Paris. Just walking the streets and peeking into shop windows is an adventure. Home to world class art, melt in your mouth baked goods and top notch lingerie.The city is enveloped in romance and history. While I was there, it was overcast and raining. The. Entire. Time. But I had less than 24 hours to soak up The City of Lights, so rain or shine it was going to be a busy day. I made the most of it by taking a long walk, enjoying some macaroons from Laduree, and visiting the Eiffel Tower for some pictures.


How do you prove your love to the person you want to spend your life with? A sparkling ring? A joint bank account? Some people prepare a padlock by engraving the initials of their significant other adding sometimes a message or date, then they bring the love of their life to a particular bridge in Paris, attach the padlock to the bridge and then throw the key into the Seine. The Love Bridge did not actually begin on Pont de l’Archevêché, it was traditionally on Pont des Arts, but in 2010 most people agree that city officials disposed of most of the locks in the middle of the night, soon after they made complaints about the bridge destroying historic architecture. Paris boasts many beautiful bridges, but my favorite has a long history with love and romance. Nobody knows for sure if this tradition, which can be found in other international cities like Rome and Moscow, truly began in Paris but the citizens and visitors cling to the tradition. After the disappearance of the locks from Pont des Arts, new locks began appearing on a different bridge, Pont de l’Archevêché, which is where my pictures are taken.


I am a huge fan of Zipcar at home. On the other side of the pond I was introduced to Autolib, an even greener option. This article details how the fee schedule is structured to be tourist and local friendly.
Another transportation adventure was getting from Rennes to Paris. We used a rideshare program called covoiturage. The website is set up sort of like an Amazon or maybe Ebay for people looking to catch a ride to different places. A car owning person will create a profile of a bit about them, their car qualities, and the trip they are planning to make (example: Rennes to Paris) and the price. We shared a car with two middle aged women and a younger man. I wish I could tell you I exchanged stories of culture and learned some of the top secret Parisian places to eat, but the truth is I slept most of the way to Paris.
Paris is known for it’s sidewalk cafe’s. It is one of the most wonderful things, to spend an afternoon sharing a drink and watching people.

