Almost every time I visit a new city in Europe I fall in love. Afterwards I say, “I definitely want to move here one day.” I can’t say this happened on our trip from London to Paris this time around, but Paris is still an amazing place filled with beautiful architecture, a fascinating history, a great food culture and some of the most classically stylish women I’ve ever seen.
I couldn’t help but realize that for a lot of the people visiting Paris, it has been their lifelong dream to travel there. That in itself makes the place magical.
Friday
We took our flight from London to Paris at 6AM, touching down at 8 in the morning.
Just a short walk from our flat in République.
We walked from our Airbnb in République to the Centre Georges Pompidou.
And then to Notre Dame. Note the couple hugging – I have a lot of photos of couples. I thought it was cute!
The love locks that recently broke the Pont des Arts. The city is now running a campaign to discourage people from placing them – to no avail. I mentioned on my Facebook page that I don’t think these are as romantic anymore. #NoLoveLocks
Next was the Louvre, of course. We didn’t actually go in.
There was also a man feeding the pigeons, but I thought it was more gross than anything else.
We walked along the Champs Elysée to the Arc de Triomphe.
Sunset as we approach the Eiffel Tower.
This actually happened to be one of the places where the most embarrassing parts of this story happened.
We got up close and personal with the Eiffel Tower and walked around the Champ de Mars. By this point we had been walking for 8 hours straight. My feet were killing me.
Saturday
This was the start of our lovely gourmet food tour with Wonderful Time that I won thanks to Mrs O Around the World.
You can find these little green spaces all around Paris – you just have to know where to look.
As part of the tour we walked along Rue Mouffetard in the Quartier Latin. Lots of great food here – and an Androuet Cheese Shop like I visited in London!
At the end of the tour we drank a Sauternes – a sweet wine to go along with foie gras, cheese, and fresh figs.
We explored a bit more of the Latin Quarter and went home to nap before Nuit Blanche – the all night contemporary art festival. We had dinner with friends and set off. The streets were packed!
One of the advantages of visiting Paris duuring Nuit Blanche is that a lot of museums are free but they are also rammed with people. Then again, it’s Paris – when isn’t it rammed with people?!
Outside the Panthéon was this Mark Jenkins piece – he makes statues out of sticky tape. There was also an Anthony Gormley installation nearby.
This piece was inside the Bibliotheque Sainte Genevieve. We crumpled up pieces of paper that had been painted and threw them – from far away it looks like a pile of flesh but close up they were flower motifs. Naturally, I took one of these flower motifs home…
This was pretty cool – a series of flashing lights by Spanish artist Pablo Valbuena. The lights flashed at different speeds with an accompanying sound. Seeing as it was in a train station, it was a commentary on movement and transport. One of my favourites of the night.
Another Mark Jenkins piece. It was about 4AM at this point and I had pretty much given up on life. A lot of things were closed and we didn’t see nearly as much as we would have liked. We learned for next year!
Sunday
Sunday… I don’t even think I got my camera out. We slept until noon, had lunch in an Alsacien restaurant that was so nice I was embarrassed to take photos in and then went to the airport. It’s Tuesday and I’m not sure I’ve recovered – my legs are aching and I probably had too many croissants, but it was a fun trip to add to the memory bank.
Vive la Paris!
These pictures are excellent and tempting. you have captured some attractions from Paris. I like the shots. Good work.
Thank you!
I can’t wait to visit Paris.
Make it happen!
Can’t wait to head that way in a few weeks! It will be my first trip and I’m super excited but I know Paris is a city that needs to be visited multiple times. So I am just going to try and relax and soak it all in.
That’s a great idea. I think the mistake a lot of people make is trying to see everything really quickly – it’s the complete opposite of the French attitude. Savour your time there!