Paris!

We spent our first holiday weekend in Barcelona, and the next in Paris. I've always wanted to go to Paris and see the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe... there are so many amazing things to see!

In Barcelona, I could get by on my college Minor level of Spanish, but France marked our first country where neither of us spoke the language. I know the travel basics, the song "Les Poissons" from Little Mermaid (hee hee hee haw haw haw!) and the words to a nonsensical French Rap video my brothers put together 5 years ago... meaning, I don't know French. However, as with every major city in Europe, most people also speak English and you can get by -- I just think it's polite to attempt the native language, even if I butcher it and it's blatantly obvious that I'm American. At least I'm not being assumptive and I'm trying, right?

The trip itself was fantastic! We stayed in Saint-Germain, an artsy, upscale neighborhood on the left bank of The Seine -- great location for sightseeing. We spent the first of three days walking around the entire city and exploring as much as possible. The morning was spent walking through the neighborhood and the Jardin du Luxembourg, the expansive gardens surrounding Luxembourg Palace. Our walk worked up our appetite and we had a delicious breakfast of fresh crêpes and espresso. Maybe my favorite meal of our whole trip! 

Next, we made our way over to the river Seine and to Notre Dame. We didn't go in because of the charge and line, but we should've and will do it next time! The exterior architecture alone is beautiful though...

 After Notre Dame, we walked along the river and through Jardin du Tuileries to Champs-Élysées, the enormous shopping street filled with cafes and luxury stores. The Avenue dead ends in the Arc de Triomphe, another famous monument that honors the soldiers in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

The Eiffel Tower was next. It started raining (the Dublin weather followed us!), but it didn't matter and actually made the setting more romantic :) That is, until I got soaked and was freezing and we stumbled into a local cafe where the waitress was not a fan of us, ha! That was the only experience where the people were not very friendly; otherwise, we found that most people defied the Parisian stereotype and were very nice and helpful. 

On Day 2, we spent the bulk of our day at The Louvre (it's so massive you could spend days in there!). Even though we got an early start, we arrived to a ridiculously long line. I just figured it was par for the course, so we sucked it up and waited in line for an hour, inventing silly "would you rather?" scenarios, only to find that the line was so long because admission was FREE! This occurs on the first Sunday of every month... works for me! 

The interior decor by itself is incredible and, of course, it has some of the greatest art in the world! Notice the Mona Lisa is blurry b/c it's actually smaller than you would think and you can only get so close, especially amongst the crowds.

 Following the Louvre, we visited the neighborhood of Montmartre, where the infamous Moulin Rouge is located. It's a very cool neighborhood, boasting panoramic views from Sacré-Cœur, a gorgeous basilica at the highest point of the city. We got a bottle of wine and watched the sunset here for our last night in Paris...

 Our final day, we did more of the same, strolled the streets and relaxed at cafes. Can't wait to go back and visit again. Until next time... Au Revoir, Paris!