Last month, my boyfriend whisked me away to Paris on a surprise trip, and proposed! Here's how it went down...

I was on a work trip right before Thanksgiving last year, when the boy surprised me by showing up at my hotel with two plane tickets to Paris. The only problem was that I didn't have my passport! So while I was at work the next day, he drove back to Denver, got the first flight to San Diego, searched through the house for my passport, and made it back to the airport in time to get the last flight back to Denver, then driving for an hour through the snow to get to where I was!

The next day (Thanksgiving) we headed back to Denver to fly to Paris for five days. Let me tell you, no-one actually flys on Thanksgiving Day so we had the plane almost to ourselves! We did have to eat McDonalds in the airport for Thanksgiving dinner, but we more than made up for that meal with all the amazing food we ate in Paris. 

We arrived, and were taken to our hotel, which was only a block away from Trocodero Square, with our room looking straight through to the Eiffel Tower!

We spent the next two days exploring Paris, the museums, walking along the Seine, shopping, eating, and eating some more.

 

Then on the evening of December first we went all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I was too busy taking photos and looking at everything, to notice whether he was nervous or acting strangely. 

It was freezing up there, so he pulled me close to keep me warm, and proposed. I could only tell you about half of what he said, I think excitement took over and made things a bit fuzzy. But I said yes. 

So, now we are embarking on the journey of planning our internatinoal wedding. You see, we have family and friends all over Australia, all over the USA, and we are also completely in love with France. So just picking the destination is proving to be difficult!

If you'd like to follow along as we plan our big day, check out Our International Wedding Blog or find us on Instagram or Twitter!

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It's been a big year, full of adventure and far-away lands. I've travelled to places I've never been before, like Martha's Vineyard and Spain, and back to old favorites...Paris, New York, Chicago and many more.

I've lived abroad in the USA, changed jobs, got engaged, and so many other things along the way!

So here's a 15-second glance back at 2013 before we look forward to the New Year and all the possibility it holds. I hope that your 2014 is truly amazing!

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One of the best things about Paris is just strolling through the streets. You never know what amazing things you'll find!

We walked from Montmartre, down past the Palais Garnier Opéra House to the Centre Georges Pompidou, stopping for a falafel lunch and delicious sweet things in le Marais. If you're up for a walk, our trip was 8.5 kilometres (5.3 miles) and you can see our route on Google Maps here.

Along the way we saw amazing street art, old men playing trumpet as they walked through the streets, a flea market tucked away in some covered alleyways, and some of the most amazing food you can imagine!

We stopped to explore the Centre Georges Pompidou, feed the pigeons and people watch. The Pompidou Center itself is worth seeing just for the architecture and design, but it also houses a huge public library, and the Musée National d'Art Moderne, the largest modern art museum in Europe!

Next we moved onto le Marais for some shopping and to eat as much delicious food as we could manage. The Marais is a historic area, known as the 'aristocratic district' of Paris. It has a large Jewish community and is home to some pretty famous falafel.

I'd also recommend a visit to Maison Georges Larnicol for more chocolates and delicious macaroons than you'll know what to do with.

And if you do nothing else in Paris you MUST make a visit to L'Éclair de génie! I recommend either the caramel beurre salé or champagne violet eclair.

Here's a little video of our discoveries:

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It's no secret that Paris is one of my favorite spots in the world, and this trip we stayed up in Montmartre, the 'artist's district' where the likes of Dalí, Monet, Picasso and van Gogh had studios. I'm glad I let my sister talk me into it, instead of staying down near the Seine like I originally wanted. Montmartre's beautiful cobblestone streets, and abundance of bakeries and cheese shops made me never want to leave!

Luckily the hill of Montmartre is pretty steep, giving you the chance to burn off all that delicious cheese. And if you're ready for a bit of a hike I highly recommend making your own pilgrimage up the hill to the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur. Sure, you could take the little funicular trolley from one of the Metro stations, but then you wouldn't get to walk through the little parks and see all the little side streets on your way up. And, you want to make room for even more cheese!

The Basilica of the Sacré Cœur is pretty spectacular, although it certainly struck me how new it is compared to the Notre Dame we visited the day before. Groundbreaking on the Sacré Cœur began in 1875 and the structure was completed in 1914, compared with the Notre Dame which began construction in 1163 and was completed in 1345!

After you've climbed all the way to the top of the hill you might not be too interested in climbing the 300 very claustrophobic and dark spiral stone stairs to the top, but it is well worth it. The view is amazing from up there, and possibly more beautiful and interesting than from the Eiffel Tower. It is certainly more intimate because they only let a handful of people up at a time. You'll find the ticket office out of the way, around to the left hand side and down some stairs.

Take notice of all the different gargoyles they have around the top, some of them are pretty amazing.

And here is the view from the rotunda at the top. Gorgeous no? As you walk around Paris you get glimpses of the Eiffel Tower, but because of the buildings in the foreground it never really looks that big. It's only when you get some distance that you can really appreciate it's height.

Ah the Tour Eiffel, hated by so many Parisians and loved by the rest of the world. Proposed as a centerpiece for the 1889 World's Fair, the Eiffel Tower is the most visited paid monument in the world, so expect to line up to climb to the first or second viewing platform, and even longer lines for the elevator to the top!

View of the Seine from the second viewing platform. I recommend going up about an hour before sunset, so you get to see the city in daylight and as it begins to light up for the evening.

Having only ever climbed the stairs to the second level on previous visits we decided to head straight to the top, and the view certainly didn't disappoint. I made sure to use a wrist-strap on my LifeProof case...can't imagine anything worse than dropping my phone all that way onto an unsuspecting tourist below!

It's only when you look down that you realize just how high up you actually are. When cars look like ants and people are just dots.

We took the stairs down from the second viewing platform, about 600 to get to the bottom from there.

Here's a little video from my time at both the Sacré Cœur and the Eiffel Tower. I'd love to hear your questions or about your own experiences in Paris, so why not leave me a comment!

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We braved the rainy weather to explore around the Musée du Louvre and the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris. It is one of my favorite spots, with the beautiful Louvre on one side of the Seine and the Musée d'Orsay on the other. 

The Musée du Louvre is housed in the Palais du Louvre which Philip II began building as a fortress in the 12th century. It officially opened its doors as a museum in 1793, exhibiting 537 paintings. The Louvre is now home to over 35,000 incredible objects of art and history, which means you need to allow plenty of time to look through the collections! If you're interested, you can read more about the 

history of the Louvre here.

The Jardin des Tuileries in front of the Louvre is perfect for a picnic lunch and people watching. I like to sit in the gardens and imagine King Louis XIV and his court taking tea in the gardens surrounding the palace, perhaps playing boules, having their portraits painted (King Louis was a big patron of the arts), or perhaps partaking in some archery or other royal pursuits.

If you walk right to the end of the gardens you will get to the 3,300 year old, and 23m (75ft) high Obelisk, gifted to Paris in 1829 by Muhammad Ali Pasha, the self-proclaimed Khedive of Egypt. You'll also get a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

On the other side of the Seine is the Musée d'Orsay, which houses the biggest collection of impressionist paintings in the world including most of my favorites from Monet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, and Van Gough.

I recommend heading straight for the impressionists on the fifth floor and working your way down, making sure you stop to admire the view from one of the giant clocks. Musée d'Orsay is housed in an old railway station and is an incredible piece of architecture by itself.

Here's a little video wrap-up, and if you'd like to see more photos head over to @SweetDivergence on Instagram.

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I'm holidaying in Paris and wanted to share a few of my favorite moments so far. If you've never been, I recommend spending at least three or four days just seeing the major attractions, and longer if you want to really explore some of the different neighborhoods / arrondissements.

On Day 1 we rented some bikes from one of the many rental stations around the city and did our own bicyclette tour along the river Seine.

A word of warning at this point, if you are traveling from outside Europe try to get yourself a Visa card. Most places we found in Europe don't take Mastercards from outside the EU because they can't be verified, especially ticket machines for renting bikes, buying Metro or train tickets etc. which caused a lot of problems when staffed ticket offices were closed for the weekend.

The bikes got us around much faster than walking, we saw more than we would have if we had taken the underground Metro, and there is nothing quite like the wind in your hair as you pedal alongside the river. There are bike lanes next to the bus lanes, and we also rode on the wide sidewalks wherever it wasn't too busy. I'm not sure if that is actually allowed, but no-one seemed upset about us doing it.

Because there are so many bike rental stations around you can check your bike in and out when you stop for lunch, to visit a museum etc, so you don't pay for that time.

We rode to the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Latin Quarter for lunch, and stopped at almost every bridge along the way, including Pont des Arts.

Pont des Arts has a rich history, which you can read about here and has been featured in many movies and TV shows over the years. It is a bridge for lovers, and tourists have started attaching padlocks (inscribed with their names) to the bridge and throwing the keys into the river as a sign of their everlasting love. I don't normally condone throwing things into local waterways, and it is such a 'touristy' thing to do but we did join in with the hopes that we can come back and visit our lock in years to come. I ordered an engraved lock ahead of time from MakeLoveLocks.com, but often you'll find people selling them around the bridges.

Here's a little video of our Paris bicyclette adventure and attaching our lock to Pont des Arts.

If you'd like to see more photos check out Sweet Divergence on Instagram. And if you've got any great tips for my next Paris trip, or any questions, leave me a comment below! Learn more »

I'm off to Paris in two days!

I haven't had a lot of time to plan out this trip, but I've just downloaded Frommers Day By Day guide to France, which I plan to pour over on the plane. Frommers is by far my favorite travel companion, much more so than Lonely Planet or any of the other big travel guides, and their iPhone app is fantastic. You can browse by location, the types of activities you like (food, museums, shopping, night-life etc). And my favorite feature is the day-by-day itineraries based on how many days you have in that location, for example, "The Best of Paris in Two Days". They also have great podcasts you can download so you can take yourself on a walking tour of the area.

If you've got any 'must-see' tips or off-the-beaten-track suggestions for me to do and see in Paris, leave me a comment below!

I'll see you in a few days, reporting in from The City of Light! And to get you in the mood, check out this incredible time-lapse video by Benjamin Trancart.  

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