Tag Archives: Iphone

Views from Arc de Triomphe

Paris truly is a walking city. It’s incredibly convenient and very easy to get navigate on foot, or public transportation…well….Unless your iPhone compass gets messed up due to a magnet on your phone case and leads you 5 miles in the wrong direction. Oopsie…. Did that really happen? If you see the Mr. Casually ask him how his 5 mile excursion For his wife to grab some salt went. The below is a screen shot that shows you the spike in steps that we took while in Paris. It was really awesome to see our progress once we got back to Korea just how far we covered on our entire trip.

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To give our legs a bit of break we did purchase 48 hour hop-on hop-off bus passes through the Big Bus tour company. I know, I know, our friends teased us a bit and gave us some wise cracks on our age, lol we hear you! The hotel helped us arrange the purchase, the closest stop was very convenient to our hotel as well. It actually worked out quite nice because the day we decided to use it, the morning and early afternoon it rained. We liked that there were free headphones to take and grab and plug into and listen to the audio as it provided a guided tour through Paris. This gave us more background and history on different buildings, monuments, etc. We also enjoyed the fact that it was a great way to explore Paris and enjoy the unrestricted views of architectural beauty from the upper deck. We captured some awesome photos and video this way.

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There is also a Big Bus Tours – Interactive City Guide App. The app has maps for various other countries and tours that you might decide to do in the future as well. Super user-friendly too!

We hopped off the bus and took the underground tunnel up to the Arc de Triomphe. the Arc stands at the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, also known as the “Place de l’Étoile”, and is located at the western end of the ever popular Champs-Élysées shopping district. We caution not to be that guy that tries to jet across the heavily traffic congested roundabout, there are NO crosswalks. To give some perspective, 12 roads converge here and there is a lot of horns blowing. There are two entrances and exits you can use to directly access to the Arc in the center.

A bit of history we learned about Arc de Triomphe was that it was commissioned by Emperor Napoleon to recognize French soldiers, unfortunately Napoleon never had the opportunity to marvel at it because he died before it was completed.

The Arc de Triomphe is just a magnificent structure. Travel photos and magazines just do not do the monument any justice when showcasing the size. Standing there in person we felt like ants! We just couldn’t get over the size of this monument! It depicts and represents not only history of fallen soldiers and wars, but pure elegance, incredible beauty, and just outstanding design, symmetry and detail.

We purchased our two tickets for a small fee and ascended over 280 round steps up the inside of the monument to the very top. There is an option to take an elevator if need be. Many travelers provide reviews and say that this is a must do and see when visiting Paris and we absolutely agree. Once we stepped outside we were swept away with the 360 degree birds eye view of the city of Paris. Stunning! After seeing the views from high above in the bell towers of Notre Dame de Paris, I thought how could there be any better views left for us? Much to my surprise and delight the views were just as moving and breathtaking.

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YELP reviews on Arc de Triomphe HERE

More information on Arc de Triomphe HERE

More information on booking tickets for the Big Bus HERE

Product Review: Artisana Raw 100% Organic Coconut butter

My grandparents will be the first to attest that I despised coconut anything growing up. Any cakes or baked goods with the flaky shreds of coconut I’d proclaim, “taste like soap.” Clueless where I came up with that one? Thank goodness our taste buds mature and develop with us into our adulthood. Fast forward to my adulthood and I couldn’t even image not liking the taste of coconut. Missing out on coconut cake, coconut frosting, piña-coladas, coconut water, coconut milk, the list goes on and on.

How about you, do you like coconut or coconut flavor?

So I came across a product on Amazon for raw coconut butter and after reading the reviews of so many happy owners we decided we wanted to give it a whirl too! Artisana Raw 100% Organic Coconut Butter, have you tried it yet? (GET ON THIS!)

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(Photo taken with iPhone)

This is the moment I wish we had some smell-o-vision from my screen to yours. We opened the jar and immediately were reminded of a tropical island. No, not the super potent car air freshener that gives you a headache when you first open it and can taste it in your mouth. More like the coconut smell that transports me when I can close my eyes and almost feel a light sea breeze blowing while lounging on a tropical beach (it could just be our fan too). Regardless it’s certainly hard to fully describe in words how divine the smell is! Folks just trust us on this one.

When we first got our jar of coconut butter it was in solid form, however with the recent change in temperature it is a liquified butter that just like natural peanut butter can separate and just needs a good stir to eat.

So onto the taste…..drum roll please! We’d like to describe it to you as naturally sweet and packed full of incredible coconut flavor! We’re finding every excuse to slather or drizzle the stuff on our meals. Suchhhhh a delicious treat and it’s healthy too! Just like their product marketing states, no additives, only pure, unadulterated coconut!

This little butter babe has certainly jazzed up our breakfast routine and I don’t see us giving up on it anytime soon. Stay tuned for more featured debuts in our cooking and recipes.

Backpackbees

Click, Ship & treat yourself!