Tom and I went to see my mom this weekend. We had a wonderful lunch at Rockwell & Republic in Grand Rapids. It was a beautiful day, but it felt like we skipped right over Spring and jumped head first into Summer - it was 80 degrees!! Thankfully we were back to 50s yesterday (everyone knows how much I just love the heat, haha). But I'll admit it was nice to have a good sunny and warm day. That's what I love about Michigan - one day it can snow, and the next you wanna pack up the car and head straight to the beach!
Anyway, it was packed on the deck (and probably too warm to me, ha) so we stayed inside, but it was a great lunch, nonetheless, and we went over the details of our upcoming trip to Europe!
We leave May 7th. Just 25 days to go! This is going to be an interesting day, because I graduate at 11am, and then we will have just a few hours to get lunch and whatever loose ends we need to tie up before we hop in the getaway car (in this case, board the plane) for our vacation!
Tom and I will leave first, heading straight to Paris!! I'm so excited, I might just burst! We will spend three days and two nights in Paris, staying in the Latin Quarter at the Hotel de l'Esperance, http://hoteldelesperance.fr/. My mom, Jeannette, Carolien (my Dutch sis's) and I stayed there years ago. It's the cutest hotel and I'm looking forward to sharing it with Tom. I'm also super excited to get to go back to Paris and spend time there as an adult ;)
I had an amazing opportunity to be there when I was much younger and we had an incredible time traveling with the girls. We spent a couple days in Paris, and then drove to the South of France I got to visit Monet's garden and meet a direct descendant of Monet's cat! We stayed in a beautiful chateau in the Loire Valley, toured a vineyard, and I was even lucky enough to be a part of a wedding (my mom's friend was getting married). It was an extraordinary experience. But that was the experience of a twelve year old girl, so I am VERY excited to go back and see a different type of Paris!
Of course we will do a few of the most touristy things - visiting the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, The Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysee, Musee d'Orsay, etc, but we are also out to explore the great food and culture of Paris, as well! Thankfully we have some great friends who have given us some fantastic tips and ideas!
Just a few...
*We have been told by more than one friend we definitely have to take the Seine River Cruise. If we take the sunset cruise we will see Paris by day and night, and apparently we can bring our own bottle(s) of wine!
*Les Deux Magots is another place (in the 6th district) we've ben told to stop - a great place for afternoon cocktails :)
*I have a French classmate from Paris who has given us a few ideas as well, one of them he says is the "Best restaurant ever in Paris".....well we can't get that kind of review of a place and not check it out, so we will get lunch at Le Relais Gascon, too.
If anyone has other ideas we would love to hear them. We don't have much time there, so we definitely want to have as much 'research' done in advance as possible so we don't waste a minute while we are there!
THEN we will hop on the train and head to Amsterdam! I have family there, so we will stay with them, and we are excited to see some friends we haven't seen in a while, too. My mom is meeting us there, and then after about a week, Tom comes home and I stay for just a little longer for some girl time with my mom and sisters. I'm looking forward to showing Tom the Amsterdam that I know and love, and where my heritage is....I have gotten so much of the Polish tradition and culture from his family, so I am excited to show him mine now, too.
We are both very much looking forward to wonderful days of people watching, visiting new places, eating amazing cheeses, and sipping wonderful wine.
So I guess I'll spend the next few weeks trying to figure out the rest of the details of the trip, and of course brushing up on my French! Ahhh counting down the days!!!!
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