Paris. | A Personal Post

“Paris is always a good idea.” –Audrey Hepburn

Today, with the fall light streaming in through the windows (and maaaaybe a Christmas movie on tv) just seems like the right time to share a personal post on the blog. It’s been a crazy and an incredible year, filled with so many lovely couples and families who have invited us in to document their stories (and we still have a few more to share soon!) and the joy of their wedding days. We are so incredibly grateful for each and every one of you!

It’s also been a hectic personal year, filled with workaholic tendencies and other stresses. It seems like a million years ago that on a rainy day in February we booked flights to Paris with airline miles that were going to expire soon. I frequently forgot that we would be going, and when we finished up our final wedding of the season, my to do list was still approximately 3 miles long, and my brain couldn’t even comprehend what was coming.

I’ve been in love with the idea of Paris for quite a long time. I couldn’t tell you exactly when my obsession started. Was it the Madeleine books? Photos I saw in middle school? Stories from my high school French teacher? I’m not sure, but for as long as I can remember, I’ve always had an ache to visit Paris some day. We landed in Paris amidst a pea soup fog after sleeping maybe an hour during our overnight flight, and took an Uber to our apartment in the 6th arr. As we entered the city, the fog began to lift and we got our first glimpses of this magical city (and just a brief view of the Eiffel Tower peeking through the last of the fog as we passed an open street). It was unbelievable. After a brief nap we ventured out, and all I can say is that the city truly was every bit as magical as I could have imagined.

Our five days there were full of laughter, reconnecting, rest, coffee, baguettes, and lots of magic. I’m not sure if I have ever been anywhere that not only lived up to the hype, but fully exceeded even my wildest dreams and expectations. Just walking the streets and taking in the light and the history was incredible and awe-inspiring. On our final day, we made our way to the Eiffel Tower for sunrise, and I just sat there and soaked in everything we had experienced. I was completely overwhelmed with gratitude and the beauty of the trip and our time together. I think some part of me never really expected that I would make it there. And to be there with Chris and having that time to reconnect and the joy he had in watching me experience everything…it was just more than I could have dreamed.

That entire day was perfect. We followed up our sunrise Eiffel Tower trip with possibly the best breakfast of my life at HolyBelly (a freaking adorable restaurant started by the cutest couple from Australia, where everyone was in Halloween costumes and the music was blasting–I’ll never forget the vibe in there!), wandering down through Le Marais to Notre Dame, to Shakespeare & Co. to browse through the books, through the Latin Quarter, then grabbing a baguette to snack on while we rested at Luxembourg Gardens. We watched the sun set outside The Louvre, then returned to the Eiffel Tower for it’s hourly sparkling lights, which everyone greeted with a cheer. We ended our day back outside Notre Dame, to cross over Point Zero–a small geographic marker from which the distance from Paris all other places are judged, and which has become a place for many different good luck rituals and other symbolic gestures. We crossed over it as a promise to return one day.

We returned home rested and relaxed, ready to embrace the slower pace of winter and the little things in life. Refilled and ready to continue caring for all our wonderful clients (and reminded that you can’t pour from an empty cup!) and each other.

So I just wanted to share some photos (a mix of iPhone and “real” camera), mainly for us to have a documented record of our trip, and to not let these memories just waste away hidden on a hard drive because I was “too busy” to handle our personal memories with the same care we take for our lovely clients (and we’ll definitely order prints soon–printed photos over files any day!). So cheers to memories, to rest, to love, and to Paris!

Oh….and you might notice we had a little tag along with us for this trip. Bébé will be joining the team in early February (and he definitely loved the baguettes and crêpes!)  🙂

À bientôt, Paris.

Cheers to following your dreams  <3