When my hubby told me last year he wanted to take me to Paris (he studied in Metz for two summers as a college student so he was close) I felt little hearts flying out of my eyes like a cartoon! We had already planned a trip to visit his family in Spain so a flight to France seemed like the perfect way to enjoy some alone-time in the city of light and love.
You see it in the movies and we all saw it on Sex and the City: Paris is synonym for delicious food, chic street style, and romance. Our trip was nothing short of that (without an unexpected bump here and there). And even though my hubby had been here when he was younger I loved hearing him say that it felt like his first time here because of all the stuff we did together (oh…and that he didn’t remember seeing anything we saw! LOL)
The Louvre Museum and its 2 hour wait…No! I didn’t stand in line!
How We Got There
Alas, traveling by train is so comfy and you don’t have to be there a gazillion hours earlier but it turns out flights within Europe are very inexpensive. So we got round-trip tickets from Madrid to Paris for $100 each (more about Madrid later)! The flight lasts one hour and a half versus the longer time in takes in the train. We landed at Orly Airport which was not busy and we got transportation service quickly.
My trusty GoPro always getting me the coolest angles of monuments on our trips!
The Weather & What To Pack
There was an exquisite 50-65 degree snuggle weather in September. I unfortunately packed for a more warm experience so I had to buy a coat and scarves when I got here. My uniform consisted of a mid-length white and black H&M coat, my white Converse chucks and comfy jeans or tights since you’ll be walking everywhere all day.
Also, the city is filled with tourists flaunting their cameras and big purses; take a small purse and preferably a camera that fits in it so you’re not a target for pickpockets.
Very Parisian: Tights & White Chucks
Our days in Paris started with a Big Bus tour. Paris a is a huge city and this hop-on-hop-off day tour allowed us to visit all the city’s historic monuments at our own pace, including the “bohemian” part of town named Montmartre where all the painters and souvenir shops are. The audio guide on the Big Bus was hilarious and gave us modern facts about Paris like Hitler’s #failed visit to the Eiffel Tower in World War II (rumor has it that the French cut the elevator wires so he couldn’t go to the top!) or where Princess Diana had her last meal before her tragic accident (not really a “fun fact” but something interesting to know.
Laughed so much on this memorable tour with the comedic historic facts about the monuments around Paris.
The famous Moulin Rouge (cue Lil Kim, Cristina Aguilera, Pink & Mya!) I took this picture from the Big Bus Tour. The area here is not tourist-friendly and is full of sex shops. The bus obviously does not tour here at night.
The shops in Montmartre were my favorite, filled with paintings and knick-knacks.
The Montmartre streets were full of cute coffee shops and terraces.
Sharing a crepe before heading back to the bus for our next stop!
The Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) looks like the Taj-Mahal impressive & is a must see on the hop-on-hop-off tour.
We booked an Airbnb at walking distance from the Eiffel Tower. The best surprise from our trip was arriving and completely falling in love with this cute and cozy space we were going to be staying in. Across the street from us there was an H&M and Zara for all my wardrobe emergencies (which were many since we didn’t expect the freezing 50 degree weather at night!), the closest metro station was 5 minutes away and the Eiffel Tower at 10 minutes. Score. See the listing here.
We had an espresso and croissant every morning before heading out!
Our view out the window.
When there was not time for breakfast at the apartment we always stopped for a cappuccino and patisserie.
I visited every French Pharmacy in sight. I was on a perpetual search for pharmacies that carried some of my favorite French beauty products. If you’re also on this quest, look for the ones that say PHARMA on the outside since these carry the luxurious Caudalie brand…at half the retail price that you can get at Sephora in the USA! And yes, I stocked up much to my hubby’s dismay. Check out my Europe Beauty Haul here.
The busy streets of Paris at night.
There is a romantic aspect of walking hand in hand and spontaneously stopping at a terrace to have wine or coffee. I loved this about Paris. You walk everywhere and there’s so much sight-seeing. Heck! Even seeing all those people sitting outside at the terraces was beautiful to me because it’s something I never see in Houston when I’m driving down Highway 59… Terraces are the thing. Sitting at a terrace in Paris and any place in Europe is for watching the street style walk by. Interesting fact: everybody is talking to each other and no one is on their phone when they’re enjoying drinks on the terrace.
Miguel: “Are you loving Paris?”
I wouldn’t have been able to compile all my memories of this first #EuropeTrip2015 blog post about Paris if it hadn’t been for playing Chia Casanova’s “Paris” song on repeat. Thank you for your music!
