Wow! I can’t say enough good things about Paris. This was “the trip” for me, the trip I had been looking forward to my whole life, and it didn’t disappoint! We spent 4 days there over Easter weekend and every second was amazing – even when it was raining.
I don’t know exactly how to describe Paris. A friend of ours did a pretty good job by saying “Paris has the energy of New York and the quaintness of Europe.”
The Sights
Obviously we loved the eiffel tower. However, it wasn’t love at first sight. When we first caught a glimpse we could only see the top half, and to be completely honest, I kind of thought it looked like an oil rig. On closer observation we were in awe. It is so tall and beautiful and at night when it glows it is truly stunning. Seriously, it made me a little teary-eyed.
Notre Dame was insane. It’s the most beautiful church I have ever seen with more detail than I thought was possible for a building. One thing I highly recommend for anyone visiting Paris is to climb to the top of the bell tower. Yes, you’ll have to wait in a long line, and yes, you might come close to passing out while climing the 400 step spiral staircase – but it’s worth it!! Let me also mention that as you’re climbing your way up you’ll get to a break in the stairs where there’s a gift shop. Even if you don’t want to buy anything, take that opportunity to stand still for a while or even sit because you still have a lot of stairs to go! Once you reach the top the view is breathtaking! And you get to be up close and personal with the cool gargoyles. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for both Brian and me.
Montmartre was highly recommended to us and we really enjoyed it. It’s an area on a hill with beautiful views of Paris, a gorgeous church, and great little shops and bakeries. It is also the area in which the movie Amelie is filmed. We’ve also heard that this is a great spot to buy street art, but unfortunately I think the rain kept the artists away the day we were there.
The Fashion
- Khaki trench coats. They were everywhere. And yes, I bought one there to fit in :)
- Nautical shirts. Navy or red stripes.
- Scarves, yes they’re still huge.
- This is a bold one - cut off denim shorts with tights and flats or boots.
The Food
Pastry Heaven: Flying into Paris there is a little bakery at the airport called Paul. GET A PASTRY THERE! I don’t know if it’s because it was our first pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant) or if they just really are that good – but it might just be the best thing Brian or I have ever eaten. Seriously.
The French cuisine was delicious, the wine was delicious, the desserts were delicious, the paninis were delicious. It was all delicious! Latin Quarter (the name of an area) was my favorite place to eat. They had reasonably priced French restaurants, a wide variety of ethnic restaurants, and of course bakeries for when we just wanted a snack.
The People
I went to France expecting the French to be rude (I have seen European Vacation after all) but that was not the case! Everyone we met was very nice, would speak to us in as much English as they could, and some people even went out of their way to help us - we got lost on our first night, it was dark and raining and we were standing under our umbrella looking at a map when a guy, with his arms full of groceries, stopped in the rain to help us. And thank goodness he did because I think we had been going around in circles :)
Yep, we really loved Paris, and hope to make it back before our tour in Croatia is up. We’ll post a few pictures shortly.
Au Revoir!
