01/16: A Weekend in Paris

Courtney's great uncle Larry was on his annual trip to Paris for a wine festival. This seemed as good a reason as any to make a quick weekend trip down to Paris to hang out, eat well and go exploring.

01/16: Friday in Paris

After a half day at work we hopped on a quick flight to Paris. After checking into our hotel we went and met up with her uncle and went out for an awesome dinner complete with great wine, foie gras, escargot, and roast chicken. While we were eating we were squeezed in very close to a french couple. They complemented Larry's choice in wine and in a few moments the conversation progressed into an indepth discussion of Larry's favorite wine regions as well as all the wine societies Larry is a member of. They were noticeably impressed.

Afterwards we headed towards Notre Dame, and took a few night shots:




01/17: Paris by day

The next morning Courtney and I went out for some culture, going to the Musee d'Orsay. The museum is in an old train station and has a huge collection of impressionists. It was one of the coolest museums I've ever been to.
Here's Courtney reigning terror on ancient Paris.


After the museum we met up with Larry for a very interesting lunch. Their particular specialty is "tete de veau", which literally means a head of a calf. So yes, I ate calf tongue, cheek and brains.
After lunch we went on a walk exploring around the area. We had a brief respite from the gray skies. Below is the "Petite Palais".


After a brief nap time we met up with Larry again for an amazing meal. Here is Court's uncle looking through their ridiculously huge wine list.
The meal was amazing. Courtney and I had the pressed duck, which is so called because the after the duck breast and legs are separated, the rest of the carcass is put in a press which makes a "gamey" sauce. It was basically the best thing ever.
Each duck has a number. Ours was 1075664, which I guess is the number of ducks they've served here, which is an obscene amount of birds. It helps that the restaurant has been around since 1582. After the duck we had cheese, wine and dessert.

01/18: Versaille

The next morning we woke up and checked out and hit a train out to Versaille.
The palace was famous for a reason, as it was absolutely gorgeous. Below is the palace chapel.
An example of some of the artwork on the ceiling:
The Hall of Mirrors:

After a whirlwind tour through the palace we went out to the grounds.

After we headed back to gather up our things, snap another photo of Notre Dame and head off to the airport.
After waiting in ridiculously slow lines in Charles De Gaulle airport we hopped on our plane and headed back to Stockholm.