We headed to Paris for a long weekend, something we try to do each year to celebrate our engagement, and this time felt like the perfect mix of relaxation and culture.  The highlights for me included a very Art Nouveau lunch, seeing the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries at the Cluny museum, and soaking up some glorious sunshine along the banks of the Seine on Sunday afternoon.

We arrived late Thursday night to our airbnb in the 5th arrondissement and grabbed a quick verre de vin Chablis at le Café Saint Médard before heading to bed.  Friday started with breakfast along Rue Mouffetard… I was feeling quite content to be back in our favorite spot!

I decided to pull out all the French vibes and wear my new Sézane shirt, paired with a red maxi skirt and béret.  I may have passed for French as long as I didn’t try to speak for very long. 😉

Anyway, on to the Catacombs we went!  It was about a 30 minute easy walk from Rue Mouffetard.  David had wanted to see this for ages, and we finally made it!  I recommend booking tickets in advance online so you can walk right up.

It was actually more interesting than I expected it to be 🙂 and learned that the underground was first excavated for Lutetian limestone, used to build the city.  This is what much of the Parisian buildings are made from, and help to create the ‘City of Light’ aurora we all love.  Lutetia, or Lutèce in French, was Paris’ ancient first name, used during the Roman times.  Side note, we spent part of our 2018 Bastille celebrations at the Arena de Lutèce, now I know where the ancient Roman amphitheater gets it’s name from (ancient Paris)!

In the 1700s, Parisian graves were too full and the city needed to put the bodies elsewhere for sanitary reasons.  The tunnels deep under the city were the perfect answer – and so the moving of bones began.  It does seem a bit morbid, but I did like that the museum explained how they are able to scientifically study the bones from each time period to better understand period life.  For example, they can test the bones to see if there were any plagues, types of hard labor that had caused wear and tear on the bones, etc. and this helps to shape our knowledge about Paris hundreds of years ago.

After we visited the Catacombs located in the south of the city, I knew just the place to lift our spirits… at a beautiful Art Nouveau lunch spot a short walk away.

We got a bit sidetracked on our way to lunch with the most beautiful and bold geometric street art spotted on Boulevard Raspail walking north from the Catacombs.  I love geometric designs (hello Marrakech!), so I was super happy to find this beauty!

We also found the most beautiful flowers.  Those tulips!

But we had to leave the colorful streets behind as we were on a mission to find ‘the Art Nouveau bistrot’.

And finally, we reached our reached our destination: the Art Nouveau haven of Bouillion Chartier Montparnasse – formerly Montparnasse 1900.  We actually visited on the first day it changed over to Chartier!  I. was. in. heaven.

Art Nouveau was the style during the Belle Époque time period (~1890s – 1914) and is characterized by the curvy, nature-inspired lines and florals galore.  It can be found throughout Paris, like in the Metro signs above or in the furniture section of the Musee d’Orsay… and even the beautiful champagne bottles of Perrier Jouet.

I have always been enthralled with the Arty Nouveau style, and got even more into it after reading a great book set in the Belle Époque timeframe called A Paris Apartment.  This restaurant is totally consumed with the style and I couldn’t get over how beautiful it was!  What do you think, do you like it too?

Not only is the restaurant gorgeous but also very inexpensive for Paris, thanks to the infamous Buillion Chartier owners!  Dave and I had two glasses of crémant, 1/2 bottle of wine, one entrée, two mains, two desserts, and two espressos (don’t judge, we like our food 😉 ) for only €56!  For any Stuttgarters reading this, it also includes unlimited free water and bread, as is normal in France. A steal if you ask me… the prices must be more on par with the Belle Époque as well as the decor!

We had a fun evening planned in the République area so we slowly made our way through the Left Bank, taking in the sights and people out and about!

Eventually we switched to the metro to take us across and over to the Right Bank!

Before hitting up our evening entertainment, we decided to swing by Lavomatic for a pre-show drink.

It’s so quirky and fun, you can literally swing while you drink your drink!  We then saw a comedy show, “Oh My Gosh She’s Parisian” by Julie Collas.  The theatre is right near Lavomatic, Julie was hillarious, and overall I would recommend it!  I was definitely laughing out loud throughout the show. 🙂

Afterwards we ate dinner at Chameleon which was light on decor but the food divine.  Post dinner we checked out the wine bar Inaro.  I enjoyed the concept there – you tell the waiter what regions and flavors you’re looking for, and he’ll recommend a wine, let you try, and you tell him if it fits the bill.

All in all we had a fabulous first day in Paris!  Join me for the rest of the trip?

xx