Waking Up. In Paris.

What can I say? I’m in Paris for the first time in my life and have officially fallen in love. With this city!

So I decided to document my trip for any of you wanting to plan a trip to Paris.

We arrived to our hotel in the afternoon. Paris is 6 hours ahead of US east coast time so I felt like I jumped ahead in time. Without aging of course. We dropped our bags and starting walking along the River Seine towards the Notre Dame.

Tip 1. Pick a landmark to walk to.

Along the way, we stumbled upon the cutest little cafes and the Shakespeare Bookstore. Since I’m an avid reader, I was drawn to the bookstore. Right next door are two of the cutest cafes. So we went to the Notre Dame and came back to eat at one of the cafes. The food and wine were fabulous!

Tip 2. Just try a local cafe!

We are still on day one! Walking gives us a good layout of the land. The roads on the side of the River Seine are one way roads so it only made sense to walk down the other side of the river to make our way back to the hotel. It was almost 10 pm in Paris and it wasn’t even dark yet.

The next day. The tour of the Louve. We woke up around 6 am, Paris time. It was midnight at home in the US!

We met our tour guide at the Arch inside the courtyard of the Louve. Just standing there and looking around was amazing.

Tip 3. Schedule tours in advance and take moment along the way to be still and look around you.

The Louve is absolutely breathtaking. I have no more words to describe the feeling walking through it. Plan a visit and see for yourself!

You can’t go to Paris and not walk down the Champs de Elysees towards the Arc de Triomphe and maybe even stand in line to visit the Louis Vitton store! Just walking down this street, even in the rain, I couldn’t help but feel like I was in a movie.

Top off the evening with a dinner cruise down the River Seine chatting with random people and passing by the Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower.

What a fabulous time to wrap up our first full day in Paris.

Tip 4. Chat with random people. During one of our conversations, it was suggested we visit Montmarte so we added it to our list for the next day.

We slept when we were tired and we woke up when we were ready. Thankfully we didn’t book a morning tour because it was close to noon when we ventured out.

Onto the cutest quaint town of Montmarte.

There so much history with artists throughout Paris. Montmarte showed us a more casual environment where many famous people come to create and live. We did a walking tour and had another wonderful meal outside at a local cafe.

The day of sightseeing isn’t over yet. We headed back to hotel to freshen up and head over to the Eiffel Tower to arrive before dark and see the tower light up.

I’m scared of heights and constantly challenge myself. So yes, I went all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower! The views were absolutely incredible and well worth the nerves going up. It’s an experience I will never forget. Thank you Karen!

Tip 5. Have destinations and tours planned but stay flexible.

We found a cute little cafe and had a fabulous pasta dinner at midnight on our last night in Paris. The cafe was packed. You would have thought it was 8 pm!

Our last day in Paris ended with a croissant and coffee at a local cafe, a short shopping trip to the Bon Marche and a visit to a local brewery on the water.

Paris, I will return. But now, we have a train to catch to London!

#namastefocusedonmytravels