Paris, France
Paris is one of the most sought after travel destinations, in fact it comes a close second to the world’s most visited cities after Bangkok at a little over 19 million people visiting annually. Paris is known for their cafe’s, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, beauty, elegance, and of course romanticism.
It doesn’t matter where you grew up, your prior travel experience, or even your travel style, everyone loves Paris; well, I guess people who enjoy open country type environments wouldn’t enjoy Paris but that’s about it. I digress. Paris for me was a whirlwind. I fit everything (including a pair of heels) in the red backpack you see in the pic! yea I know crazy, but not when you consider I was in Paris for 24 hours, then you’ll understand. (Ok so it was a last minute trip and I was in law school so couldn’t really take too much time off; but who would pass up on opportunity to go to Paris if even for a day? my point exactly). Needless to say, I plan on traveling back to Paris with a lot more time on my hands.
While in Paris I still managed to go see the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, took the subway, went out clubbing ((if I remember correctly), had some coffee and croissants at a cafe, etc)). I went in early October and it was COLD by then! think 40 degree Fahrenheit temps. Yikes! I was very unprepared in my little night club dress but as a regular traveler at the time, nothing would stop me from being on the scene and maximizing my short time there, even if it meant getting hypothermia on my hands and feet.
Attractions
Ok so moving on to what you guys care about. The Eiffel Tower! A beauty indeed, you are actually allowed to go up to the top and there’s a restaurant up there where you can eat which I didn’t know. You will likely have a wait so it’s best to plan that out ahead of time. When my best friend and I went there was a two hour wait and that didn’t fit into our schedule so we passed. We did however, still get to see this wonder live in person and take pics to prove it! see below.
Next up, the Louvre. The Louvre is about a 30 min subway ride from the Eiffel Tower so its extremely convenient to get to if you need to hit up the big spots in one day like we did.
If you think you’ll get a photo op without any tourists in the way, think again. There are tons of people everywhere, photoshop will be your best friend if you want a perfect photo by yourself. I, on the other hand, don’t want to spend my precious free time figuring out how to crop and edit people out, so enjoy the background of people. In fact if you look closely in my Louvre pic, theres a couple in their wedding attire, how precious! I love, LOVE.
I found that the people in Paris (not the tourists) were really nice and cool. I felt safe and welcomed. I try to always mention how a city makes me feel because that is very important when traveling. You don’t want to be thousands of miles away from home visiting foreign land and you feel uncomfortable.
Accommodations
We stayed with a relative for a night so there was no fancy airbnb or cool hotel. However, when I travel I love immersing myself in the culture and seeing how people really live, not the touristy part. The apartment we stayed in was tiny! smaller than NYC apartments ok. I believe most Parisians live like that, just smaller spaces. In fact, everywhere I travel the spaces are usually smaller, the U.S. has a lot of land so everything is spread out and big (unless you’re in cities like NY). I try to be a little bit of a minimalist so I actually enjoy the “less is more” ideology or lifestyle.
With that being said, the trip was perfect. I had great coffee and croissants every chance I could during our sight seeing adventure. We had crepes from a food cart and ate on the lawn at a famous museum or garden — I can’t remember the name now, shame on me! This is why we should always document our trips so we have a recollection of everything in writing and photos.
If you’ve been to Paris, what was your favorite part of the trip? Let me know in the comments!
With LOVE,
KayaDejure