Oh Paris!

Wow. I cannot believe it's been almost four months since my last blog! I have some catching up to do!

I really want to blog about my trip to Paris. Marito and I went in July for their Independence Day (Bastille Day- July 14th). We made a long weekend trip out of it, which I recommend spending 4 full days there at the least to do everything! We definitely did not do EVERYTHING, but we did accomplish a lot.

First off, we flew EasyJet into the Orly Airport. Because our plane arrived late, we missed the last train into the City Center so we just took a cab. It cost us 40 Euros to get to our hotel, and I'm sure the cabbie took the long way because he did not follow his GPS.. but what can I do? We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Republique- which has a metro station right out front. It's a pricey hotel and we only stayed there because I used an employee discount from when I used to work in the hotel business.

Day One

Our first full day was a busy one. We woke up early and headed out to Sacre Coure Basilica. Gorgeous white church on a hill that over looks the city. Absolutely beautiful. We didn't tour the church- Marito isn't into that stuff so we just admired the beauty from the outside. directly at the bottom of the hill there is a small restaurant where we spent 8 Euros for breakfast. Baguette, croissant, butter, jam, coffee/cappuccino, and OJ. I'm pretty sure it was called the English Breakfast and they had the menu on the wall outside. quaint with an impeccable view of the Basilica.

We got there earlier than we should, there weren't any street vendors yet (which for some reason I love those guys). But we made our way to the Artist Market around the corner.

To get to the Artist Market, if you are standing in front of Sacre Coure, at the top, and you're look at it (not the city) Turn left and head down the road. It will make a T-intersection and you want to head uphill on the right. Take the street on your left and follow it (and the crowd) you will walk through cute shops and the Artists will be on the left in a Square. There you will find hand painted pictures of Paris, as well as many Portrait artists too. Immediately past the square there is a Starbucks. Marito has been missing his coveted Caramel Macchiato so he was thrilled to indulge.

We walked and made our way through the neighborhoods until we found the Abbessess Metro Station. Just beyond the station there is a free park, and a mural that is perfect for couples. It is a wall with the words "I love you" written in over 300 languages. Super adorable!

From there we wound up at the Louvre. We didn't go inside the museum. I do not recommend this! You HAVE to go inside the Louvre and see the Mona Lisa, be disappointed in how small it is and then check out a fantastic piece of art on the other wall behind it! Marito just wasn't up for it, I'll make my way back one day!

Just a couple blocks beyond the Louvre is Love Locks Bridge. I, being the sappy romantic, HAD to do this. I bought a lock from the NEX, put our initials on it and our wedding date, and had Marito find a secure spot on the bridge. After we locked up our love, we threw our keys into the river below, declaring our love and bond. Its totally cliché but ITS PARIS! Not far from the bridge is Notre Dame, so that was our next destination. We hung out and admired it, then made our way to the Latin Quarter neighborhood and explored the cute shops and restaurants.

After quickly exploring we found ourselves at the Eiffel Tower, walked around a bit before we decided to go find Moulin Rouge. The street Moulin Rough is located on, has a bunch of sex shops. Like Rebecca Rills which is just a couple shops down, has bright neon purple lettering, and is stuffed with outfits and more. Something to checkout for the curious and adventurous.




Our tummies were starting to grumble, so we found a super cute French restaurant that served Steak Carpaccio, Lamb, and my favorite... ESCARGOT. SOOOO YUMMY! If you haven't had escargot, it is the consistency of mushroom, and is cooked in garlic butter- like tofu, it takes on the taste of what it is cooked in. Give it a try! Fair warning, I've never had escargot served in the shells before, and there is a magic way to get the meat out. I had to YouTube it!

Day Two

The Eiffel Tower opens at 9 am (at least in July they do). I recommend getting there before 9, we arrived at 8:45 am, and were on the elevator by 9:30 to go up. There are different prices for the Tower, I suggest the full price and going to the top. You don't want to chicken out! Once you get to the second floor, you walk around the base and get in line for the elevator to the top. So you can take your time and hang out as long as you want before getting the courage to go higher. The first floor is highly neglected and it is currently being worked on to get more attention from tourists. Here's a video on what is to be expected.


When we finished our trip up and down the Tower, Marito and I jetted to the metro to get to the catacombs on the other side of the city. The catacombs open at 10 am and when we arrived at 10:30 the line was wrapped around the block completely! Over an hour wait. And it was closed the next day. SUPER BUMMER! If you want to go, check out the websites schedule, and make sure you don't go when it's closed or if it's a holiday (like Bastille Day).

Since waiting in line for 2 hours was out of the question, we went back to Latin Quarter to find knick knacks before we went to the Arc de Triumph. You can go up the Arc and get a gorgeous view of the city before you walk along the massive Champs de Elysee boulevard of high end retail shops. There is a McDonalds on the blvd and you can go inside, enter your order on a computer, and 45 seconds later your food is ready waiting for you. It was fancy! Haha!

I also recommend going to the mall, Galleries Lafayette. More high end retail shopping, but it's free to go in and look around. It is absolutely stunning inside the center of the mall.

At this point we have already covered so much of Paris in such a short period of time, we went back to our hotel and took a nap! After resting up we went back to Sacre Coure which was now booming with activity since it wasn't so early in the day. The street leading up to the Basilica was bustling with people placing bets on silly street games, tons of scarfs and tourist t-shirts hanging out store windows, street vendors trying to hassle you to buy a bracelet. This time instead of climbing the steps, we took the lift up the hill which is free with the metro pass. speaking of metro pass, everything we have done so far has all been located in Zone 1. We bought a 3 day 3 zone pass just to be safe.

So we make it up the hill, and find a spot on the stairs to sit and over look the city. There was a street entertainer who has a bunch of videos on YouTube climbing on light poles and bouncing a soccer ball- needless to say it's way more entertaining in person than to read about. We sat around and watched him for a good 30 minutes, but spent even more time than that just being content sitting on the stairs. Marito was very happy that there were guys selling Heineken. There we sat and drank, and were just very happy to be where we were.

After a good buzz was developed we went back to the Eiffel Tower to grab dinner at a recommended little place called Le Poincare Bistro- they have an amazing creamy onion soup and some decent mojitos! After dinner we walked to the lawn and watched the Tower light up on the hour. There were more guys selling beer and cheap bottles of champagne. What I truly enjoyed was watching a group of people make a huge heart out of red glow sticks, while a someone proposed on the tower. And when the person said yes, the crowd threw their red glow sticks in the air to celebrate. It was so heart warming to witness.

Day Three

No plans for today besides see fireworks at the Eiffel Tower, so we made a last minute decision to go to Disneyland. You pay about 15 Euro a person to take the train to Disney's front steps, then it was roughly 50 Euro a person to go to either Disney Studios or Disney Park. We went to the Studios because my only reason to go to Disneyland was to ride the Tower or Terror since I chickened out many, many, years ago and my brother has always been able to One Up me. A hamburger, drink and yogurt costs us 16 Euros a person (outrageous!) but just giving you a heads up. I finally conquered the Tower of Terror about 17 years late, rode the Rock N Roller Coaster, RC Racecar (from Toy Story) and went to the Stunt Show before we made our way back to the city. Euro Disneyland isn't all it's cracked up to be in my opinion- I've done both parks a few years ago, but if you have kids, they will love it!



The crowd waiting for fireworks

It was a fight to find a good spot in front of the Eiffel Tower. We got there two hours or so before the fireworks were to go off, and sat in the street, which is not comfortable. Once the sky was dark, music started and the fireworks exploded before our eyes. If I had realized they were going to be shot off over the river, I would have sat behind the Eiffel Tower on the lawn, and not the street in front of it. They were shot off over the lawn 7 years ago when I was in Paris the first time, so I got a great view of the tower in front of the fireworks, but things have changed since then. I must admit, Paris has a lot of money and their fireworks displays is phenomenal. The best show I have ever seen (twice!) and Marito agrees with me.

If you want to plan a trip to Paris over the summer, go for Bastille Day and celebrate their Independence with them. It's truly a wonderful experience!

The fireworks wrapped up our trip, and we caught the train to the airport the next day. Can't wait to come back and enjoy a more leisure trip, filled with more river walking, café sipping, and stair sitting.