Europe: Paris

Chantelle and I spent 3 days in Paris. We arrived, and walked to our Airbnb hosts apartments after bussing into the city. Our host was amazing!! She sat us down and told us all of the train stations to use, and which places were worth checking out. We used the map she gave us (and marked for us) pretty much all 3 days getting around. Day 1 we went to the Eiffel Tower, and walked around to some of the surrounding neighbourhoods. Day 2 we went to Notre Dame, and climbed all 300+ stairs to the top to an amazing panoramic view of Paris. After checking out the inside of Notre Dame, we started walked towards the Louvre, where we stopped and had lunch next to the cutest little restaurant covered in Ivy. After walking around the Louvre it started raining, so we decided to hop on a train to Sacré-Cœur where the weather was much better! The cathedral on the hill was so beautiful, and the small village surrounding it had so much charm, we didn't want to leave! After wandering around, our younger sister Naomi who has been living in Paris for the last year messaged us, so we met up for some macaroons from Ladurée, and then went for a wonderful Italian dinner next to the Eiffel Tower! Our last day we walked around Invalidés, and checked out the war museum. Our final stop was to the Château de Versailles and the beautiful gardens. Words cannot describe how incredible this place was. It was huge.. and everything so lavish. If you are ever in the Paris region, do yourself a favour and GO! 

Paris was a whirlwind, but we are so glad we were able to walk the iconic city, and see the streets and monuments that make it a world wide destination! 

Europe: Amsterdam

Day one of our 5 week trip through Europe! The best deals on flights had us arriving in Amsterdam. We flew with Air France from Vancouver to Paris for a brief layover, and straight into Amsterdam airport called Schiphol. The flight had movies, food, blankets, and extra pillows which made the 9 hour and 35 minute flight quite comfortable! After gathering our things and checking into our hotel, we did exactly what you are not supposed to do after flying to Europe; we took a 3.5 hour nap. Feeling somewhat groggy, but rested we found a bus into the city centre of Amsterdam and began walking with no real plan. The streets were filled with restaurants, bicycles, tourists, bicycles, and beautiful canals. Also there were a lot of bicycles! We wandered around for a few hours, and finally found a place to eat. It was a short stay in Amsterdam, but we will be back here for the last day of our trek! Now that we have a feel for the city, we are excited to explore some more, while hopefully the weather is a bit warmer. Stay tuned for our next post, all about Paris! 

Lastly, here was the restaurant that we finally decided to eat at (after being so jet-lagged, making decisions was really hard..)! Dinner next to the canal, with boats cruising by was a great way to start off the trip, and our waiter at Het Moldenpad was so friendly and helped us with our billion questions! 

Long Beach, Washington

Long Beach, Washington

I have wanted to go to Long Beach in Washington for the last couple years. With our Europe trip coming up in July, funds were very limited for a weekend getaway which made it an easy decision (actually lied, we couldn't decide between 3 different spots, but lets move on). Besides Seattle traffic and the boarder lines, it was an awesome drive. Long beach was everything I had hoped it would be! Small beach town with what seemed to be unending beachfront. We stayed at the Adrift Hotel and Spa, which had free bike rentals, an awesome restaurant called the Pickled Fish, and all you can drink coffee and lemon-cucumber water! To summarize we: rode bikes, ate tacos, rented mopeds, attempted to fly a kite, ate more tacos, found a hidden beach, and drove our car on the beach for the first time. If you have the chance to go, I highly recommend it, especially if it is warm!