Visitors From Home Part I (Joel's Family!)

Two weekends ago, Joel's family made the trek out here to visit us! We met up with them in Paris. Thursday night we ate at a restaurant where part of "Something's Gotta Give" was filmed. It was an acclaimed seafood place, but Joel and I still agree that the best seafood will always come from the Gulf Coast. (No, seriously, we really think the seafood tastes fresher and of better quality from home!)

Friday we started out at the Louvre. There's Joel lovingly picking up his sister Celeste, me with the Mona Lisa,

and Joel being inspired by the Michelangelo statue.

After the Louvre, we headed to the Champs Elysees to have lunch at Laduree, an acclaimed restaurant and dessert place. Our lunch was fabulous, as French food usually is.

We strolled down the Champs Elysees and poked our heads in the stores. It was great because we had a wonderful tour guide, Patsy, who is from Birmingham, AL but knows Paris like the back of her hand. She has done hundreds of tours but it felt like she was giving us her first tour ever. Her enthusiasm for the art, history, and culture of Paris was inspiring.

While we were walking, Mrs. Lisa saw this house and loved the architecture. So pretty!

We went to the Musee De L'Orangerie in the afternoon where we saw paintings by Monet, Renior, and other impressionist painters. I discovered a new favorite artist there named Utrillo, who painted beautiful scenes from around the Montmartre area.

After that museum, we walked around and looked into little shops.

We saw a bridal store there, so I had to take a picture of Celeste in her element!

Saturday we planned to go to Versailles, but due to an upset stomach (me..) and exhaustion from the day before, we took it easy and spent the day shopping around our hotel. The view from the hotel was beautiful.

Sunday, we found a Japanese place for Joel to eat at. He was thrilled with his edamame and soba noodles while the rest of us longed for croissants and cappuccinos at a Parisian Brasserie...(just kidding Joel). But really...

Our train left at 4 pm so we had to say farewell to Joel's family! It was a short, but wonderful trip to one of my favorite cities in the world. :)