Engagements at Notre Dame and the Seine River

We were lucky to be able to have some engagement pictures taken by the Seine and Notre Dame- had a pretty neat french photographer too! :)

first we locked our love on the lover's bridge. Not really sure the technical name but it was romantic!

Hello Paris! (1st week)

WOW! France was absolutely amazing. There are so many great stories to tell and pictures to share, I'll be splitting up the blog into three posts (weeks #1, #2, and #3) to make it easier and a little more detailed for everyone who would like to see the fun things we were able to do :) -

Week #1: We got into Paris after a verrrry long flight. I'm pretty sure it was 8 hours. I actually really enjoyed the meals on the plane, and Jonny being the sweet fiance he is let me use his super nice over-the-ear headphones the whole time! I've never had to use an airplane bathroom before but now I know what everyone's talking about...

When we landed I wasn't very impressed with the airport or the scenary. Everything was claustrophobic and dead-looking. But, it was kinda neat feeling like celebrities, aka you're the center of attention when people hear you speaking English! My aunt Isabelle, uncle Jean, and cousin Juliette met Jonny and I at our terminal and took us to meet up with the rest of my family at the other terminal. We were driven back to my aunt's house and we all enjoyed our first "authentic french lunch."

We sure had some delicious meals!

Throughout the first week in Paris, we "got our moneys" and checked out the local town that we stayed in "Sucy en Brie." It was adorable and the markets were so fun to visit. We saw some pretty interesting things. After we rested from our jet-lag, we decided to take on the historical sites! One of the first things we experienced was the Catacombs! Creepy, but OH so cool! There was a lot of waiting in line involved. We had to get there a few hours early just to get in before the crowds! We visited the Louvre, the Eiffel tower, the Arch de Triomphe, had a boat ride on the river and saw all the historical sites lit up at night as we floated along and listened to the tour guide explain what happened near each bridge as we went under it. We thought it was really neat that we got to see where Marie Antoinette was held prisoner and where she was beheaded! "Let them eat cake!"

We experienced a little fine dining and scrumptious french food, and I got to eat duck! I was so happy. We experienced train rides in Paris, which surprisingly weren't too bad- but that may have had to do with being during the week. We walked along all the romantic parts of Paris and the small towns around (including getting to see the schools and homes where my dad lived growing up), as we enjoyed our delicious sorbets :) We met family that we've never met before and had a blast trying to communicate. There was never a dull moment-laughter was never-ending! Good thing they teach a lot of English in France or it would have been impossible!

We got up close and personal with the french firemen too! Well, Caroline did. ;) She enjoyed taking pictures with them because in France the firemen have to be young, in top shape, and are actually a part of the army. Tough requirements for firemen there- they can hardly have cavities or its a no-go! We also had some fun encounters with the policemen there. They're quite nice! Jonny and I got a sketching of us done by a really neat artist and we really had a great time walking around all the towns and taking pictures of how beautiful little houses/apartments were and picking out postcards and souveniers for our families back home. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves-although they are out of order! Did I mention we ate fresh pastries every day?! Yes, we did! :) :

My cousin's sweeeeet dog, called "Teddy Bear" but it sounds much cooler when you say it in French ;)

Week #2- on our way to Southern France! coming soon...!