Thanks to Brooke and her business trip hook-up, we laid our heads on five star hotel pillows during our Paris stay!
First evening- while Brooke had to work coordinating a private event at The Louvre (!!!) Marco, JP, Ab, and I dined on steak and frites at a fancy brasserie near our hotel. We then met up with Brooke in the hotel and called it a night as the boys chatted over a bottle of red as the ladies tried to sleep.
The next day - JP, Abigail, and Marco were very patient with me as I was 7 months pregnant and insisted on taxi-ing around Paris as opposed to walking miles / metroing around the city. As a result we were able to see a lot of the city during our brief stay. Paris will never get old. And it was that much more special to explore the city with some of our dearest.
After a busy day of sightseeing and a lunch at Cafe de Flore we headed back to the hotel to meet Brooke, collect our bags, and taxi to the train station. We had to be in Caen for Ian's basketball game that evening.
Marco and I have been lucky enough to watch Ian play several times since we have lived on this side of the pond but it was a first for the rest of the bunch (Like Marco, Abigail and Brooke went to high school and college with Ian).
We arrived to a packed gymnasium. It was quite obvious when THE AMERICANS strolled in, as we were toting two Fatheads of Ian's face. From our seats, we saw Ian on the court warming up. We watched as he spotted us. He smirked and shook his head as Marco and JP held massive cardboard versions of Ian's head over their faces. We couldn't tell if he was proud or slightly embarrassed as his teammates gave him grief. I don't think many of the fans had seen Fatheads before - so many people approached us to take photos with Ian's face. It made the fact that we brought them even more hilarious Anyway, Caen won, Ian led the game in points, and was named MVP of the game. Probably all due to THE AMERICANS and the Fatheads, am-I-right?!
As for the rest of the weekend - Ian and Mélanie were the perfect hosts, as always. Ian grabbed us pastry from the local bakery every morning. One day we toured Caen, and then went to Normandy to walk to D-Day beaches and tour the American Cemetery. Another day we headed to the coastal resort town of Deauville. On the way, we first stopped in the most instagramable town of all the towns - Beuvron-en-Auge. Incredible market and quaint shops. Mélanie bought a cute straw market bag and we all waited while Garrett took 30 minutes in a shop picking out a scarf. ;) In Deauville, the guys headed to the casino while the ladies browsed the upmarket shops and then ate Belgium waffles on the beach.
On our final day, JP and Abigail headed back to Paris to meet up with friends while Marco, Brooke, and I drove to Mont St-Michel. We did the hike all the way to the top to tour the Abbey. Looking back, I can't fathom how I walked those steep cobblestone steps to the top while pregnant (so pregnant).
I must say this in every post where we travel with friends, but it really does make a trip THAT much more incredible. Nothing better than seeing the world with the ones you love.
P.S. Come to find out very soon after this trip - I wasn't the only one of the group that was pregnant. Mélanie and Abigail were pregnant as well but still keeping it hush hush. Mélanie recently had baby Victor and Abigail recently had twin girls - Reid and Perry.
