Paris – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Personal July 19, 2018

Celebrating Five Years of Marriage

July 29, 2013 – the day I became Mrs. Petrovic. I cannot believe that was five years ago. It feels like yesterday, yet so much has happened in between now and then – namely Isla and Emi! I feel so lucky to be married to the man I affectionately refer to as, “Stink!” He is truly my best friend, and I am so excited to spend a million more years with him by my side.

My beautiful friend, Lauren of Folk House Creative, was in Paris at the same time as us in February and we were lucky enough to have her take some photos of just the two of us – something that hasn’t happened since our wedding photos. I can’t tell you enough how much I love these pictures. The love of my life in the city I love the most! On a chilly and drizzling winter day – all bundled up next to Sasha. We are going to one of our favorite restaurants tonight to celebrate – Giacomos. I can’t wait. xo

City Guide June 2, 2015

Paris City Guide

Four perfect days in Paris. Ahh, is it even possible to accomplish all you want to see in such a short period of time? Ideally, anyone going to the City of Lights would have weeks on end to stroll through this gorgeous city, but knowing that isn’t the case for many, I’ve decided to write a four day itinerary (longer than most of my other City Guides). During these 96 hours, I’ve included nearly all of the must see places you’ve seen in movies and heard about since you were little, like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre-Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, etc. I also added smaller gems, like L’Orangerie and the Place des Vosges. You can see everything on a map here – I’ve also embedded it at the bottom of this post.

If you’ve been to Paris and think I’m missing some wonderful restaurants or sites, please let me know! I’d love to try new places when we visit next. Also, if you have any specific questions about this itinerary, please email me!

Bon voyage!

Day 1

Start your morning off early with breakfast and coffee at Les Deux Magots in the Saint-Germain-des-Pres area.
Walk by La Duree and stop in for a few famous macaroons on your way to the Louvre (cross over Pont du Carrousel) – the line may be long, but it’s worth it in order to see some of the most famous pieces of art in the world (the Mona Lisa may be underwhelming, but it’s still cool to see!).
If you’re hungry after walking around the massive halls of the Louvre, walk to lunch at nearby Cafe Marly or Claus (recommended by a friend who lives in Paris).
Stroll through the Jardins des Tuileries, and stop in at L’Orangerie for the most awe-inspiring Monets you’ve ever seen – this is one of my favorite museums in the world.

International May 25, 2015

Au Revoir, Paris!

I’m not sure if you’ve heard the phrase “When we make plans, God laughs,” but I’d like to adapt it slightly for our trip: “When we make plans, Isla _____.” This morning, our grand plans to get out and about early were thwarted by Isla sleeping until 11am after going to bed later than normal last night. Normally, I would be anxious to get the day started, but I was admittedly very tired, so we lay in bed until 10:30 and then got ready so that we could scoot our as soon as Isla woke up. We ate breakfast at the apartment, then went to Le Fregate for coffee before deciding to nix Le Musee D’Orsay and go to Le Marais. We stopped for an obligatory photo on the Lock Bridge, then wandered by Hotel De Ville on our way to lunch. We intended to eat at L’As Du Fallafel, which is very famous and delicious, but it was closed for the French holiday, so we ate at my favorite – Chez Marianne. I ate there all of the time when I was living in Paris, as it was affordable and you got a lot of food (bonus!).

After lunch, we looked at the time and realized that the walking tour we wanted to go on (with Paris Walks) started in 30 minutes, and we were a 40 minute walk from the starting point. Cue us speed-walking through the streets, anxious to get the Vavin metro on time. Arriving just a few minutes late, Isla woke up promptly as the tour began and was ready to roam around and not be held or confined to her stroller. So alas, we dropped out of the Hemingway tour (sob, sob, sob), got gelato and yogurt again at Amorino, bought Isla some new French shoes at Catimini, then went to roam Luxembourg Gardens.

After almost an hour of Isla making new friends all around us (photo evidence below), we walked back towards the apartment, stopping for a few necessities at the Monoprix, then having dinner at Cafe de Paris, where I ate with my dad when he visited me in 2009. Dinner was so tasty (Sasha’s favorite meal in Paris), but we were both ready to rest our feet (mine very blistered at this point). We came home, packed, then did Isla’s bed routine and put her to sleep in her BABYBJORN travel crib (which we adore).

We’re getting picked up by a car at 3am tomorrow to take us to the airport, so prayers for Isla’s mood for the rest of the day are appreciated. We didn’t book that early of a flight months and months ago, but flight schedules change and we can’t control them!

I hope everyone in the US had a wonderful Memorial Day! xo

International May 24, 2015

Un Petit Recap of Paris

Bonjour from Paris! I had some very grandiose dreams of posting a daily recap and photos at the end of every day, et voila – day three and here’s the first post. We are go-go-go all day long, so in the evening when we get home (around 10pm), we just fall asleep!

A quick summary from our first few days in the City of Lights: When we arrived at our apartment rental on Friday at 3pm, we were starving, so walked to nearby Cafe Le Buci for lunch and wine. We both loved our meals, and Isla was eating up the attention of people walking by our table waving back at her. We headed towards Rue du Bac metro, as we wanted to go to Montmartre to see Sacre-Coeur, but unfortunately, there was a fire in the metro, so it was closed. We decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower, which was 3 miles from our apartment. It seemed like a great idea on the way there, but on the way back we were pretty tired! With jetlag and a lot of moving around, we were exhausted and went to the Monoprix (France’s Target equivalent) to get groceries, which we ate for dinner and then all went to sleep.

Isla woke up around 7am, so we ate cereal and then headed out to Les Deux Magots for coffee (I’m such a dork about this place – read the history here). Sasha headed back to the apartment to do another load of laundry, so Isla and I roamed around for 15 minutes, before meeting him and heading across the Seine towards the Louvre. We’ve both been before, so we skipped out on this tourist activity and walked through the Tuileries towards L’Orangerie – one of my favorite museums in the world (second only to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam). Afterwards, we walked to the metro then traveled to Montmartre, where we ate lunch at Le Carrousel (Creperie Broceliande was on the agenda, but was closed for vacation) and made friends with an English couple visiting from Vienna. Isla walked to a few tables, making new friends. She loves it here.

We then took the funicular up to Sacre-Coeur, as the stairs are hard to manoeuver with the stroller. We walked around the beautiful church, then strolled down the winding streets towards Le Moulin Rouge, stopping only to get Sasha a crepe. Afterwards, we took the metro to St. Paul in the Marais, where we wandered down Rue de Sevigne, stopping into Sandro and Comptoir des Cotonniers, two of my favorite clothing stores here. We got gelato and frozen yogurt at Amorino, then went to Places des Vosges to lay on the grass and eat it. It was already 5:30pm at that time, so we walked for 40 minutes back to the St. Germain area (stopping for many photo opps), and fed Isla dinner, bathed her, then put her PJs on and put her in the stroller (she fell asleep minutes into our walk!). Our dinner search was a bit of a fiasco, as the places I had read online to go to did not have any vegetarian options, so we kept going from one area to the next looking for the ‘right place’ and at 9:30pm, we were too exhausted and no longer hungry, so called it quits. We have had a few good laughs about it since.

This morning, we woke up late and were scurrying around to get out of the door to go to the French Open. We took the metro from Mabillon to Boulogne – Jean Jaures, and walked for five minutes to the Roland Garros stadium. My parents bought Sasha and I special level passes for his birthday, as all of the general entry tickets sold out immediately. We were so grateful for this gift, as it was nice for Isla to be able to roam around the carpeted indoor lounge, given that one of her shoes fell off while walking around the stadium. No strollers were allowed into the grounds, so our fail-proof plan to have her nap while we walked around didn’t quite pan out, but she was a trooper none-the-less. She had the guests and lounge staff loving on her quickly with all of those waves. We bought her a big pink Roland Garros tennis ball, which she tried to give to everyone near her. It was adorable.

We left around 6pm after watching Roger Federer and Jo Wilfred Tsonga (my two favorite players!). It was such an incredible day – one we’ll never forget. We got on the metro and went back to St. Germain, where we ate at Cafe Bonaparte. We loved our waiter and had our favorite meal yet. Sasha ate beef tartar for the first time and was rather nervous he was going to die from the raw egg and beef! Such an American (ha).

Tomorrow is our last day in Paris (wah!), and then we leave for Russia. It’ll be another busy, busy day, as there is still so much to do and see before we leave my favorite city. More photos to come soon! xo

Wanderlust May 21, 2015

My Paris Love Story

I started taking French lessons in 6th grade, as part of a rotational elective. And I was immediately hooked. My fascination for the capital city, Paris, grew and grew over the years, and I continued studying French for 10 years (I minored at The University of Texas).

My very first encounter with Paris was a layover in Charles De Gaulle Airport on our way to South Africa. I was like a kid in a candy shop, walking around reading signs, absorbing the dialogue going on around me. I loved it. Growing up in Texas meant everyone studied Spanish, so to be in a city where everyone was speaking my language was like a dream come true. I even ordered a drink on our Air France flight in French and smiled for hours after doing so.

A year later, I was looking for ways to spend an entire summer in Paris, but knew that I didn’t want to do a study abroad program and be tied to classwork and living with a family or in a dormitory. I reached out to a contact I had made at a prior internship, as her husband was French and had connections with businessmen in Paris. Through Meg, I found a part time summer internship with a company now named PetroWire. Luckily for me, my boss rented out a part of their gorgeous, large Parisian home, so my accommodation was taken care of as well.