guest post: my life in scotland

Hi everybody! Mary here from My Life in Scotland. My husband and I {and now our 18 month old son} have been living in Scotland for almost 5 years. Time has flown by! Living this close to mainland Europe has given us the opportunity to do some traveling around the world. One of our most favorite adventures was a trip to Paris in 2009. We found tickets for 4p {about $0.08 cents at the time}. No hidden taxes or fees. Seriously. The tickets were for a 30 hour stint and we had to leave immediately. So... off we went! We decided we didn't need any luggage, just a messenger bag. This was going to be such a fun adventure!

When we arrived we decided to forego going to our hotel straight away. We didn't have any luggage anyway and we didn't want to waste time. We started walking towards the Eiffel Tower. She illuminated the city. Anywhere we went we could see her shining. Beckoning us to come see her. We hit up the Arc de Triomphe on our way. What an amazing structure. The traffic buzzing all around was insane! As we were walking to the Eiffel Tower we couldn't help but notice all the quaint cafes and restaurants, lamps, and park benches lined the streets, and La Vie en Rose was playing. They do it for the tourists, but we loved it. It felt like a dream.

We spent the evening at the Eiffel Tower and stayed up into the wee hours of the morning at a quaint restaurant on the Champs-Élysées. We finally got to our hotel room that was across from the Lovre. Prime location and worth every penny. The next morning was spent eating chocolate croissants, walking around Paris and The Notre Dame Cathedral. Let me tell you all, this was my favorite! Choir music was being sung as we toured and we could feel what a reverent place it was. Truly breathtaking! Then we headed to the Lovre. You could spend years in the Lovre and not see everything. So we had a game plan. There were certain paintings/sculptures that we had to see-- The Mona Lisa, Aphrodite, Hercules, The Winged Victory of the Samothrace, Fighting Warrior, and the Egyptian exhibits {we saw a real mummy!}. Amazing! Words can't describe it.

To say we were exhausted by the end of our trip would be an understatement. What a trip! It may have been a condensed version of Paris, but we enjoyed every single minute. I can't wait to go back. If you ever get the chance, you must go. My most favorite adventures are the ones that happen at the spur of the moment. I like being spontaneous. Here is a little tidbit of information: We spent more money in those 30 hours in Paris than for 5 days in Spain. Paris is expensive! What was your favorite adventure?