La Mia Dolce Vita: No Fat Calorie Left Behind- Paris

Our flight from Venice went off without a hitch. It's amazing, however, how little room your knees have on Ryan Air flights. I'm normally uncomfortable on planes, but this flight was particularly dreadful. On top of that, the landing was more like we dropped onto the runway rather than glided down.
The minute we stepped off the plane, it felt different in Paris than in all of Italy. Things were organized! Signs were easy to understand! There weren't 5 signs for one destination pointing 5 different ways! (Unfortunately, this is incredibly common when trying to find things in Italy). Traffic didn't feel like they were trying to hit us, they were courteous! Things unheard of in Italy. We swiftly got our bags and flew through ~~customs~~ the exit of the airport to get to the subway. Now, I took French since I was 6, and to be honest, I should be much better than I am, but I can muddle through a conversation. My friend Alison told me that the French are not like the Italians, where if you try to speak their language, that they appreciate the effort and will help you. The whole French elitism thing. Luckily, I experienced none of that while I was here. In fact, Grant and I were super touristy and had our map out looking for our street when WE were approached by a woman who asked if we needed directions. Opposite of any stereotype I've ever heard. (And no, she didn't steal my purse)
Our hotel was adorable and very close to the Metro station. We got in pretty late, but were starving and walked around to see what was around the hotel and to sniff out some food. We settled on a kebab stand, which was absolutely delicious! I love me a kebab after we go to the bars, but this place took the cake. We inhaled them, me with a runny nose and watery eyes because I was an idiot and let the clerk convince me to get spicy sauce.
The next morning we got up for ~~breakfast~~ lunch and we went to Dominique Saibron- an incredible bakery right around the corner from our house, which was very dangerous. We walked in and it was fabulous. You could smell the baguettes baking in the oven from outside, but the wow factor was when we saw the long case of pastries. Perfectly iced tortes, dainty little macaroons, and delightfully decadent cakes and eclairs. Just observe below.

Coffee eclairs are too good for words.

Colorful happy macaroons.

GIANT macaroons!

Paris has SO much to do and see, and I wish we would have had more time to see things, but going in with no itinerary and just winging it made it a wonderful weekend. All we did was wander. We could have easily taken the subway to all of the sites and seen most of them, but we would have missed out on seeing a lot of the city. Our first visit to Domonique Saibron was a little overwhelming, but we sat down for lunch where I had Croque Mademoiselle- grilled cheese with spinach and chicken in it and broiled on top of it. Definitely a fork and knife sandwich. It was so good, and the cheese on top of it was perfectly browned. Grant got a French version of shepherd's pie, in which the ground beef was cooked in a tomato sauce. It was fantastic, and I'm definitely going to be making it like that from now on.

Afterwards, in true form, I needed something sweet, but could not decide for the life of me what I wanted. Naturally, I settled on one of every flavor of macaroon. Duh. Best decision ever!!

Rose, pistachio, chocolate, passion fruit, raspberry, apricot/ blue poppy, cherry, black currant, mint, vanilla, coffee, and jasmine tea.

These deserve the extra large photo setting. We ate them in a day and a half. I was captivated not only by the color, but the fact that some of them had edible shimmer on them, making them even more magical.

Another bakery just before Dominique Sabrion was Lenotre, where I had the best fresh-squeezed jus d'orange of my life. Delicious! They also had these beautiful creations in their windows. It honestly is a good thing that I didn't study in Paris, I would need a seatbelt extension for my plane ride home. All of this amazingness is too tempting, and I have no self-control when it comes to trying new foods (or shopping- a whole other problem I should be more concerned about than I am).

These were savory bite sized treats that were works of art in themselves.

Carrot wraps, truffle, and wasabi wraps with salmon. Almost too beautiful to eat- something I have been blessed with getting over during my time here. EVERYTHING is beautiful and delicious, I'm almost desensitized. (#abroadproblems)

We went to Cafe Montparnasse for dinner, and we decided to have some wine and share some appetizers. I insisted that Grant try escargots while he was in France, and he agreed! I was so excited, because I love escargots in all of their garlicky buttery goodness.