Jon and I have each previously been to France, not together, and on guided tours which filled our days with as many sites as possible in a short time. During this visit, we were able to spend two full weeks slowly exploring the City of Lights together. Happily, we also got to share our time in Paris with friends. This divided our trip into three distinct segments; enjoying French food Alvin and Yue Chao, lazily exploring lesser visited neighborhoods on our own, and visiting the major tourist attractions with my sister, Marisa. Paris, France – Part 1 will describe our visit with our friends, ventures into French food, and the neighborhoods not typically visited by tourists on a tight schedule. For the major tourist attractions see our follow up article, Paris, France – Part 2, written by guest blogger Marisa P.