Giving Travel Photography a Try in Paris, France

Sarah

Since the day that I first watched The Devil Wears Prada, I had dreamed of traveling to Paris one day. The sparkling lights of the Eiffel Tower, the soft romantic lights of the street lamps reflecting off the wet cobblestone streets, shops filled with fresh flowers and scrumptious baked goods... as a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic (and my friends and family will tell you the same), Paris is the home I had yet to discover.

Juan

When I met Sarah, I knew right away that she was "The One". The way that she smiled, her quick wit, and her sense of adventure... she simply took my breath away. On our first Valentine's Day together, I surprised Sarah with a simple promise ring from Pandora (I can only say that I was a broke college kid and that was what the kids did in those days). I slipped the small, heart-shaped garnet ring on her finger with the promise to love her for the rest of my life and to do everything in my power to help make all her dreams come true. Nine years later and it's Valentine's Day again. We're now married, homeowners, living in the suburbs with two fur babies; and we're going to Paris.

Bonjour!

Our first trip to Europe and it had to be Paris. We spent almost two weeks in the City of Lights and we could have spent two more! While we made sure to stop at all the tourist must-sees, the Louvre, Pont Alexander III, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, even the Chanel flagship store... it was in the quieter, cobblestone streets, lined with rows and rows of trees framing centuries-old buildings that we fell in love with this city. Visiting the city in the winter was a unique experience, void of all the crowded tourists that fill the streets and cafes in the warmer seasons. We quickly learned that the locals still stroll the sidewalks and sip their hot chocolate outside when it's raining!

One of the favorite past times in Paris is people-watching. Very few people seem to be in a hurry, instead opting to slow down and take in the sights of the city. While we were engaging in this favorite past-time, we noticed a couple who appeared to have just tied the knot and were posing for pictures on the Pont Alexander III. The bride wore a stunning, short dress, adorned with delicate floral appliqué. The showstopper, however, was her cathedral-length veil that wrapped around her in the warm breeze. The newlyweds' friends were doing their best with the smart phones they had.

Now, for a little context, when we're on vacation, it's like we are suddenly freed from the constraints of our usual Seattle selves. Instead of diligently following the Emerald City's-practice of avoiding eye contact with strangers on the streets, we find ourselves making new friends wherever we go. In true, vacation-fashion, we walked up to the couple and asked if they would like us to take pictures for them. After a few misguided attempts of speaking French to them (they ended up being from Albania), we'd exchanged contact information and were snapping away!

You might have known that France, and Paris in particular, is one of the most visited places in the world (depending on how you measure it), but did you know that it is also home to châteaux (castles) that look like they're straight out of a fairytale?? The Loire Valley is approximately 210 km out of Paris (that's 130 miles for those of you who don't speak metrics) and has some 300 châteaux along the Loire River. We took the high-speed train out of Paris and less than an hour later, we found ourselves stranded in the middle of Tours (yes, that's the name of the city and no, we did not take a tour lol). As is apparently not uncommon, the local train conductors were on strike to demand better wages and hours, and there were no trains going out to the different châteaux. We'd been looking forward to seeing real life castles so we really only had one choice - rent a car in Europe! Juan was the real hero, driving in a foreign country where, admittedly, neither of us knew the rules of the road nor what the signs we passed meant. But, we lived to tell the tale ;)

The first château we went to visit was Chenonceau. What makes this particular château special, in our humble opinion, is that it's history is painted by strong-willed, powerful women! This picturesque castle spans across the River Cher and strolling the peaceful, meticulous gardens transports you back to the 1500's during which they were constructed.

The next château we visited was Château d'Amboise. Something we thought made this château unique was that it was closely surrounded by apartments, shops, and hotels that were, many centuries later, built up around it. Like most châteaux, d'Amboise has since been converted into a museum, dedicated to the rich history of the monarchs who once inhabited it (interesting fact: this is also the final resting place of Leonardo da Vinci!).

We recently saw a meme come across our feeds that seemed to fit us to a point:

"My toxic trait is having trouble going to just one country. I add a country, or two, since I'm already over there. So basically, I'm going to those countries for free."

We ended up going to the UK on our Paris trip, because, well, we were already over there! All joking aside, it was indeed not free, but as many will tell you, traveling Europe by train is much cheaper and simpler than flying! While we weren't in London for long, we can definitely see ourselves going back for another visit - and perhaps when it's less cold and rainy!

It's been three weeks since we got back from France and we're already planning our next adventure...

Avec amour!

-Sarah & Juan