by Wilk: Paris I

Paris.

What more can I say.

Each year my husbands company hosts a trip for the top producers from all over the country. Last year our fabulous trip was our Caribbean Cruise. This year's trip took us to beautiful Paris.

First and foremost, congratulations my love, for another great year of hard work!!!

So honored to be able to share these moments with you!

All qualifiers were announced officially in November, and boy were we excited!

A few pictures (from many) of some great moments and times that we captured during our trip.

We cant wait to go back one day.

We arrived early in the morning due to the 9 hour time change. To avoid problems sleeping we committed to staying awake that entire day. Zac and I arrived at our hotel, changed our clothes and set out into the streets of Paris looking for lunch. Talk about intimidating. We finally found a very chic cafe, sat outside (beside a young girl who looked like a model who was sipping wine and reading a book with a cigarette in her hand), and we ordered wine and food. Of course I ordered a hamburger... after giving my order to the french waitress who knew very little English.... I immediately felt embarrassed. Ha-ha I should have ordered a crepe or something.... something french!!!! None the less the burger was AMAZING. After lunch we walked back to the hotel to avoid the rain and wet clothes. That night we had a welcome dinner in one of the ballrooms of the hotel. It was a great night socializing with old and new faces. Of course the end of the night we all found ourselves drinking beer in an Irish Pub around the corner from our hotel. An Irish Pub full of Americans in the heart of Paris.

Our first real day we boarded a bus and were given a little tour of Paris. The idea was to make notes of all the places we wanted to return to in the coming days... it gave us a great bearing of where we were and how to get to and from all the districts and streets we wanted to roam, cafes to eat at and etc.

{Arc de Triomphe}

At the end of our little tour of the city they dropped us off at a picturesque view of the Eiffel Tower.

It was surreal to see this in person, to sit back and just stare at it.

After lally gagging and taking pictures (I'm so mad we didn't have someone take our picture together, ugh) we were all taken to lunch at a cafe where we enjoyed some delicious food.

That night we were taken to beautiful Montmartre Village for dinner and the night ended at the Eiffel Tower in time to see it sparkle while on the second floor.

Vincent Van Gogh had a home here in Montmartre Village at one point. We were told many famous artists spent time in this village back in the day.

{The restaurant}

{The Sacred Heart Basilica)

We bought each of the girls a picture (see below) from this little shop. We framed them and now the girls have these pictures hanging in their rooms.

As Zac and I walked down the hill leaving Montmartre Village I looked to my right and you could see the Eiffel Tower off in the distance.

Around 10pm we were at the base of the Eiffel Tower.

We made our way to the second level in time to see it flash with lights.

Of course the camera couldn't capture how beautiful it looked.

Beautiful vision overlooking the Seine River.

Our 3rd day we tackled the M..... the Metro. People had told us it was extremely confusing but thanks to Zac we found it very simple and a great way to make our way around the city in a blink of an eye(no thanks to me cause at first I was intimidated and didn't want to attempt getting lost). Also, thanks to Zac's company for providing us with a dozen Metro passes!!

Our first M destination was to 140 Ru De Bac

The Chapel of the Miraculous Medal.

My parents told us to definitely make our way there if possible. Come to find out it was a 1 min metro ride from our hotel. So in the middle of a rainy morning we arrived at The Chapel of the Miraculous Medal.

This is where in 1830 Our Lady appeared to St. Catherine of Laboure in numerous apparitions asking her to

"Have a medal struck, and those who wear it with confidence will receive great graces".

And this is what we now know as the Miraculous Medal. A medal I have always worn my entire life as a sign of my faith and devotion. I now wear a Miraculous Medal from the very place Our Lady requested the medal to come into being.

By stroke of luck we walked into the Chapel as daily mass was being offered. We quietly entered and we were in the presence of our first celebration of mass in French. The chapel is also home to St. Catherine of Laboure's in corrupt body which lays in a glass casket to the left of the alter. Due to mass I hesitated to take pictures.

From there we wanted to make our way to The Louvre (home to the Mona Lisa and millions and millions and millions of other pieces art). It had rained all morning so it was pretty quiet as we walked through the gardens en route to The Louvre.

{The Louvre from a distance}

Despite the rain we made it to The Louvre. See those lines over Zac's left shoulder? We skipped those thanks to our free museum passes we were given by Zac's company. And that umbrella? A gift from his company upon our arrival in our hotel room; a pair of umbrellas. We used them a lot. They thought of everything!!!

The only picture I will show is the Mona Lisa. It was VERY crowded in The Louvre. Very crowded is actually an understatement.

{Ta-da! Here she is: The Mona Lisa}

Afterwards we stopped for lunch.

After lunch Zac and I walked to the neighboring Museum d'Orsay home of Vincent Van Gogh's work. One of Zac's favorite artists. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed in this museum. On the upside it made for a peaceful stroll through the numerous floors and halls looking at some magnificent paintings.

Strolling back to the hotel.

That evening was The Gala dinner with the company which was held at

Les Pavillons de Bercy

In an old18th century wine warehouse, they call it the Bercy Carnival Museum. A room with every kid like carnival games dating back to the 1800's. The games weren't for show, every game was encouraged to play and partake in! We felt like kids!!

I didn't bring my camera to dinner so these were taken with my phone.

As we entered the museum there was a man swinging balls of flames!