staircase...

Au revoir Paris - I will definitely be back.

Michael and I hopped a flight to Barcelona.  We landed in the early evening, checked in to our hotel, and walked up to Plaza de Gracia to grab some tapas for dinner.

Day 4 - Versailles & French Open (Take 2)

We decided to head out of the city and spend the day at Versailles before going back to Roland Garros.  Versailles had been on our "if we have time, maybe" list, but after feedback from The Pavloffs from their experience there earlier in the week, we decided to meet up with The Smiths and go check it out.  And we are certainly glad we did because it was definitely a highlight of the trip.

{On a side note - it was another rainy (and even colder) day in Paris so you will see more pictures of me in my green rain jacket and Michael in his black.  I shouldn't have worried for one second about what to pack for Paris because it obviously didn't matter.  All of my pictures look the same!  One thing I noticed though is that, even though it is typical for it to rain every day in the Spring there, NO ONE wears rain jackets - they only carry umbrellas - so we stood out even more so as tourists, as if we didn't already!

Back to Versailles...it is more ornate and enormous that I had imagined. It's hard to imagine it as an actual residence or what life must have been like then.

The hall of mirrors...

Looking out one of the bedrooms...not a bad view...

Just a little painting that Louis XIV had over his bed....

After touring the main Palace, we rented bikes and rode around the grounds...

Marie Antoinette's Estate...

After a really lovely day imaging life as 17th century royalty, we hopped the train back to Roland Garros for a make-up day at the courts.  

Even with grounds passes we were able to see some top players on the outside courts...we saw Milos Raonic, a young Canadian that is a top 20 player (and one of Canada's 50 Most Beautiful People apparently)...

 And then our friends scored us tickets in to Lenglen to watch Ivanovich win her match...

And then we went back out and watch Kuznetsova, who scares me a little bit...

And then those crafty Smiths got us tickets into Chartier...Michael was even happier.  We watched Radwanska (who is Polish) play a German girl - the crowd was very lively!

We watched the last match of the day and headed back to our neighborhood for dinner...we walked a couple of blocks over in to the Montparnasse area and ate at a good Pizza restaurant - not fancy but tasty!  We tried to soak in our last night in Paris...

Day 3 - French Open (Take 1)

The whole reason this trip even came in to existence is because Michael said years ago that his bucket list included going to the 4 Tennis Majors - we did the US Open in 2006, and Paris was next on the list - so his 40th birthday seemed like an appropriate time to check off his bucket list.

So, this day was his birthday present.  And it didn't go as planned.

We made our way out to Roland Garros on a damp morning...get inside, watch a few sets of tennis...and the rains came in and the matches were delayed.  We waited around a bit, hoping for it to pass through but the forecast didn't give us hope.  After waiting an hour or so, we decided (much to Michael's chagrin) to cut our losses and at least try to enjoy some of the city instead of just standing around waiting.  Michael didn't put up a fight, or pout (too much), but his mood definitely shifted. I felt awful for him, but was hoping we could at least salvage the day.

We make our way back to town to see the Arc de Triomphe.

It was a tight spiral staircase all the way to the top - great workout!  

Despite the weather, the view was fantastic...

Champs Elysees...

After a long, wet day, Michael and I made our way back to our neighborhood and found a cafe near our flat where we could sit outside, share a bottle of wine and have a nice quiet dinner.  Lovely.

When we get back to the flat we are able to see a message from The Smiths that they were able to find evening tickets to go back to Roland Garros for the evening matches the following day.  I don't think I had even realized how gloomy Michael had been that day until I saw him light up at that news!  So, we obviously jumped on those tickets and set to rearranging our plans for the next day...