Paris with the Parents.

This weekend was a very special one indeed...we returned to Paris (as old pros :) and met my PARENTS there! Like before, we took our usual just-after-class train in the early afternoon and arrived at about 3:30PM. On the train ride I made Alex watch The Princess Bride, which features the Cliffs of Insanity (aka the Cliffs of Moher) which are going to visit in Ireland at the end of the month. It lasted just long enough until we arrived in Paris! We navigated to our hotel, checked in and dropped off our stuff, and then went and met my parents at the Montmartre metro stop to go up and see Sacre Coeur - a great first-night-in-Paris activity.

When I finally saw my parents I was amazingly excited and could hardly believe that they were really there! I think we were all in a bit of a daze because we were just buzzing with excitement.

Of course, I forced them to take their first picture in Paris with the city-scape!

And one of us :)

After a late dinner, we all went straight back to our hotels and got some rest for their first full day in Paris, which would be on Saturday! 

We woke up early and made the first stop at Musée d'Orsay. Alex and I got into all of the museums this weekend FREE with our student residency papers - I was so excited to be considered a European student! My parents used bulk museum passes since they planned to hit more museums on Monday (they aren't coming to Luxembourg until Tuesday). 

My favorite thing in d'Orsay was the impressionist exhibit. 

My favorite impressionist painting :)

When I was little I always read a picture book at my grandparents' house about this painting (above). It was about a little girl named Katie who went to the museum and got sucked into the painting! In the book, she was the little girl in the coquelicots (poppies). 

Another favorite work of art that I was thrilled to see in person! A Degas dancer!

From d'Orsay, we went to l'Orangerie to see Monet's waterlilies. I thought it was so amazing that he painted those custom paintings for the round rooms in the museum - while blind! I loved the waterlilies and was glad we got to go see them. I wasn't sure about some of Picasso's work though.

Following l'Orangerie, we walked to Le Bon Marchée, which is similar to a Parisian version of Harrods Department Store. We were too overwhelmed to stay in for more than about 5 minutes, but we spent A LOT of time wandering around a huge (and very expensive) supermarket. Think Whole Foods but on an even pricier (and better quality?) scale. I could've stayed in there for hours! After entertaining ourselves by looking at fancy groceries, we went across the street to a more affordable (Kroger-like) market to get snacks for Sunday.

After getting groceries, we went back to the parents' hotel to take a breather. After a quick break, Alex and I went with my mom to check out the nearby shops. We went into a Mango and H&M, and then finally accomplished a goal of mine: eating French macarons! I had the chocolate one :)

We had a another yummy dinner and then went to bed early in order to make the trek out to Versailles. Not sure if I mentioned this the last time, but Versailles is outside of Paris and takes quite awhile to get to if you're staying in the city center. Luckily, the line wasn't quite as difficult to get through when as last time, because it wasn't the first Sunday of the month (free entry day). 

Inside, it took quite awhile to get through the crowds to see each room. I didn't mind looking at all of the grandeur for a second time. How many people get to say they've been to Versailles twice???

We wandered off of the grounds and got sandwiches for lunch for a picnic in the gardens. We enjoyed some sunshine although it was very cold. We ventured further into the gardens this time before getting caught in a freak (and cold!) rainstorm and dashing into a café for a cup of tea.

Pre-storm!

We were skeptical of the weather but still had time to fit something in before our evening train home. My parents hadn't had plans to go to the Tour d'Eiffel at all, so I dragged them there in the rain! We took some rainy photos in front of it and as we were heading off it (of course) cleared up. 

I got this picture when the weather cleared! Beautiful!

We were able to head back to the hotel and get some snacks for the ride back to Luxembourg and say our good byes to my parents. I was sad to leave them even though I'll see them on Tuesday in Luxembourg! 

For the second time, I was able to enjoy different things in Paris. I really felt more at ease and less nervous about traveling (probably because the first time, Paris was my very first trip!). I enjoyed going and seeing new things, like the museums and supermarkets. It would be easy to spend a lot of time here! As we pulled out of the train station, I realized that could be my last time in Paris EVER, if not for 30+ years. I hope to make it back there. Now, I look forward to seeing other parts of France. I especially look forward to spending Wednesday in Luxembourg with my parents!