Bon lundi!

Summer is in full swing, bringing with it school break, time off, vacation, and...summer visitors! One thing I didn't realize before moving to Paris was that it would give us the opportunity to host dear friends and family and share our new home with them. Counterintuitively it's proven to often allow us more quality time with loved ones than we ever had living at home. Especially being out and about in the city, cutting visitors off of the wifi access they so crave.

Recently my aunt and cousin had the opportunity to visit us for a week. I loved every minute with those girls! It allowed me to share some places that I love with them, like the Musée d'Orsay (it had been too long since my last visit there!) and also pushed me to discover some new places too. Follow me this week as I share some of our findings!

The Musée d'Orsay is a fabulous art museum that used to be a train station known as Gare d'Orsay in its former life! — The Musée d'Orsay is a fabulous art museum that used to be a train station known as Gare d'Orsay in its former life!

A classic chicken and egg quandary. What came first, the idea or the Canvas on Demand Groupon? Either way, the result is what matters. My husband had the idea a few years ago to select a picture from each destination we travel to and have it made into a canvas to hang in our home. We were still newlyweds, were starting to experience symptoms of being bitten by the European travel bug, and had lots of bare space on the walls of our apartment in New Jersey.

We breathed life into our decorating project and a full guidelines emerged after some thought. The photos are taken by either of us, cannot have us in the picture, and traditionally have been all been scenic outdoor shots.

We both love to take pictures and snap lots of them each year. But we know that a stroke of exceptional inspiration has occurred when one of us exclaims, "This may be canvas-worthy!" when behind the lens.

Paris is quite a photogenic model who is not camera-shy in the least. After going through countless pictures from this incredible year here, I have selected 10 pictures that I think have that "canvas-worthy" potential. So without further ado, I present to you the best of 2013: