Paris. Love at first sight. This was the last city on our
European jaunt. We arrived in the morning via an overnight train (which was
actually kind of terrible, but I don’t want to spoil this post with those
details… just avoid Thello overnight trains if you can). We stayed in a
charming neighborhood, walking distance from the Eiffel Tower, in the ultra-modern
Hotel Du Cadran on rue du Champ de Mars. Tons of little cafés, meat and cheese markets,
produce stands, and bakeries lined the streets. We didn’t even realize how good
we planned our location. The only gripe was the noise level at night (Parisians
never sleep!), and in the morning when the delivery trucks came to fill the
markets. But I look back and just think it added to the experience and energy of
staying in the city.
Since we couldn’t check in to our hotel for a few hours, we
walked straight to the Eiffel Tower like any other tourist would do. I remember
walking down the street, excited as all get out, and Cameron spotted it first, “Look,
there it is,” and I grab his arm in amazement that we were really there in
person. You see so many pictures of the tower over your lifetime, and then to
actually see it is surreal. It was beautiful.
After freshening up at our hotel, we decided to go see the Arc
de Triomphe and took the spiral staircase all the way to the top. The views of
Paris were stunning from there, and it was a much shorter line than the Eiffel
Tower. Afterward, we took a stroll on the Avenue des Champs-Elysees where I
went into the biggest Sephora store I had ever seen!
More after the jump....
Notre Dame
Sainte-Chapelle
Love lock bridge
Day two we visited Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, walked over
to the Left Bank and saw the Pantheon, and strolled through the Jardin du
Luxembourg. Cameron and I loved the Sainte-Chapelle because of its amazing
stained glass windows throughout. It was our major highlight of the day, and we
even liked it more than Notre Dame. Stained glass experts were in the process
of restoring the old glass pieces, which has taken several years to complete.
After dinner we walked along the Siene River and waited for the light show on
the Eiffel Tower. It sparkles for five minutes every hour at night. I
absolutely loved it.
Inside the Pantheon
Jardin du Luxembourg
Day three we woke up early to visit the Louvre Museum, and
of course saw the Mona Lisa and the Venus Milo. It started to rain when we left
the museum, but we walked over to the Latin Quarter so I could buy some Laduree
macarons, which are said to be the very best in Paris. Since it was raining
and cold, Cameron and I headed back to our hotel to relax, and eat our Laduree
treats. We went to dinner that night at Les Cocottes, which is a Christian
Constant restaurant and it was delicious! I was feeling rundown from catching a cold, so we called it a night and walked back to the hotel.
The Louvre
The Mona Lisa craze
Venus Milo
Many people have asked if we encountered rude Parisians, and
for the most part everyone was friendly and had no issue speaking English. I
made an effort to learn a few phrases in French, which I think was appreciated.
We only encountered a few arrogant people who were rude to us, but most were
friendly and happy to help. Hopefully the bad French reputation is on its way
out with the new generation.
Day
four we took a train to Versailles to tour the palace, which was unbelievable.
It was Cameron’s favorite. The Hall of Mirrors was so cool to see, and the gardens of the palace were the most massive and beautiful I have ever seen. That day I was just trying to pull through because I was
feeling really tired from my cold, but Versailles is a must-see in my opinion.
Versailles
Hall of Mirrors
Marie Antoinette's bedroom
Our last day in Paris we visited the catacombs which were extremely creepy. We needed something happy after seeing that so we headed over to Ile St-Louis to treat ourselves to the most delectable ice cream at Berthillon.
Catacombs - don't go here if you're claustrophobic
The last thing on our list was to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower...
View from the first level
View from the top... much higher up!
It was a trip to remember
forever, and we had the best time together. Paris was my favorite city of them
all, and they had the best food (no surprise there!). Everywhere you walked the
city gleamed of romance and French architecture. The language is lovely, the
food is out of this world, and culture is in abundance. What an incredible way
to conclude our trip.
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