Mom and I take on Paris

For her 60^th birthday, my Dad flew my Mom out to spend the last two weeks of my trip with me in Paris. It has been the best Mother-Daughter trip ever!

The first full day I took her for a bike tour around beautiful Paris and to a wine tasting. Now every French restaurant we go to, we know which wines are our favourites and which to avoid. Not to mention, we learned how to do a proper "dégustation" of the wine before we drink it!

Other than our trip to Gail and Francis’, we had two other day trips and spent the rest of the time in Paris.

We went to Mont Sainte Michel one day, which is a monastery from the 700s! It has the most interesting history as it was an abbey, prison and even a military fraction! It is a small island connected to the mainland by a man-made causeway - which is new and very contested. The views made the trip worth it as I spent half the time craning my neck to see out windows and around walls. We spent the day touring the Abbey, had a delicious lunch out on a terrace overlooking the water and country beyond, then made our way back to Paris.

The other day trip we took was to Reims in the region of Champagne. This one was one of the best days Mom and I had, including the slight bump at the end. We arrived in Reims for breakfast, and afterward made our way to the tourist building. First thing we did was a bus tour to see the town. Then we visited the Notre Dame Chapel there. It was in this chapel the Kings of France were crowned, which was astounding to be standing in front of. 

After the visit to the chapel, we went to a champagne tasting at La Gande Maison, Mumm! It was so great - how could anyone tell you otherwise?! You can’t go to Champagne without tasting some champagne am I right? We had a tour of the caves and then tried some Cordon Rouge Brut! It was the best I've tasted, so we just had to buy a bottle to bring home. 

Our day didn’t end here, however, as we were ready to do a bit of shopping before our dinner reservation and train home. Our dinner reservation was at seven to make sure we’d catch our train home and after more champagne we grabbed our goodies and arrived at the train station with planty of time to make the train. Only, apparently our train was leaving from a different station and we were stuck in Reims for another night. Hmm... What are we to do? Well find the nearest - and nicest - hotel to stay the night in! After all, who doesn't want an extra night in Champagne?! We caught the morning train the next day and still made it to the market in Paris for lunch!

Since being back in Paris we have been up to Montmartre, went inside Sacre Coeur - which Mom has loved - went to the Eiffel Tower and Champs Elysees, and did some shopping. It’s been the perfect last few days in Paris and I am very sorry to see it end.

It has been very hard to say goodbye to my little corner in Paris, but I know this isn't the end of my time in the city. I have fallen in love with all its quirks and sights, and I see myself returning in the very near future. After all, I have lots of friends to visit in France so why not?