A weekend in Paris

The cold, wet streets of Paris welcomed me and my best gal Tiffany for a petite weekend adventure to ring in the new year...

We spent the New Year's Eve at a party with Parisians on a boat on the Seine, docked just near Notre Dame, offering this dreamy view amid the fireworks and drizzle.

Walking around the Marais, every shop window is a work of art.

Classic moments: We dined at Hotel du Nord, met artists and composers at Cafe de Flore, had breakfast on a photographer's boat on the Seine, Champagne and pomme frites at 2am, crepes on the street, walked Canal Saint Martin, shopped in Le Marais...

had macarons for dinner at the famous Laduree...
(beautiful wall of botanical art at the Saint Germain location)

visited the studio of a Chilean painter in Saint Germain...

...and of course we skipped under the sparkling Eiffel Tower.
What Paris trip would be complete without that?

and probably the most memorable thing we did in Paris...
on the plane eastward, we each took a small piece of paper and wrote on it, our troubles...
things to leave in the past.
On our last night in Paris, we went down to the edge of the Seine,
where there was a swan waiting (to wish us well I'm sure),
folded our little papers and through our troubles in...

and after that, we made a new list -
things to bring into our lives in the new year...
and that one we have each kept.