When we landed in Paris at Charles de Gaulle, we were greeted by the unfriendly face of rain. If you’ve previously read any of my travel posts, you know this is quite the common theme for us. Sure, we expected it on the second half of our trip in Scotland and Ireland, but certainly not France! We immediately promised not to let it get us down and grabbed our rental car to head for the Loire Valley for two days filled with nothing but castles along the gorgeous river. Chenonceau was by far our favorite and the rain took a short break to give us time to wander the stunning gardens rain free!

We headed back north for one last day outside the city seeing both Monet’s Gardens at Giverny and, of course, Versailles! After our three-hour trip turned into four (I still blame the GPS…) we arrived to even more rain at Giverny! I’m not talking a light sprinkle; heavy, torrential downpour type of rain. I’d been anticipating this stop for years as I fell in love with Monet in high school art and had been dreaming of seeing the place that inspired all those amazing paintings that have since become infamous. As we made our way back to the gift shop, a bit defeated, I saw blue skies on the horizon. There were only 20 minutes until the gardens closed for the day and I begged Rob to wait it out with me in the hopes of catching a break. Those blue skies never made it, but the rain did take a brief pause where I rushed to the gardens for a few pictures!

We woke up early the next day to beat the crazy crowds and discover the grandeur of Versailles and it definitely didn’t disappoint. Each room was more decadent than the last until you finally reach the stunning hall of mirrors!

Finally, we were headed to Paris! With more rain on the forecast, we knew we wanted to make the most of each clear day and walked the city until dark. Rob and I always love exploring on foot as it gives us the opportunity to see places you might miss on the underground. We took in as much of the city as possible, from the Louvre and Eiffel Tower all the way to Sacré Coeur and Montmartre, my favorite area of Paris. We even had some incredible anniversary pictures taken by one of my all time favorite photographers, Abby Grace, which was just a dream come true – more on that in a later post!

 

Returning to Paris with Rob as my husband was exactly as I imagined it – we strolled the Seine, hand in hand, knowing this was exactly where we were meant to be. Oh and if you’ve read this far, I owe you a box of cookies ;)