We Have Arrived In Paris

The only other time we visited Paris we stayed with

friends in their home so arranging for a hotel on-line

made me a little nervous.

My husband ended up picking out the hotel, so imagine

my surprise when we walked into the lobby of the

magnificent Westin Vendome in Paris.

Ever elegant Marsha at Splenderosa had just

mentioned this as a place to stay in Paris and I was

so excited to tell her that was the hotel we were staying

in.  Marsha, it is more incredible than I would have

imagined!

Absolutely gorgeous and wonderful in every way.  The staff could
not have been more helpful.

Then we walked in the room - hubby didn't know of

course, but it was purple, purple and more purple!

I don't think I have ever had a purple hotel room before.

These walls are a pale lavender, which doesn't

shoe in the photos that well.  The carpet is a

multi colored strip border with a pale lavender pattern

in the middle.  The curtains are a dusty purple and

even the headboard of the bed is a dusty purple

leather.  Gorgeous and elegant.

There is even a

 quaint fireplace in the room too with a marble surround.

I adore the tall, tall windows in classic Paris architecture

and our room had one overlooking our lovely courtyard.  

European rooms are smaller but this is really charming. 

Look at this amazing crystal chandelier with

a satin shade

and purple crystals!  I love those.

We hit the streets running and headed straight over

to Galerie Lafayette which was just a couple

of blocks away.

Several people mentioned on their blogs to go to

the rooftop terrace to see the views of Paris,

which we did.  Thanks for the recommendation.

This is the beautiful Opera House.

We even caught a view of Sacre Coeur from the roof.

 We ate lunch in the rooftop restaurant and of

course had to have some wonderful gelato.

 The clouds opened up to create a great picture of street lamps.

Just walking the streets is so entertaining.  Fun

little floral shops are everywhere.

We also headed to the Louvre which we found out was closed

on Tuesday, but the grounds are just fun to be on.

All this walking and we were ready to eat again, just outside of the Louvre is a wonderful
little sandwich shop called Paul.

Our friends wanted a bite of the sandwich too.

There are so many ways to get around in Paris,

you can walk, which we did plenty of, there

are trains and the metro and taxis, but we

thought we would try this fun bicycle and head

over to the Eiffel Tower.

We got on the bicycle right outside of the Jardin des Tuileries which

is just beautiful right now.

This is the sight my daughter was most excited to see!

It is so magnificent, you almost forget.

After almost eight hours of sightseeing, the jet lag was starting to set
in and we headed back to our hotel.  Notice the timing was perfect to
capture the blue hour through our balcony door.

I had to capture the view out the balcony to the courtyard

below.  It is so quiet and private here in the middle of Paris.

I told my husband he could not have picked a more perfect hotel,

perfect location, perfectly beautiful and perfect decor

(especially the purple room!)

Here is a little more of the blue hour showing

the rooftops in the courtyard. 

Of all things Parisian, I think I adore the architecture

the most, especially the stone work, the balconies and

the rooftops.  

Exhausting but exhilarating and we did it without

speaking French (alas) but so far everyone has

been nothing but charming!

Merci Paris!