itshalfempty

10 years ago, my wife and I got married on a random rock in Central Park, then honeymooned in Paris. We decided to spend our 10 year anniversary the same way. Our plan was to spend a few days in New York enjoying the city, then enjoy a picnic lunch at our wedding spot on our anniversary, followed by a nice dinner that evening. Afterwards, we’d relax and enjoy Paris for a week.

This trip was pretty different from the rest of the travel we’ve done this year. Our itinerary was very sparse. We didn’t even really have much of a list of things we wanted to do. We have been to both locations several times over the years, and there isn’t really anything touristy we haven’t done yet. We decided to take this trip pretty easy, and give ourselves permission to spend more time relaxing.

New York

We spent out days in New York sleeping in, walking all across the city, and then picking up something from the grocery store to make in our hotel for dinner.

Our hotel was in Long Island City, and this was the first time we stayed outside of Manhattan. We were really surprised both by how quick it was to get to and from our hotel to pretty much anywhere we wanted to go. I would definitely stay in that area again.

We picked Dirt Candy for our anniversary dinner. They are a vegetable-forward fine dining restaurant that got a Michelin nod last year. We had been to Dirt Candy in the past and we really liked it. Our dinner was on the first day of their fall menu, and I’m not sure they had really refined their menu yet. Overall I thought the food was a bit underwhelming, but I thought it was still a creative and good dinner. Plus, they had an alcohol-free wine pairing, which I was very happy to see. These are a couple of the dishes that stood out to me.

Paris

We almost didn’t make it to Paris! The first nor’easter of the season ripped up the East Coast the day of our departure, with forecasts predicting very strong winds and potential coastal flooding. While it was pretty windy and rainy, fortunately the storm wasn’t as bad predicted and we were able to take off.

Our hotel was in the 9th arrondismont, just slightly down the hill from the Sacré-Cœur. This was our first visit to Paris staying so far from all the more touristy things. It was also the first time we had a kitchenette, and we were resolved to cook and eat most of our dinners in the hotel.

Because our hotel was quite far, we ended up doing a ton of walking every day. It also meant plenty of pastries.

Unfortunately we were in Paris for the second No Kings protest, though we were able to join the ex-pats in Paris.

I don’t know if any visit to Paris would be complete without also visiting the Lourve. This was maybe my fourth time touring the Lourve to-date. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been so many times, or if it’s because I’ve now just been to so many great museums, but I was kind of underwhelmed by the Lourve. Other than a handful of notable items in the collection, and the David temporary exhibition, I didn’t find that much else sparked interest or curiosity.

Then again, it could also be that I was pretty turned-off by how crowded the museum was – and this was in October, which is no where close to as busy as it gets.

We also happened to visit only a couple days before the brazen theft of priceless artifacts. I do have some photos where the stolen items were in the background, and it’s wild to think we were some of the last people to be able to see them. I do hope they are recovered!