Caroline and Vanessa in Dublin and Paris!

Caroline was my first visitor to Dublin since I moved here in September and so we took the opportunity to get some art and culture and planned a 4 day trip to Paris while she was here.

She arrived on Saturday, February 3rd, just in time for The 6 Nations of Rugby matches to begin on Sunday, so after a victorious win by Ireland, we headed to the City Centre to meet up with one of my old Tiltware employees from LA, James. We first headed to John Kehoe's for James' first pint of Guinness, then to the Sporting Emporium to place a bet on the Superbowl Game, and then we went to Fallon & Byrne for a bit of wine and cheese.



Later that night, we headed to Ray's house in Dalkey for a Superbowl Party thrown for all the Americans who have of course been missing American football. Caroline, James and I bet on the Colts and for the first time in years, they finally won, which was extra special since not only did we double our money, but Thyra for years had made me bet on the Colts(being from Indiana) in office pools only to have us lose over and over again so I was really hoping for a victory for them...which we got!!!

Monday I headed into work, but didn't make it through the whole day so I went home early and we laid on the couch watching Sex and the City episodes until bedtime. Tuesday morning, we had our 1st real snow in Dublin, amazing.

Caroline headed into the city centre while I worked and we went to Jo's house for Grey's Anatomy night on Tuesday night. Jo was very excited to have a pediatrician from the US in the house as she has a 4 week old baby and baby James took to her immediately and pretty much stayed glued to her for the evening, it was very cute.

Wednesday after work, we headed to Paris. Funny enough, our flight was delayed so we got there a few hours later than expected so we checked into the hotel around midnight and walked down the block and found an open cafe for a late night snack. We awoke Thursday and headed towards the Eiffel Tower.



The plan was to go to Versailles but after a few hours of walking to pick up tickets, eat breakfast in a cafe, wander around, I was exhausted and so we headed to another cafe for a light lunch and it ended up pouring so we were lucky to have a bit of cover from the torrential rains.

It quickly ended and we went back out and ventured to the shopping area so that Caroline could buy something from the Louis Vitton store in Paris.

I then discovered my love for french lingerie shops. It makes Victoria's Secret look like amateurs because the french lingerie shops are so extensively packed with beautiful things in all shapes and sizes. I would be hard pressed to find anyone who couldn't find something they loved in one of these many shops throughout the city. As we walked back to the hotel, we found a nice place for dinner and made a reservation for later that night. The service was good, the dessert was amazing so well worth it.

Friday, we dedicated to shopping so after eating breakfast in another cafe, we headed to Lafayette Galleries, which is equivalent to Harrod's in London. It's 6 stories high and a very long block wide and is filled with every designer known to fashion. They had an entire 1/2 a floor designated to lingerie so I went a bit crazy in there. We hit the shoe section, a bit of the clothes and ended up closing the place out. We found another adorable lingerie store across the street so we wandered into there but they closed before we could try anything on so that was a loss. We then hit a happy hour cafe across the street for more crepes and wine and cheese and french onion soup.

Saturday, we were dedicated to the art and culture so we first headed to Musée d'Orsay where I got to see my favorite Degas paintings and my favorite sculpture, "The Little Dancer of Fourteen Years" is exhibited there as well along with a huge variety of other fabulous pieces. We mostly wandered through the impressionist section of the museume where Degas, Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir, Sisley, etc. are displayed. It was quite fabulous.

We then crossed the bridge to Le Orangerie for the Waterlilies display by Monet. This was Caroline's favorite and quite beautiful... we wandered through the entire museum and then headed to the Louvre, where we were able to see the famous Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci as well as some of his other works and some of the Greek sculptures. The Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo were quite impressive in person and of course I love the statues of all of the Greek Mythology characters.

I have to admit that the walk between the museums is breathtaking, somehow the city has a romantic feel as you walk through parks with children playing with boats in the ponds and couples strolling holding hands. There is a quiet nature about the city and a warmth that is quite overwhelming.



After our beautiful day, we headed to one last cafe so that Caroline could try a crepe...she hadn't had one yet...and when she ordered hot chocolate, she was literally served a silver tea holder with melted chocolate in it...wow, talk about decadent. Then it was back to the airport where a few of the French were heading to Ireland as well for the Ireland vs. France Rugby match and everyone was singing their national anthems back and forth in the airport. It was quite entertaining. Caroline left early Sunday morning to head back to LA and I have to admit, I was quite sad...I was getting used to have someone to run around town with. But she has already promised to return and maybe we will even make an annual trip to Paris in February's since we both decided it was the best time of year to go. The weather was beautiful, the city was not crowded, the clothes were all on sale since the spring fashion lines had just been announced, and all and all it was a fabulous trip.

I would have to say that Paris is definitely the most beautiful place I have ever visited. I can't wait to go back and explore some more.

That's all for now.

xoxo.

Ness