October 12 – 17, 2013
With all the visits and summer fun, time was flying by and before we knew it our time in France was nearing the end. To make time pass even faster, a promotion for Paul back in Vancouver meant he had to leave a full month earlier than planned. We spent our last few weeks in France together enjoying Grenoble and spending time with friends. I was lucky enough to have my best girl friends already booked to fly all the way over from Toronto and New York for our annual girls trip. So I had a good excuse to stay behind so that the four of us could take Grenoble and Paris by storm!
Sarah, Julia and Steph arrived and we wasted no time getting caught up. After a walk around the city, we went for dinner to my favourite restaurant in Grenoble - Le Bocal, before hitting the town. The next day I took the ladies to the Cuves du Sassenage, a place that had immediately reminded me of them the first time I went, and I had been looking forward to bringing them to this magical place!
After our previous night’s Grenoble pub crawl, including a visit to the late night establishment, le Vieux Manoir, we somehow mustered the energy to hit the market that morning to stock up for Thanksgiving dinner. It was well worth the early rise, because we made a delicious feast, and celebrated by being thankful for each other!
The next day we took our métro-vélo bikes for a spin around the city before boarding our train to Paris. We were staying in the trendy area, le Marais, and took advantage of the great nightlife it had to offer. It was followed up with a full day of taking in the sights of one of the most architecturally impressive cities in the world.
We stumbled upon The Great Canadian Pub, almost as though the Caesars were calling our names (well at least mine and Sarah’s, as Caesars are in short supply in Grenoble and New York! )
The Louvre and it’s iconic pyramids were as imposing as ever. Paris was certainly working it’s charm on us.
We took a break from all the walking and relaxed for a while in the beautiful Jardin des Tuileries.
As we passed by a a bakery called Angelina, the chic and belle époque interior beckoned us inside, where we had a delicious lunch, finished off with one of these chocolatey masterpieces.
The city bike service, Vélib, is all the rage in Paris, so we rented some wheels as our mode of transport home. We took a detour through the gardens of the Palais Royal on our route back to Le Marais.
Before we knew it, it was our last morning to have all four of us together, as Sarah’s flight was taking her home to New York that afternoon. Seeing the Eiffel Tower in the rain made for a quintessential Parisian goodbye.
After having just watched the movie Amélie in Grenoble after our Thanksgiving dinner, we decided the movie's setting, Montmartre, would be the perfect place to spend our last night in Paris. The three of us made our way to the 18th arrondissement for one last dinner on a Parisian patio before seeing the immaculate Basilique du Sacré Coeur just after dark.
It was an incredible visit with the ladies and made for a very special way to wind down my time in France!