17 things to do in Paris

Paris is a magical city. Two summers ago Matt & I decided to put excuses aside and take a 3 week trip to Europe (Paris & Rome) just for fun. What we experienced was beyond just fun and I thought I would share a little bit about our experience because I think everyone should see Paris atleast once in their lifetime.
My favorite things to do in the City of Love (in no particular order)

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1. Stay as long as you can. We originally planned this 3 week trip to include Paris, Venice, Tuscany, Rome, & the Amalfi Coast of Italy with Paris for just a few days. We ended up loving it so much that we scratched our plans and spent 2 weeks in Paris and 5 days in Rome. We never ran out of things to do and loved touring Paris leisurely in the Parisian lifestyle. 2. See Notre Dame & spend a day on Ile de la Cite (the island...of the city?...my French sucks). This little island in the middle of Paris is ridiculously gorgeous. It's connected to the rest of Paris by lots of beautiful bridges over the Seine River and this is where the image of old world Paris comes to life. There are antique booksellers lining the Seine, old flower markets, a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower, yummy gelato shops...just spend a day wandering. And if you have legs, climb the Notre Dame bell tower. The climb sucks but the view is awesome and you can feel like the real hunchback :)
3. Spend the day in Champs de Mars (the huge park under the Eiffel Tower). There is an awesome little market street near here called Rue Cler where we bought our picnic lunch (baguette sandwiches, fresh raspberries, chocolate crepes, & wine)...this was my favorite day in Paris, just relaxing, watching the Parisians go about their day, eating delicious food, looking at the Eiffel Tower...this is the epitomy of a day in Paris & if I ever get back this is first on my list of things to do. I loved this day so much that I'm trying to figure out how to put "Cler" in my first daughter's name :)

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Now here is where I have to note our funniest experience while in Paris. It's no secret that Paris is known as the City of Love and that people are not afraid of PDA in this city. Usually a little make-out session in the street or at a cafe seems pretty normal. On our day at Champs de Mars the PDA took on a whole new level right in front of a group of Asians having a nice afternoon family picnic...

4. Go to Versailles. It's about a 1.5 hour train ride from the city but it's worth it. You can't even imagine the magnitude of this place until you see it. It's a nice escape from the city for the day and really a beautiful place in all it's excess.

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5. If you want a relaxing spot but don't want to venture out to Versailles, Luxembourg Gardens was a favorite park of ours. Little kids play with wooden sailboats in the fountains, people read poetry to each other, people kiss of course...it's a picturesque Parisian park.
6. Of course, go to the Louvre. We hit pretty much all of the art museums because I was an art major so obviously you can't get any better than Paris. Because we knew this ahead of time we bought the Paris Museum Pass. You can buy these for 2, 3, 4, or 5 days I believe and in the days you buy them allows you unlimited access to as many of the places on the list as you want as many times as you want. While it includes most of the museums it also includes things like the walk up to the Notre Dame bell tower, etc. So if you're planning on seeing some of the touristy spots it's definitely worth it. And just try to schedule so you hit those things in a few days in a row to get the most use out of it.
On mentioning the museums, most of our trip was guided by our handy dandy Rick Steves Guide to Paris. Rick Steves is the best travel writer/guide out there and the majority of the things we did were enriched by his self-guided tours, suggestions for places to eat off the beaten path, Paris neighborhood walks, etc...just don't go to Europe without him.
7. Get engaged under the Eiffel Tower at night when it sparkles on the hour. It's even more romantic than you think :)
8. Eat at Cafe du Marche on rue Cler (the same street mentioned above near the Eiffel Tower). This restaurant was recommended to us by some friends from Canda who spent their honeymoon in Paris and this one did not disappoint. It's an awesome Parisian eatery (I had lamb and one of the best desserts I've ever had)...Matt loved their espresso and smoked his cigar here. It's affordable by Parisian standards and the atmosphere was great.
9. Climb to the top of everything you can...the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower...and see the view of the city from up here. We did all these and loved every one of them. While you're at the Arc de Triomphe you can see Champs Elysees the famous street in Paris where Louis Vutton is, etc...shopping is not really my thing so I didn't find it that great but it is a famous part of Paris so if you're there, why not.

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10. While I did say I'm not a big shopper, Hediards was the exception. This place is gourmet food to the max and we did our one stop shop here for gifts to bring back home...fresh fruit jam, authentic Parisian tea, nice bottles of wine, exotic coffee, chocolates...there are a few around the city and it was our favorite place to bring home something fun for friends and family.

11. Eat in as many outdoor cafes as you can. And plan on sitting there all night. Dinner in Paris is atleast a 3 hour ordeal. Instead of being an impatient American try to enjoy it, this is the way they live. Another great place we ate, and definitely the most authentic (they didn't speak English): The Pallidor on rue Monsieur Le-Prince. This was a pretty cool experience as they only spoke French and the menu was all in French with a majority of it not being in our French-English dictionary so we just pointed and hoped for the best. Let's just say Matt ended up with marinated thinly sliced uncooked meat and while I told the waitress "No, that's watermelon...not ours" he ended up eating it and loving it. Apparently it's fine for you to eat...regardless, I had the COOKED veal :) For a real French meal, go here.

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Speaking of food, you can't leave Paris without eating a chocolate croissant. They are a true sinner's breakfast from the local bakery. Sigh. 12. Stop by Musee d'Orsay for all the Monets and art I love from the 19th century.

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Also wanted to mention that if you're in Paris for more than just a couple days it's a good idea to buy a Carte Orange (metro pass). You buy them for a certain amount of days and allows for unlimited metro rides. Paris has an AMAZING metro system (best I've ever seen) and having this allows you to go all over the city whenever and however you want and not worry about the cost.

13. Stop by Shakespeare and Company Bookstore. It's near Notre Dame on the other side of the Seine and it is an awesome bookstore run by Brits who live upstairs and really love their reading. I love bookstores like this so we went a few times just to hang out :)

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14. While you're on that side of town you can stop at a place we ate at several times...the cheapest food we found the entire time and really yummy...Bistrot Gyros. There is a little Greek alley (rue de la Huchette) in the Latin Quarter in St. Michel and these gyros are stuffed to the gills with french fries for only 4 euros. Yum :) 15. Climb up to Sacre Coure and hang around the Montmarte neighborhood. This is the heart of the Parisian Art Deco movement and it's an awesome artsy neighborhood with outdoor cafes, galleries, and lots of local artists doing their work outside.

16. Go to the Paris Art Market in Montparnasse. I decided that I wanted a piece of art to take home with me from a Parisian artist. I knew this wasn't going to be a cheap endeavor but I decided not to get myself any other souvenirs and held out for my piece of Paris. I ended up buying a painting from a Parisian man at this little outdoor art market for 230 euros. To me, it was a small price to pay for my lovely Parisian burlesque lady hanging in our living room :)

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17. Smile. Paris is an amazing experience.

Kristyn Hogan is a wedding and lifestyle photographer based out of Murfreesboro, TN and Cedar Falls, IA serving the Nashville area including Murfreesboro, Franklin, Brentwood and Smyrna as well as Iowa and worldwide. www.kristynhogan.com

the reality of my life

I got a kick in the face this afternoon. Reading The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, for the second time, I found this little gem of an excerpt (honestly, I really didn't want to hear this or answer the questions):

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One day you will stand before God, and he will do an audit of your life, a final exam, before you enter eternity.

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The Bible says, "Remember, each of us will stand personally before the judgement seat of God....Yes, each of us will have to give a personal account to God." Romans 14:10b, 12 (NLT) Fortunately, God wants us to pass the test, so he has given us the questions in advance. From the Bible we can surmise that God will ask us two crucial questions:

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First, "What did you do with my Son, Jesus Christ?" God won't ask about your religious background or doctrinal views. The only thing that will matter is, did you accept what Jesus did for you and did you learn to love and trust him?

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Second, "What did you do with what I gave you?" What did you do with your life-all the gifts, talents, opportunities, energy, relationships, and resources God gave you? Did you spend them on yourself, or did you use them for the purposes God made you for?

matthew 6:19-21

My favorite father-in-law, Jim, is a pretty loyal blog reader and upon reading about my desire to live with or atleast somewhat like the Amish, he emailed me this photo which is supposedly supposed to represent Matt & I if we were to follow my "dream". Now it's pretty obvious that I'm not a fashion diva but I'm not sure even my homeliness could pull off the bonnet and over-all dress look. Atleast we know Matt can pull off a killer "elder" beard...
I promise you I will never let him look like this again. In a moment of blind unconditional love I allowed my husband to look like an Amish man in need of his crazy pills and to the world, I apologize.

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Regardless, I am completely intrigued by the Amish lifestyle (minus their elder beards). They put God above all else and treat everything they are given with the utmost respect as irreplacable gifts from God. Loving God, family, and living off the land is all that matters. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to plan my day around the sun rather than my calendar book, to harvest my own food instead of getting annoyed by someone on a Sunday drive on my way to the grocery store where I will, no doubt, complain about the price of wheat...what it would be like to not have to sit at a computer all day or consider how the war is going to affect the price of gas.

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So maybe God did not have it in His plans for me to be Amish and that is okay (the Amish probably wouldn't be that fond of me considering I'm a photographer) Still, the principle stands, I believe God has called us to reject the ways of this world and to live for His kingdom instead.

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One of the ways of this world that I know is within my control to reject is the way I treat and accumulate things. Everything from what is in my closet, what I feed my body, how I give of my resources, what I chose to do with my time, and what importance I place on all of these "things"...I can love Jesus in all these areas of my life.

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In the meantime, who wants to go hang out in Amish country with me? I've heard you can go buy some of their food or something...where do I go? Matt's suggestion was reinacting the movie "For Richer or Poorer" with Tim Allen, somehow I don't think this will fly. I'd love to try though :)

shysters, thieves and sociopaths

Confession: I can't get enough of Grand Theft Auto IV. I bought it on XBOX360 for my little brothers for their birthdays and I have been known to sit by myself in a completely dark basement for a few hours straight playing this ridiculous video game.
I hate video games (with the exception of the original old school Mario, which Matt & I spent 2 days and $29 searching all of the Washington DC metro area to get our hands on...the glory of blowing into that machine is like a time capsule to the early 90's.)

Anyway, this game is horrific and so wrong on so many levels. I find myself laughing while I shoot an old lady point blank in the head for the 20 bucks I know she has in her purse. Why anyone would find enjoyment in this game is completely beyond me and I'm pretty sure it goes against my previous statement of wanting to live like the Amish.

What can I say, Niko and his American dream of stealing every car and life in Liberty City has it's draw.

What my suitcase told me about my closet.

Meet my suitcase. I've been living out of this little gem for pretty much the entire summer. Between destination weddings, travel for Relevant, travel to see Matt in Nashville, going back to our love pad when Matt's back in Iowa, sleeping in my sister's room when Matt is not in Iowa, and just general chaos, I have forgone my closet this summer and opted for my beautiful little red carry on size suitcase with the trademark decoupage stain dried on the back.

And thus happens my epiphany this morning. I'm driving over to the above mentioned "love pad" after working out to straighten things up since Matt will finally be spending some time here in Iowa. Suddenly I'm thinking about transporting my little suitcase back to our place and I'm thinking, why do I even have a closet? Since the beginning of the summer when I took my first trip out to Nashville I've pretty much had the same clothes in this suitcase. I haven't returned to my closet to get different clothes which means I must really not need very many of the clothes that are left in my closet.

I'm usually pretty good about getting rid of old clothes to drop off at Goodwill but I will be the first to admit that half of my closet I hadn't worn in 2 years and kept thinking to myself "I don't want to get rid of this because it was expensive, I've hardly worn it, and maybe I'll wear it for something random one day."

Today I decided to quit talking myself into keeping these things and have purged almost my entire closet with the exception of what I've been carrying around in my suitcase, a few dresses I wear on special occasions, my sweatshirts/sweaters for winter, and my skiing clothes.

You have no idea how freeing this is to me.

First of all, my sister is going to think I'm crazy. She never fails to tell me that I don't have enough clothes as it is because I've never exactly been on the top tier of the fashion world. Both her and Katie tease me that all I wear is yoga pants. It usually is true but now I'll have the excuse that it's pretty much all I have to wear :)

I took out all of my hangers that weren't white plastic (We had alot of weird random hangers...where do these things come from?) and have decided that if it doesn't fit on the hangers available in the closet, I'm not keeping it.

As I had mentioned in a previous post, I am intrigued by the simplicity of Amish lifestyle. I love the simplicity of not cluttering my life with unnecessary things. In the last 6 months this desire for simplicity has become a growing part of my life. Matt & I started eating healthy & working out 6 days a week which in itself has simplified and structured our lives. Now I'm moving on to other areas and today my closet made it's initiation into the simple lifestyle.

I wonder what's next...

failing

While I was working today, my sister began distracting me with her hilarious laughter. I eventually gave in to checking out the source of her laughter and found something quite entertaining: www.failblog.org

I saved the above photo as a possible solution for my husband as the AC has gone out in his chick magnet 92 Corolla.

This blog has a mix of photos & videos with the general theme of "failing" and as you can see from the examples here...people are failing at life in general. And I find it all very entertaining.
There are something like 95 pages worth of stuff and is updated multiple times a day as the human race continues to fail at life on an epic scale.
This guy should clearly never fall asleep when his "friends" are around. I promise I'm not racist but this was just too completely idiotic of Walgreens not to post. Seriously? And because I can't figure out how to embed YouTube videos into here, here's a link to a video from page 29 that Alyssa and I liked alot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGf-sS4js5Y

Seriously, if you have some time just scroll through this blog, it's definitely a good way to lighten your mood!

watching the light.

the last post about revealing myself was a randomness post as i sat in my hotel room in cancun thinking about my life. in a couple of the photos i posted i thought back to my frame of mind when i took them and thought...i love the light. i watch it all day. this was another random 1 second thought that came into my mind, i wrote it down, and then moved on. then travis mentioned it to me this morning and i began to really think about it.

it is true. i do watch the light. i watch it as it changes throughout the day. how it affects what i'm doing, where i'm going, how i'm feeling, how it plays off of other things around me, it's absence. i think about light most often when i'm working as, more than any other thing, it affects the way i capture someone's life through the camera lens. but really, light is more than that to me. i watch the shadows and i watch the way light can cause me to shield my eyes and i watch the way i can walk outside just before sunset and completely revel in it's beauty and i watch the way it disappears for me but is still completely and wholy there for someone else.

light changes me. it changes the way i see the world. it changes the world. all from a singular and unchanging source.

revealing myself.

it is common knowledge as well as a common cliche that it is most important to make a living doing what you love even if it's not the most popular decision with your parents and/or won't make you a millionaire even when you have the potential to make millions. i love art and i love capturing life. i don't love transactions involving money or day planners or answering emails. i hate that doing what i love sometimes means i have to be a grown up about it. i'd rather just be an artist with no business involved. but i am learning that life isn't all about me and what i prefer from hour to hour but about what my purpose for my god is. and right now i believe i am on a journey and a path marked by god and what he has in store for me is not about what my purpose is but about what his purpose is for me.

and sometimes i take my sister's point and shoot camera and shoot my life just because. this is where i begin to reveal.

this is my husband. i love that he calls me wifey and that he might be the only person on the planet i can justify photographing from the world's most unflattering angle. this is his hungry hungry hippo face.

roaring fork. smoky mountain national park. along with my travel list comes a bit of a national park obsession. our 1 year anniversary gave us a good excuse to cross one off our list.
we like to take self portraits. on our trip to europe 2 years ago people would see us holding the camera out in front of us to take a picture of ourselves in front of something important and they would always offer to take our photo. no thanks, we prefer the ridiculous experience of trying to fit ourselves and said important background into one frame with 50 outtakes, thanks. p.s. i always end up smashing one of my eyes against matt's face in some subconscious effort to make room for the important background.
aside from living with the amish, i would enjoy living in a national park if they'd let me. more on living with the amish soon.
cades cove. i've read a few pages of "all the pretty horses" and i think if i actually read the whole book maybe this is what it would be like? maybe i'm completely off but i'll let myself think i'm right until i read otherwise.
the view from our cabin.
editor's note: this photo is fake. along with our european escapade of only taking our own photos i decided that if we wanted our whole bodies in a photo we would take precise steps to take 2 photos (each of us seperately) and i would simply photoshop us in together as if someone had taken our photo. why we went to all this work at the louvre in paris instead of just asking someone to take our picture together i have no idea. but it makes the photo so much more interesting to us :) so here is our 2nd attempt, this time at the smoky mountains. photo of kristyn taken by matt. photo of matt taken by kristyn. and whala, i swear i usually am a photojournalist!
after a horribly crappy stupid dumb hike up to the highest peak in the smoky mountains we got this view. and then had an equally ridiculous hike back down.

meet my husband. mountain man turned pilot.
i love light. i watch it all day.
drinking tea is hardcore.

if you haven't read the purpose driven life or only read it when or because it was on all the bestseller's list years ago, i highly recommend giving it a chance. i decided to open it up the other day for the first time in 5 years when rick warren was mentioned briefly in church on sunday and felt immediately that it was something i needed to read again. along with c.s. lewis' "problem of pain" and dickens "david copperfield" i have plenty of reading to do right now.