Paris Part 1

Dave and I had been living in France for almost a year and still hadn't managed to make it to Paris for a visit yet. With the end of our year long adventure drawing near, we decided we had to make a trip to Paris happen. We couldn't come back from a year away living in France without going to its most famous city. So, at the end of March Dave managed to sneak away from school for a few days and we enjoyed an extended weekend in Paris. We rented an apartment through Airbnb again (love that website) and decided to take the train. It worked out perfectly and we were well located in the city, close enough to walk to many attractions and near to a metro stop to easily get to anything else that was a little further away. When I first started researching Paris for what attractions we wanted to see during our visit, it was a little overwhelming. There is SO SO SO much to do there! We only had about 4 full days and 2 half days (when we traveled) to fit in all the sights. We jam packed our trip and tried to fit in as much as we could, and I think we did a pretty good job of seeing most of the main attractions. We had a lot of fun and I'm glad we can say that we finally got to see Paris!

Day One Thursday, March 21st:
We started our day with an early train ride into Paris and arrived by mid afternoon. After meeting the owner of our apartment and getting the keys, we dropped our stuff off and immediately began our sightseeing! When I say we jammed in as much as we could on our trip, I mean it. We had booked advanced tickets online to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower for that afternoon. I recommend this if you are planning to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, as the lines to buy tickets on sight can get really long and this saves you a lot of time. The online tickets can sell out, so you need to plan in advance (or if you are like me, constantly check the website the week before your visit and luck out when two tickets randomly become available....SCORE!). We managed to make it to the Eiffel Tower just on time and rode the elevator up to the top. It was really cool and I think it was well worth it to go to the top. The view was great and it was an awesome experience to be at the top of the Eiffel Tower, after seeing it in pictures and in movies for so long. We splurged and enjoyed two glasses of champagne from one of the stands at the top, despite the fact that it was ridiculously overpriced. But hey, when else are we going to get to drink champagne on top of the Eiffel Tower? So we figured, why not?! It was a lot of fun.

After that we walked down the Champs d'Elysees,  which is basically a big street with lots of stores and restaurants. By the time we were done checking that out we were hungry for dinner, so we tried out an Entrecote place and had a yummy steak dinner and a great bottle of red wine. The tables were very close together in the restaurant (this is common in Paris) so we couldn't help but strike up a conversation with a nice couple beside us who were from San Diego. They were very nice and it was a great first meal in Paris. After dinner, we walked off our meal and checked out the Eiffel Tower at night. They light it up at night and it is very beautiful. If you go to Paris, make sure you see the Eiffel Tower during the day and during the night! On the way to the Eiffel Tower we randomly passed over a bridge and realized that it was the same spot where Princess Diana had her fatal car crash years ago. There is still a monument there today where people leave flowers and there is also lots of messages on the overpass in memory of Diana. We came upon it by accident, but I'm glad we did. It was very moving.

After, we were exhausted from our busy first day so we made our way back to the apartment and went to bed.

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

Yay! I'm on the Eiffel Tower! And there was an elevator to get there! (Dave did insist on making me take the stairs on the way down though)

Dave and I with our champagne. Ignore the spike behind us to prevent birds from landing (guess we should have picked a better back drop for our photo op, I blame the champagne haha)

The Eiffel Tower

Dave and I in front of the Eiffel Tower

Sparkly!

Dave likes the Eiffel Tower at night

Diana memorial

Messages to Diana on the wall

Memorial to Diana 

Day Two Friday, March 22nd:
We woke up early on our second day in Paris to catch the 45 minute train ride out to Versailles. There are lots of tour buses and other tours that will take you out to Versailles, but Dave and I managed to get out there on our own and it was fairly easy. We just took the local train and it took us right there and was very cheap. Dave and I bought the Paris Museum Pass before we left. If you plan on visiting a few museums and most of the main attractions I recommend this. It is expensive, but it is worth it if you are seeing enough things. Plus, at the main museums (i.e. the Louvre) you get to skip the line and go right in, which saves a TON of time. Unfortunately at Versailles, they did not have a special entrance for pass holders, but the main line moved fairly quickly and we got in without having to wait too long. Our pass included an audio guide with it which was a great way to learn about the history of Versailles and was very well done. I'm glad we saved money and visited Versailles on our own without a guided tour because it was easy enough and the audio tour was great! After visiting the main palace, we wandered in the gardens. These aren't just ordinary gardens, they are HUGE! I think we spent more times in the gardens than we did in the actual palace. The gardens have a "pond" that's the size of a lake, you can even rent paddle boats and boat along it! In amongst the gardens are these little cottages that belonged to the royal family. The gardens are so impressive and were one of my favourite parts of Versailles. We ended up spending pretty much the whole day at Versailles. We were so tired when we got home that I needed to take a nap before we did anything else.

After resting for a few hours in the apartment, we decided to head out for a walk around Paris at night. We wandered around outside the Louvre, which was neat to see at night because it is all lit up and there are practically no people around. We ended the evening at a Canadian pub that Dave's parents had told us about from their trip to Paris in the summer. Having lived in Europe for almost a year, we were missing Canada a bit. This pub was really cool for expats living in France. It has a hockey theme and lots of hockey gear on the walls. They also served some Canadian beers and they even had Caesars!!! I was in heaven. I've been missing Caesars so much! Even though it was 9 Euros for one small Caesar I couldn't resist. I had one and it was the best! I am now content until I get back to Canada! We  watched some hockey and March Madness basketball at the pub and enjoyed some pints and freshly popped popcorn. Eventually, we decided to call it a night, but not before stopping at a Gyro stand in the Latin Quarter for a late night snack. It was delicious! We walked back to the apartment, munching on our Gyros and called it a night!

Versailles (so much gold everywhere!)

The roof of the Royal Chapel

The Royal Chapel

Inside Versailles (just a little crowded)

I'm thinking of doing something similar with my bedroom decor

A model of the gardens so you can get an idea of how HUGE they are

Gardens

In front of the Grand Trianon

In the gardens

Cottages in the gardens

More cottages (p.s. a swan tried to kill Dave and I as we took this photo)

Pond in the gardens

More of the gardens (they were big!)

In front of Versailles

The Louvre at night, so peaceful

In Caesar heaven!

Popcorn at a pub is genius

Fries in a gyro is the way to go!

Day 3 Saturday, March 23rd:
Saturday we got up and headed to the famous Rue Mouffetard, which was just around the corner from our apartment. This little street is so cute and has tons of little shops and restaurants. You can buy pastries, breads, cheese, wine, and fresh produce and more! We didn't end up getting anything, since we were on our way to explore for the day, but it is definitely a cute area to get a souvenir or some nice food for lunch. After, we walked down to the Pantheon. This building is huge and it is where many of France's most famous people have been buried, including Marie Curie. The building is quite impressive and I'm glad we had a chance to see it.

By the time we were done checking out the Pantheon we were hungry, so we grabbed a sandwich and sat in the park to eat. There were tons of people out enjoying a nice Saturday and children sailing little boats in the fountains. The park was full of chairs for people to sit on and it was nice to take a break and rest our walking feet. When were done we stopped by a pastry shop that I read about called Gerard Mulot and picked up a few pastries. Then we headed over to Notre Dame Cathedral. The line was pretty long to get into the church, but it actually moved fairly quickly. Plus, we took the opportunity to enjoy our pastries while we waited, so the wait didn't seem so bad. The church is really beautiful and well worth the wait to get inside. Across the street from Notre Dame is another chuch called Sainte Chapelle. This church is famous for it's beautiful stained glass windows and they are amazing. The church doesn't look like much when you first walk in, but when you get to the top level it is full of stained glass on every wall and is beautiful. As, we were leaving Sainte Chapelle we noticed a large crowd gathering outside the Notre Dame Cathedral. We stopped by to check out what was going on and it turned out that this year is the 850 year anniversary of the church, and as part of the anniversary celebration the church is undergoing several renovations throughout the year. One of the renovations was replacing the church's bells, which apparently were very off key. Today, happened to be the day that the new bells were going to be rung and heard for the very first time. We stuck around to listen to the ceremony and hear the bells ring for the first time. There were a lot of people and it was really neat to be a part of it and to hear the bells ring. They sounded great! We even bought a little bell of our own as a souvenir.

After the ceremony we took the metro and a bus and headed up the hill to La Basilique du Sacre Coeur de Montmartre. This is a church located in the Montmartre area, which is at the top of a hill. The church is beautiful and the view is amazing. You can see the whole city and many people gather to take in the view. We got there as the sun was setting too, so it was very nice. The area around the church is neat too because there are many shops and restaurants. You have to be careful at the very bottom of the hill in front of the church as there are some aggresive people that try to sell you things. We only got approached once, but we just ignored them and kept walking and it was fine. It is still worth it to go and see that view!  Afterwards, we headed back closer to our apartment and got some delicious pizza for dinner at a restaurant called Amici Miel. The pizza was really good and we enjoyed the restaurant a lot.

Wine and Cheese shop on Rue Mouffetard

The Pantheon

Foucault's Pendulum in the Pantheon

The ceiling in the Pantheon

Crypts of Marie and Pierre Curie

Lunch at the park

So many pastries, how to choose?

Lemon meringue and milk chocolate tarts. YUM!

Notre Dame

Beautiful stained glass window in Notre Dame

Inside Notre Dame

Sainte Chapelle

Beautiful stained glass

Love this window in Sainte Chapelle

Sacre Coeur

At the top of Montmartre , Sacre Coeur

Sacre Coeur from the bottom of the hill

Pizza!

Yum, full bacon strips!

 Since we jammed packed so much into our visit, there's too much for one post. So, I'll stop here for now. Tune in next time for part two of our trip to Paris!

Until next time...
Au revoir