Books in Real Life, Episode 3: Anna and the French Kiss

Rachel & I have yet another collaborative feature to share with you all! Every so often, we're going to be drawing inspiration from some of our favorite novels, whether it's in the form of activities or events or places, and making them happen in real life. It's our way of making these books come to life, challenging ourselves to be more active and, of course, encouraging you to read these books!

This particular edition of Books in Real Life was the easiest one so far! We both enjoyed Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, so we wanted to take on a full day of activities inspired by things that Anna does in the novel. While we couldn't quite afford a trip to Paris just yet, we did have a lot of fun!

We kicked things off with brunch at Maison Keyser! I'm a big brunch person, so I was pretty much dying to try everything on the menu. In the end, I settled for a Nutella tartine, a cappuccino and a Parisienne cocotte. The food and the conversation were both really quite delicious!

And then we had a bit of a wander before we picked up some macarons at Laduree. I love macarons, y'all, and the ones from Laduree are pretty damn spectacular. I had salted caramel, coffee and gingerbread, which were crazy delicious, and had me wanting more.

We then popped into Shakespeare & Co. to visit the books (and buy one each). Seriously, is there anything better than being in a bookstore? I love being surrounded by familiar titles, and the promise of new stories to indulge in. We didn't see the store cat, but there was plenty to keep us preoccupied.

And finally, to end the night, we wound up at the Paris theater across from The Plaza in order to watch The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby. The theater is simple, yet charming and I liked the size of it! But more importantly, I went in thinking I knew what was going to happen in this film, and found that my mind was blown. There was so much to consider and reconsider, to feel challenged by and in awe of, and Rachel and I spent a lot of time dissecting it on our way home. It's seriously one of those films that explores raw human emotion and impossible (yet possible) situations, and I loved that.

It wound up being a really fun day, if typical for both Rachel & I. We definitely will end up doing most of these activities again, since they're all things we do on a regular basis already!

1. Would I do this again? Asking me if I would go to brunch, eat macarons, watch films and visit a bookstore again is almost like asking me if I planned to keep on breathing. OBVIOUSLY.

2. What was your favorite part or a memorable moment? I just loved being in the bookstore! It's always fun to visit with a fellow bookworm. Rachel and I had fun chatting about books we'd read and books we wanted to read! That's always the case, if I'm being honest.

3. Anything you wish you'd known beforehand? Actually, nothing really. All the activities we took part in are things that I'd normally do, so it was fairly easy to slip into such a full day of stuff to do! I do wish we had more time to just linger and enjoy the day.