passport to paris.

We were in Paris two months ago this week. For some reason, I always procrastinate going through our snaps from Paris. My theory? I am always in denial that our next visit may be a few years away. 

Paris holds a very special place in my heart: I was 7 when I first got a taste of this amazing city. It is the city in Europe I've visited the most. At the start of our long distance years, I studied a few hours south of Paris and made frequent weekend trips to soak up the city. Most of all, {cv} and I honeymooned there in 2010. The romance of the place gets me every. single. time.

For a little mid-week treat, I thought I would give you all a little passport to Paris. This is only the tip of the iceberg of our trip photos, so I hope you'll indulge me in a few Parisian posts. In the dragging days of winter, I think they'll give a bit of a boost to all of us ;)

Sadly, I was only able to capture one of our two days in the city of lights. Our first day had plenty of sun, but our second day was full of rain. We visited a few of our favorite haunts during the trip, but we added a few more to our repertoire. {I'll get to those in another post, I promise.}

The one big tip we learned during this trip to Paris: Hotwire is your friend. With our knowledge of the city, we were able to score a room in an ideal location without paying anything close to full-price. While you may not always get a "name-brand" hotel via Hotwire, your location in Paris is arguably more important. Paris isn't a cheap city, so finding a reasonably-priced place to rest your head in close proximity to the sights is worth every penny.

Your passport to Paris doesn't end with this post! Check out these posts from our trip in the summer of 2012 for more Parisian prettiness: here + here + here + here. I also have a few more tips and tricks from our past trips in an upcoming post, so stay tuned. I can't do this visit justice with a single post.

Have you ever visited Paris in the winter? How did it change your Parisian tourist tactics? In spite of the cold temps, we found Paris to be just as romantic and charming as ever. In some ways, I was glad to have cold fingers so I wasn't constantly snapping photos--and could enjoy just soaking in the sights. {cv} and I also used the metro much more during this winter trip than our warmer weather visits. All in all, I'd go back to Paris in a heartbeat...but then again, was that ever a question? ;) xoxo {av}