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| Photo by Anthony DELANOIX on Unsplash |
It was such an incredible experience. I got to tour Paris and see the Eiffel tower and see the Arc de Triomphe, and explore the Palace of Versailles and walk down the Hall of Mirrors. I visited a small French village of Chartres that has a cathedral that's almost 800 years old and has some of the most magnificent stained glass you'll ever see. I strolled along the river Seine in the rain and when it was sunny, and window-shopped (and regular shopped!) at the green bookstalls along the river and were able to avoid the pickpocketers that were sprinkled around the city (thank God!). I ate fresh French baguettes, which were life-changing, pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants), and even had real French crepes twice (because they were so good! Who knew I'd actually like a crepe that would be made out of buckwheat of all things?? Screw dessert crepes, savory French crepes are the way to eat crepes!) I got to eat dinner with my dad's French former co-worker and his family, and see how real French Parisians live and eat (his kids were Harry Potter fans as well so we had a riveting and extensive conversation about The Cursed Child. Harry Potter unites us all!) We also stayed with another former co-worker of my dad's as well, who were the most wonderful and welcoming hosts, and for breakfast had some of the freshest baked bread in the world, from their town's local boulangerie (bakery) and they took us on a tour of their small town which had Roman ruins, beautiful woods, a church that was hundreds and hundreds of years old, and thanks to them, I learned that Emmental cheese is quite delicious! And sitting in the sun in a park behind Notre Dame on a sunny, warm pleasant day and being in awe of the beauty of the Opera National de Paris (Paris Opera House) was the best way to spend our last day in beautiful Paris.
The trips was full of highlights, but of course, since there was so much to see in Paris, we couldn't see it all and we missed out on seeing: the Louvre, Monet's gardens at Giverny, and the Catacombs of Paris (which I desperately wanted to see!). Even though we did visit the Musee d'Orsay, it turned out to be a bust because we had a limited time to visit and both my mother and I had to use the restroom, but 3 out of the 4 stalls were broken and we were in the bathroom line for over 30 minutes! By the time we had both used the bathroom, it was practically time to leave but at least we got to visit the gift shop and buy some gifts for people! (It's the little things, haha)
Despite missing some of these big things in Paris, my trip was still terrific and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything else in the world! Those missed chances are just opportunities to go back and have new adventures and explore more things in Paris. There was so much that I saw and did, that I'm sure I'm missing some fun and interesting aspects from my Parisian escapades, but for now, enjoy the pictures I took from my trip to the City of Light and my funny and witty commentary* to go with it!
*What I think is "funny and witty" is more likely "gushy and filled with the words 'loved,' 'delicious,' 'gorgeous,' and 'beautiful," because Paris is stupid pretty. Like seriously. It's ridiculously pretty.
PS. And I still never really got used to paying to use the bathroom! I guess as an American I'm just used to most bathrooms being fair game and free. It was a total culture shock. The bathroom at the train station even had a time limit!
My first look at Paris from the top of the Tour Montparnasse sky scraper. Bonjour, Eiffel tower! ❤
I was eating a fresh French baguette while viewing the city. That's how everyone should sight-see in Paris.
C'est magnifique!
My hotel room bathroom had a freaking BIDET!!! And no, I did not use it. Was I tempted? Sort of. Was I more terrified than curious? Yes, yes I was.
The first night in Paris we walked to a local creperie that our tour guide recommended and I'm so glad we did! The restaurant was tiny, but the hostess was so sweet, gave us two different ciders to try with the crepes, and for someone who doesn't really drink alcohol, I fell in love with the sweet cider! I took this picture to document it and see if I could try to find it in the States (I probably won't be able to, but you never know!) We loved the crepes so much that the hostess even took us back into the kitchen to show us how they made them! It was a fantastic and delicious way to spend our first dinner in Paris. (I still dream about those crepes...I had one with cheese, scrambled eggs, and potatoes. So simple, yet so good! But of course I forgot to take a picture of my actual crepe! I was so hungry that I just started digging in!)
The beautiful river Seine. Midnight in Paris got the beauty of Paris exactly right! (Minus all the crowds, the traffic, noise. But despite all that, Paris is still beautiful!)
I love this shot I took of the Eiffel tower as we were driving over the Seine. But of course the reflection from the bus window sort of ruined it. Oh well. I still love it!
And here it is: the famous and iconic Eiffel tower! This shot makes me smile because of all the people posing in front of it, ready to take a picture and post it on Snapchat and Instagram. No shame, it was what we were all doing!!
Even the lamps in Paris are pretty! What gives??? Why can't everywhere else be just as pretty??
The Arc de Triomphe aka the busiest place in Paris (according to me). There's a traffic circle surrounding it, plus people trying to cross the street to go visit and then climb to the top, and then there's the people across the street, like my tour, just staying out of the way and taking pictures from a distance. Even from afar it was still awe-inspiring and beautiful.
The gates of Versailles. It seemed like everything was in gold. Everything. You could kind of see why the peasants revolted all those years ago.
Guady, gorgeous, and ornate! Literally everything that Versailles is and stood for. The grandiose nature and size of Versailles was literally jaw-dropping. It really must have been something to see back in the day! You know, before all the revolutions...
The Garden of Versailles is magnificent. But HUGE! We walked around maybe like one-fifth of it, and the rest was way too far to walk. I wouldn't be surprised if they had a maze somewhere on the property with a Minotaur pacing around in it.
A really crappy photo of the beautiful gardens of Versailles. Like, you can't tell in the picture but there are gorgeous topiary and lovely designed landscaped hedges. Trust me, it's gorgeous. Just blame my photography skills and lack of photographic evidence.
One of the few times I've taken a good photo and it's of this either ancient Roman or Greek god guy just lounging by a man made lake. Or is it a pond? Or a reflecting pool?
One of the MANY fountains in the gardens. None of them were running on the day we visited. Apparently they only run the fountains certain days of the years, to help prevent water erosion. But I talked to my aunt about Versailles and she said when she visited back in the 70's, they ran the fountains but because of the stagnant water that just sits there, it filled the gardens with the smell of rotting eggs. Gross.
A grotto to make Hugh Hefner jealous.
Yet another fountain! This one even bigger than the last! I'm sure you can't see, but there was a bird sitting on top of the statue at the very top. So many people were trying to take pictures and simultaneously shoo the bird off in hopes of getting a better shot. I think the bird adds a nice, how do you say, je ne sais quoi?
The turtle and frog fountain from a distance. Not pictured: a horde of school children on a field trip racing up behind me and corralling me off of the stairs as I was trying to climb up. Never underestimate the power of children out of school and on a field trip!
Pretty much the same statue as before, just on the other side of the lake/pond/body of water thing. You know you're royalty when you have MATCHING giant statues.
For some reason this panoramic shot I took has a watermark on it when I post it on here. But I still think despite the pesky watermark it's a great shot! If I do say so myself.... (just let me have this one thing!)
Just a simple entryway, welcoming us into the former French royalty's humble abode aka the PALACE of Versailles.
The Sun King: "I don't think they know I am wealthy enough just by seeing this simple door."
Architect: "My lord, I assure you they know"
The Sun King: "Make the door fancier. And more gold!"
Architect: "But sir-"
The Sun King: "Fancier, I say!!"
Architect: "But my lord, this door leads to the chamber pot storage room..."
The Sun King: "No matter! Just make it fancy!"
I forgot who is depicted in this portrait, but I took a picture of it anyway. Chances are she was royal ;)
A bed fit for a king. Or queen. Or whomever. You know it's a fancy bed if there are FOUR feather plumes on top of it!
Isn't this clock magnificent? I feel like it totally would have come alive in the Beast's castle. And would have been totally terrifying because the clock was HUGE.
The Hall of Mirrors! I have always always always wanted to see this in person and now I have! And it was just as magnificent as I thought it would be. My pictures do not in any way do it justice! I seriously couldn't stop thinking about how Marie Antoinette walked down these very halls.
This was was scroll-work done on a window shutter. A WINDOW SHUTTER!!!
The beautiful stained glass at Chartres! Even after hundreds and hundreds of years the colors are still so bright.
On a whim (aka because I had seen pictures of it on Pinterest of places to visit in Paris that weren't the Eiffel tower or any of the other typical tourist-y things) we visited the Paris Opera House and I'm so happy we did! It was huge, gorgeous, and ornate, even more so than Versailles. From all of the paintings, the statues, all the gold and scroll-work, the chandeliers and lamps, there was so much to see and it was all so lavish and elegant. In fact, I think I liked the Opera House even better than Versailles! They had costumes from different ballets scattered around and you could peek out at the stage and the grand staircase was fabulous and jaw-dropping. Plus the gift shop was ballet-centric so my mom and I had a ton of fun shopping for my ballet loving sister. We even grabbed a quick baguette to snack on and ate it outside on the front steps and just gazed up at the beautiful building. It really was so pretty that we just wanted to hang around it for as long as we could before heading elsewhere.
I just had to take a picture of the bathroom tours in the Paris Opera House! They were just so elegant with the "dames" and "messieur" yet they made me giggle knowing they were "toilettes" and looked so fancy. And even the bathrooms were pretty!
On our last day in Paris, we just strolled around, visiting the green bookstalls and doing a bit of shopping. We stumbled across this ornate clock on the corner of a building. It's amazing what you can find just walking around this fabulous city! I didn't take as many pictures on our last day, but that was because I wanted to put away my phone and just enjoy our last day in the city and just take it all in. Who knows when I'll be back again! (Hopefully sooner than I think!)
An Art Nouveau metro station entrance! Isn't it just beautiful?? I've always wanted to see one in person and on our last day in Paris we were just strolling around and came across this one! It was fate! Fate, I tell you!
After we walked around Paris a bit, we decided to visit Notre Dame and after admiring the front and the long line of people standing out front to tour the inside, we decided to rest our weary legs at the small park behind the cathedral and just enjoy the sunshine, the back of the beautiful building, and people watch. It really was quite pleasant and lovely. Plus, there was a little public restroom that was FREE! Score!
This wasn't the last picture I took in Paris, but I thought the picture I took of the Eiffel tower at night would be a nice way to end my blog post. I can't believe I went to Paris! And London! It was literally the trip of a lifetime and I cannot wait to go back and explore more of this fantastic, old, and fascinating city!
Au revoir, Paris! Je t'aime!
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