I been told by many that turning 40 is very special event. Something inside of you gradually changes. You start eating a lot healthy, you take sleep very seriously, you start caring less and less what people think about you, and you truly start to respect yourself.
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| Google wishing me a Happy Birthday!!! |
My morning started by having a wonderful breakfast with Gitesh. We went to Crepe Parisienne and had a very yummy breakfast. I have something to say.... Gitesh and I had breakfast on my birthday because he will be away on business dinner in the evening. Somehow, he is hardly present on my birthday. But, he makes it up to me all the time.
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| My yummy crepe! |
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| My LOVE! |
My 40th birthday was going AWESOME. I have made some amazing expat friends in the last six months living in London. They took me out for a fabulous lunch at Charlotte's Bistro in Chiswick. We laughed so hard and made some memorable moments. Thank you ladies for a making my 40th very special.
For dinner, the boys and I went to a Zizzi's Pizza. I had a great time hanging out with the boys. We were all missing Gitesh at dinner. There was so much pizza love during our dinner.
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| Pizza Love |
I have to say, Gitesh gave me the most amazing 40th birthday surprise of all-- a weekend trip to PARIS!!!! Told you, he knows how to make up for things.
Paris.Was.Amazing!!! It is such a beautiful city. We got to Paris in the evening after taking the Eurostar from London. We dropped our bags at the place we were staying and found out that Gitesh had made reservations for dinner at a restaurant called 58 Tour Eiffel in the Eiffel Tower. What a way to celebrate a birthday. When we got close to the tower and was able to see it for the first time, it was such a surreal feeling. Everyone has seen the Eiffel Tower in movies, pictures, media, etc., but when you look at it for the first time, you are taken aback at the beauty of it. I had not realized how tall the tower is. And just how grand it looks. Very majestic. We took the elevator to the floor where the restaurant was located. And we were all excited being inside the tower. You can see the amount of steel that was used to build it. I would have loved to see this structure go up. The experience of dining at the Eiffel Tower restaurant was just astonishing. The food was so good. One of the waiters took a liking to Aayush and brought him some special side to his meal. The whole restaurant, the staff and all the diners sang "Happy Birthday" to me. A very memorable moment for me.
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| Let the celebration begin! |
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Happy Birthday to Me!!!
What a way to end the evening. Everyone had so much fun dining in the Eiffel Tower. We went home happy but tired. The next day, we spent the whole day in and around Eiffel Tower. We decided to take the metro to the Eiffel Tower. It seems like our trip would not be complete if we don't use the metro system in a new country. We started our day at a market that we happen to see as we were passing by. The market was very different from the markets in London. It was a very long row of stalls at consisted of fruits and vegetables, fresh seafood, dried fruits, fresh flowers, homemade crafts, antiques, linens, and food. This market was selling everything you possibly needed. After spending a hour at the market, we somehow ended up near Palais de Tokyo, a museum of modern and contemporary art. We decided not to go in, but we spent a little time hanging out by it.
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| Paris Metro |
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| It was a hidden message and can only be seen at a certain angle |
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| Palais de Tokyo courtyard |
We made our way to the Eiffel Tower. By the time we got there, it was lunchtime. Where does the time go? We had lunch near the Eiffel Tower. There were this area under the Eiffel Tower with outdoor food stalls by the River Seine that was perfect. Nothing like eating American hotdog and pizza with a glass of wine of course.
After lunch we had a little time before our boat tour around River Seine so the boys hung out near the river and made a friend.
We set on our boat tour on the River Seine. It was nice to see some famous building. Some of the things we saw from our boat tour were Notre Dame, Louvre Museum, Musee d Orsay, and Pont Alexandre III (an arch bridge that connects Champs-Elysées to the Eiffel Tower. Its also the most ornate, extravagant bridge in the city.) I realized while being on the boat just how beautiful the city is. Also, how every building is very similar to one and another. All the building are just one color, shades of cream. They all seem to have rod iron balconies. But this makes the city look so beautiful and pretty. There are so many bridges in and around Paris. 37 to be exact across the Seine River.
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| Pont Alexandre III bridge |
After the boat ride, we headed for the main attraction, the EIFFEL TOWER, during the day. We got tickets to the top of the tower. We decided that we are going to enjoy the tower and the surrounding area so the next time we come to Paris, we won't have to go visit the tower area. When we got half way up the tower, the view was amazing, but it was so cold. We were thinking how cold its going to be once we are at the top of the tower. I did't want to think about that.
We made ourselves to the top of the the tower. Boy, was it COLD and super beautiful! The city was glowing in cream color. You can see all the bridges and roads. You could make out the design of the city from the top. What we also noticed when we were at the top was in the River Seine, there is a small island and on that island, there is a smaller version of the Statue of Liberty. There is also a bar at the very top of the tower in case anyone would like to have a drink while having a panoramic view of the city.
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| The Statue of Liberty is behind our picture |
After the Eiffel Tower, we found a cafe where we all treated ourselves to our indulgence.
We started to walk toward the Arc de Triomphe. When we finally reached it, it was already dark. Did you know that the Arc is older than the Eiffel Tower. It was build between 1806-1836 to honor all the people who fought for France during the Napoleonic Wars. There are 12 roads that surrounds the Arc. Once again, I didn't realize how colossal the Arc de Triomphe is.
After spending a very long day out in the cold, we were all ready to come home and call it a day. The boys loved coming home and relax.
The next and final day of my birthday weekend, we decided to go meet up with our friends who moved to Paris a month earlier. We met at Jardin des Plantes. Katherine, who was so kind brought us french croissants. I was very happy to have them since that was the one thing I wanted to eat that weekend and somehow or the other, I never got a chance to have a croissant in Paris. Thank you Katherine!
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| Gitesh and Katherine
I'm already looking forward to going back to Paris soon. Next time, I want to go explore the museums and all the beautiful churches I saw as they were passing by from our taxi. Here are a few more pictures.
I can't believe I'm 40 years old. I recently got a compliment where someone told me I look too young to have 3 kids. That did make me happy for a short while. Then I thought, I don't want to be young again. I love my life and I love everything about it. Therefore, I look forward to the future and see what amazing things it has in store for me.
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