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Tag: Vintage Travelling

The Vintage Inn Travels to Paris, France – Part 1

The vintage inn blog travels to Paris France

With Valentines day around the corner, I think it’s finally time to share my birthday trip this past May (2017) to Paris, France for my 40th. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a little girl (after watching ‘An American in Paris’) to visit the city of Lights & Love and my wonderful husband made that dream a reality.

I of course documented every second of our “Paris on a Budget” trip, so that I would never forget a single moment. Don’t worry friends, I won’t bore you with ALL the photos, but here is Part 1 of the most fantastic trip ever!

Vintage Inn Blog visits Paris France
We arrived!

Our hotel location (Novotel Paris Centre Eiffel Tower):

My husband knows me well, very well so it was a wonderful surprise that I found out we were staying a short 20 minute walk to my favourite monument ever…The Eiffel Tower AND we had a view from our hotel room. (Note: Before you look at photo below please note that I said a “view” of the Eiffel Tower)

The Vintage Inn Blog Visits Paris France

Our room was an L Shape which meant that we also had a fantastic view of the River Seine (we would sit here at the end of our nights with a bottle of Champagne and cheese and enjoy the beauty of Paris). It was so great that I literally ran around my room trying to figure out what to stare at first (no joke lol).

paris france river seine
River Seine & Champagne

While I was staring out my window in awe that I was actually IN Paris I noticed there was a mini Statue of Liberty on the bridge you see in the image above. Turns out it was a gift from America to Paris in 1889 (as you know France gave the US the original Lady Liberty). COOL!

Extra Read: Extended history of why this mini statue exists can be found HERE.

Statue of Liberty Paris, France
Up close with Mini Liberty

We arrived on May Day (May 1st), so many things were closed but that did not stop us from heading out and exploring. We were starving so we did dinner first at a pub called, O’Neil (sorry no french food this night) that was hopping with Parisians and tourists and had good reviews. It was wonderful! The burgers were outstanding super inexpensive and they also brewed their own beer (which my husband and I loved as we are craft beer fans). Plus the staff and the manager treated us like we were old friends, we loved it and ended up going back on my birthday later on in the week.

O'Neils Microbrewery in Paris France

After dinner we hit the pavement and just started to wander the streets taking in the beauty & history that was around us.

Paris France Vintage Inn Trip

We eventually ended up at the Louvre and took in all that was there (we had tickets to see the inside of the Louvre later in the week).

Louvre, Paris France at Night
Louvre, Paris France at Night

Our evening ended with a visit to the Eiffel Tower. OMG the tower is even more beautiful up close and personal, I shed a tear it was so wonderful to see.

Eiffel Tower Paris France at Night
The Vintage Inn Blog at Eiffel Tower Paris

Day 2: Notre-Dame and wherever else we could visit on a budget before our feet fell off.

As stated above, my husband and I were on a budget and from our research Paris is known to be pricey. To save money, we went to the large grocery store that was next to our hotel each day and stocked up on food to eat as we walked around. This really helped us on costs. Also in our neighbourhood was a great bakery that sold delicious baquettes (and sandwiches) that we purchased to add to our food stash. Great cost saving tip!

Eating French Bread in front of the Notre Dame Paris France-Vitnage Inn Blog
Enjoying a Baquette in from Notre Dame

Notre-Dame was a must see on our list and it was totally free to visit as long as you did not head up to the Bell Towers and the crypt (which had a fee). I have been itching to see this church in person ever since my Art History classes in University, especially the Rose Windows AND the Flying Buttresses (an incredible archtiectural detail). I was not disappointed.

Notre Dame Paris France 2017

My Flying Butresses-So PRETTY!

Notre Dame Flying Buttresses

After Notre-Dame the sun was out and the weather was beautiful and we had nothing planned EXPECT to find me a French Macaron. ‘Un Dimanche A Paris‘ was where we stopped and boy was it good.

Paris France Vintage Inn Blog

The last half of our first full day in Paris, included picking up a bottle of wine and some cheese and heading to the most beautiful park I have ever seen (we don’t have parks like this in Toronto), called ‘Jardin du Luxembourg‘. The park is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, was created beginning in 1612 by Marie de’ Medici, the widow of King Henry IV of France, for a new residence she constructed, the Luxembourg Palace (seen below). The garden today is owned by the French Senate, which meets in the Palace. It covers 23 hectares and is known for its lawns, tree-lined promenades, flowerbeds, model sailboats on its circular basin, and picturesque Medici Fountain, built-in1620 (Source).

Jardin du Luxembourg Paris France

Medici Fountain

Medici Fountain Paris France

Palm Trees, kids playing with boats in a pond and even an Orangerie (bottom left image), this park has it all.

Jardin du Luxembourg Paris France

BUT I think my favourite part of this whole visit was having a bottle of wine with my husband and watching the world go by. In fact my husband was so relaxed that he ended up falling asleep and I was left alone with a half finished bottle of wine………Hiccup!

The vintage inn blog in Paris France drinking wine

After a long day and some dinner at a delish Vietnamese restaurant, we headed back to our hotel to have a bottle of Champagne and watch the boats go down the Seine, but not before checking out the Eiffel Tower light show from our local bridge. A great way to end our 2nd day in Paris.

(Video Link)

Stay tuned for part 2 friends!

Question time: Have you ever been to Paris? If yes, what did you love? If no, what would you be most excited about seeing if you did visit? Share in the comments below!

Liz

Travelling To Havana, Cuba!

1940s 1950s vintage Cuba travel poster.

My husband works for an airline and so we have the fantastic ability to be able to hop on planes when we feel the urge to do some travelling, but since work has been insane for months running off to exotic places has not been an option for me. My husband on the other had went to Taipei a couple of weeks ago….lucky him 😛

However as summer quickly approaches my work load has slowed down a bit and I’m able to jet away for a few days, so we have booked a 2 day romantic getaway to Havana, Cuba. Woo hoo! I have been to Havana twice before (once on my honeymoon last year) and so I know how fantastic the city is and being a lover of the 1950’s you can’t get any better then going to Havana.

So as my countdown begins (I leave June 30th) I thought I would share some pictures from my Honeymoon and some awesome vintage photos as well. Enjoy!

Vintage Cuba Travel Poster-Land of Romance. 1930s Vintage Travel Poster

This is yours truly outside a pretty building in Havana. I’m wearing a 1940’s WWII Era Vintage Style 2 Piece Cabana Dress that I had custom made from Etsy seller “Time Machine Vintage“. My purse is a fun straw beach purse I bought in Toronto at “Cabaret Vintage”.

Photo of Vintage Blogger-The Vintage Inn Liz in a two piece vintage style tropical 1940s top and skirt with vintage wicker purse in Havana Cuba.

I LOVE the 1950’s signs all around the city. This is a good example of one we found while wondering the city.

1950s Vintage Sign as seen in Havana, Cuba. Lafayette Restaurante

This was the first 1950’s car I saw when I first visited Cuba (this pic is from my first trip about 4 years ago). The streets are filled with so many, but most of them are NOT in this good of a condition.

Vintage 1950s Car as seen in Cuba.

View from our Rooftop restaurant at our hotel in Havana

Havana Cuba- View from the Rooftop Bar.

You can see the fort in the distance in this rooftop photo.

Havana Cuba, view of the Fort from a Rooftop Patio.

Mojito time!

Enjoying a Mojito in Havana, Cuba.

The below pic is the view from the little restaurant we picked to have a drink and a slice of pizza (which was very good). It was clearly someone’s rooftop patio of their own personal home where they put up a bar and some tables for eating (which is now allowed more and more in the city). We LOVED it here.

Havana, Cuba rooftop restaurant.

The famous “Obispo” street in Havana. You could walk down this street and hear and see amazing Cuban music AND dancing everywhere you turned. We did sort of a mini “bar crawl” to check places out the first time we were in Havana.

Obispo st in havana cuba

Have you ever been to Havana? If so where were your favorite places to eat and drink?

Happy Travels! And if you want to see some of my other Cuba posts check them out at the link below:

Liz 🙂