Regardless of whether or not I decided to participate in the Lyon exchange this year, I knew I wanted to go to Paris this August. It’s not really the ideal time to visit the city, as things tend to shut down while the Parisians leave the city for their annual vacances (or maybe that DOES make it the ideal time to visit…) but I wanted to come to celebrate my 30th birthday, which is at the beginning of the month. We were actually pleasantly surprised to find that it was not too overrun by tourists – perhaps it was just late enough in the month that most families had already gone back home to prepare for a return to school and work. Then again, for this particular trip to Paris, Dani and I opted to avoid doing most of the touristy things as we both have been here several times before. Also, having a dog back at our AirBnB meant that we had to limit how much time we spent out and about so that Lucie didn’t feel too neglected.

Still, we managed to get up to quite a lot while we were in the City of Lights; some days even felt positively busy. Here are some of the highlights:

Lunch in the Marais with Dani’s niece – The day we arrived in Paris also happened to be Dani’s niece’s last day in France before returning to London to fly home. She was on a trip with two of her friends, and we managed to meet up with them in the Marais for lunch – the best falafel on the planet (well, at least in France) – and a quick walk around the neighborhood. Unfortunately we were absolutely exhausted after our flight and the experience of hauling our massive suitcases over to the bag check at Gare de Lyon, as we couldn’t check into our AirBnB until later in the afternoon. Did I mention that I also had to carry Lucie in a bag around my neck nearly the entire time? So we probably weren’t as fun as we could have been, had we been a bit more fresh – but it was still fun to show the girls one of our favorite spots in Paris.

Sainte Chapelle and Dani’s first galette – Still exhausted but not wanting to waste our day, we took the train into the city (our AirBnB was just outside of Paris proper) and went to Sainte Chapelle, which Dani had never seen and I had only been to once. There was almost no line! The last time I went, the stained glass windows had been partially under restoration, so it was nice to see them in their full glory. After, we wandered down the rue Saint-André-des-Arts and Dani had her first galette – a savory crêpe. She opted for cheese and caramelized onion filling, which was delicious.

The 130th birthday party – When I was 18 and spending the summer in New York City, I had the great fortune to meet my aunt Christine’s two close friends, Liz and Andrew. At the time that I met them, they were planning a move from New York to Paris and I assumed that it would be the last I saw of them; fortunately, through a weird/serendipitous series of events, we’ve managed to keep in touch over the years and I have had the great privilege to visit them several times on various trips to Paris. They very graciously offered to host a “130th birthday party” during our trip, as I turned 30 and Christine and Andrew both celebrated their 50th birthdays this year. As always we had a fabulous time and way, way too much wine.

A night at the Moulin Rouge – My only other birthday request was for tickets to see the show at the Moulin Rouge, which Dani happily obliged. We had a fancy dinner at Le Bon Bock, which claims to bethe oldest restaurant in Montmartre, hosting the likes of Toulouse-Lautrec and Picasso (among others), which was delicious and, thankfully, not overly touristy. Afterward we had a quick cocktail at Lulu White Drinking Club which was delightful and I will for sure be adding that to my list of must-visit places in Paris. It was off to the cabaret after that, and while I won’t spoil the experience for anyone else who is thinking of going, I will say that it was kitschy, fun, and totally worth doing, if only just to say you did. One unexpected highlight of the show was watching a dancer shout at a woman in the audience for filming a number on her cell phone, which is prohibited, while in the middle of performing a number. Yowza.

Montmartre Food Tour – We really love a good food tour, so on a whim I booked the last two spots on a morning tour of Montmartre. It turned out to be really wonderful – not quite as good as Rome, maybe, but excellent in its own right. Our group was small and friendly, our guide was great and knowledgeable, and we were extremely well fed (and nearly drunk) when all was said and done. Plus, we’ll never pass up an opportunity to spend a few more hours in Montmartre.

General flânerie – Since we weren’t in a big rush to see and do anything in particular (other than our trip to the Moulin), we really enjoyed taking some small strolls around the city. Our AirBnB was not too far away from the Bois de Boulogne, so we packed a little lunch and took the dog over one day, which was nice for all of us. Another day we hopped on the metro and got off at Notre Dame and went up to the top of the Cathedral to take in the view of Paris and the different gargoyles and chimeras, then afterward just wandered over to the Louvre, through Tuileries, and down the rue Saint-Honoré. We had a nice late lunch, ate macarons from Pierre Hermé, went shopping, and just enjoyed the fact that we had nowhere else to be other than exactly where we were. It was perfect.

Overall, it was a great week to get ourselves primed and ready for the year ahead. We’ve been in Lyon for a few days now and are trying to settle into more of a routine of daily life vs. constant vacation mode, but with school still out of session and us still feeling like tourists, it’s definitely a work in progress. We’ve needed to remind ourselves to slow down a bit – after all, we’ll be here for a year, so there’s no need to rush about and try to do and see everything all at once.