celebrating one year … in paris!

IMG_8216

the boy took me on a quick trip to paris last weekend to celebrate our first anniversary! he had been planning this for many weeks, and even though i spoiled the surprise factor a bit in the end, the gesture was so splendid and sweet.

we had a simple date night on the day of our actual wedding anniversary. we went to our favourite neighborhood restaurant and then had some cake together at home…

my mom had brought us the top layer of our wedding cake all the way from utah when she came to visit last month. i still can’t believe she actually brought it all that way (with a few days’ stop in new york city, too!). since it had been frozen and defrosted many times, though several security scanners at different airports, in planes and cars and subway trains, it was looking a little worse for the wear when we got it out of the freezer the day before our anniversary. we just had a few bites each but amazingly, it tasted quite good! so fun to reminisce on our sealing, our perfect wedding festivities, and the past year, which indeed has been tremendously challenging but has also been tremendously awesome.

IMG_8133 IMG_8137IMG_8146 IMG_8151
^^ documenting our top layer eating quite well for ourselves and also my fantastic courier mom and my dearest friend dani who made our wedding cake! ^^

the next morning, we hopped on a train across the english channel! i was totally giddy when we got into paris. i had been twice before, and it was ian’s first time. to be there together as lovers! dreamy. to me, paris is worth all the hype. it really is magical. we had just thirty six hours and a few mishaps, but overall the weekend was really, really wonderful.

IMG_8165IMG_8169IMG_8172
^^ we went to sacre coeur and it was so crowded! there was some kind of festival with food stands and music going on. quite the party. ^^
IMG_8177 G2382044G2382045
^^ paris makes one drunk enough on love that taking kissing selfies becomes somehow acceptable :) ^^
IMG_8178IMG_8180IMG_8185IMG_8194IMG_8195IMG_8197G2392048G2392050IMG_8198IMG_8206
^^ he is just the cutest. i love that smile so much. ^^
IMG_8218IMG_8224
^^ when i told ian we could see the tower actually sparkle if we stayed on top of the arc de triomphe past nightfall, he was game to stand in the cold gazing over the city for nearly an hour. and when the glittering started, i gasped and looked over to catch his complete jaw drop. i mean, it’s the most lovely, romantic, fabulous thrill to see that tower sparkle. ^^
IMG_8242
IMG_8245
^^ since we had macarons at our wedding reception, we just had to stop in laduree during our long walk down the champs elysees from the arc de triomphe to the louvre. ^^
IMG_8248 
^^ the balcony of our cute little hotel room! ^^
IMG_8252 IMG_8277
^^ we went straight from sunday services at the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints to a sunday service at notre dame! we heard singers and the organ while we explored the spectacular interior. but the exterior is my favourite! ^^
IMG_8263IMG_8281IMG_8286IMG_8289
^^ the entrance to sainte chapelle, before walking upstairs to the upper chapel. i had never been to sainte chapelle before, and i was blown away. honestly, my body was tingling with joy and awe pretty much the entire twenty minutes we spent in the upper chapel. that room has become one of my all-time favourite places in the world. i seriously loved it so, so much. totally astonishing and dazzling and just quite unbelievable. the pictures certainly don’t do it justice!:
IMG_8298IMG_8308IMG_8332 IMG_8293
^^ maybe even better than marveling at the windows and the ceiling was watching people’s reactions as they turned around the corner from the stairs to see the upper chapel for the first time. i so loved seeing such expressive faces of sheer awe, amazement, reverence, complete wonder or total shock! ^^
IMG_8302IMG_8328IMG_8311 IMG_8320
^^ in love with this place. could have stayed for hours. ^^
IMG_8347
^^ but… we’d passed a crepe stand on our way in and i was also thinking at nutella and bananas. this crepe here was one of the best things i’ve ever put in my mouth. ^^
IMG_8351 IMG_8352IMG_8379
^^ we walked up the stairs to the second platform of the eiffel tower, and then took the elevator the rest of the way. bless ian’s heart, he is so afraid of heights but he always faces his fears and does this stuff (he’s usually the instigator!) and usually ends up loving it in the end. ^^
IMG_8356IMG_8360IMG_8361IMG_8375IMG_8380IMG_8382
^^ the glass floor on the first platform. kind of neat! ^^
IMG_8383 IMG_8385
^^ a cotton candy treat to top off a magical evening. ^^
IMG_8387 IMG_8388
^^ on the way back to our hotel to get our stuff and head to the train station… ^^
IMG_8390
^^ we got to catch one more eiffel tower sparkle from across and down the seine. a little kiss goodbye from the city of lights. until next time! ^^

yes, paris is worth all the hype. and so is being in love. it’s really really really wonderful to be in love.

Comments

  1. PERFECT! :)
    Beautiful pictures. What a sweet mother you have to haul your cake topper to London for you.
    So happy you had a spectacular time in Paris. What a way to celebrate!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awe, this made my day! Happy Anniversary to a beautiful couple!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hope there were not services going on when you took pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  4. you are the absolute cutest!!!! love this blog. just love it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh wow, it's a hard knock life.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a great trip! Congrats on your anniversary :)

    Interfaith question! What's the most striking difference for you between your LDS Sunday service and a Roman Catholic service?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I went to Paris (along with other places in Europe) two summers ago with my parents and I completely agree. Paris is fabulous. Saint Chapelle is completely amazing. I adored it. It's exquisitely beautiful. And the Eiffel Tower was even better than what everyone says. We were there for three nights and got to see it sparkly every night we were there and I could happily watch the Eiffel Tower every night of my life and not get sick of it. Man alive...this makes me want to go back so bad.

    ReplyDelete
  8. WOW! Awesome first celebration! So much like our first anniversary....in the hospital with the arrival of Saren! Both places are wonderous!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Happy anniversary! Twinkling, glittering Paris is the best.

    ReplyDelete
  10. My husband and I went to Paris on our honeymoon. I also thought that the ocassion allowed for a kissing selfie. While we were fiddling with our ordinary camera (no selfie stick), two friendly American women offered to take our picture together. Of course we thanked them and they took a picture. We felt stupid to kiss in front of them, so we had to wait until they were out of sight to take another picture.

    ReplyDelete
  11. love your shoes! love to london!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment