Paris - Part 1
One thing about me that I’m sure is not Justin’s favorite is how much of an early riser I am! I always have been. When I was in school, I would wake up at almost 5 a.m. every day to get ready for the day. I always hated waiting on people to get ready, so any time I am on vacation, I try to wake up an hour earlier than everyone else so I can get ready on my own time and no one has to wait for me!
On our first full day in Paris, I woke up bright and early to start exploring the day. We had planned on just wandering the city since we were activating our Paris Attraction Pass the next day! We hopped in a taxi and had him take us to the closest huge landmark… Notre Dame! We hopped out of the taxi and went right across the street to a cafe for a croissant and a latte. We noticed the massive line to get into Notre Dame and we definitely did not want to wait that long. We snapped a few pictures and were on our way. We had no idea where we were going…we just started walking along the Seine. One of our favorite movies is Midnight in Paris and we thought we would channel our inner Owen Wilson and just walk wherever we wanted. We passed by the Louvre, Musee D’Orsay… Then we turned the corner and there she was… the Eiffel Tower! Even though I had seen it before, it was even more stunning than I remember. We spent the afternoon wandering around the Eiffel Tower and going into adorable shops, cafes, etc…
The next day, I woke Justin up bright and early to start our day of being complete, stereotypical, annoying tourists! We started our day back at Notre Dame where there was no line and we walked right in. It was so fascinating to read all about the history of how it was built, what took place there, etc… Next, we went to one of my mom’s favorite places in the world… Sainte Chapelle. The stain glass is so incredibly breathtaking, you truly feel like you’re in another time.
Unfortunately we did not have a good breakfast experience to start off our day. We walked in to this ADORABLE cafe that had the most aesthetically pleasing patio (and I am HUGE on aesthetically pleasing patios, just ask my husband who I always beg to sit outside at restaurants). We were immediately greeted by a woman who said “Bonjour!” We said “Bonjour!” back to her and she immediately had an irritated look on her face. She didn’t speak any further, she just pointed at our table and threw some menus down. We weren’t sure why she was instantly so irritated, but we assumed it was because we were American due to the fact that she was so sweet to everyone else in the restaurant. Justin quickly went across the street to exchange some cash, and I ordered some coffee for us. I told her we were going to order food when he returned, but she never came back to our table… ever…. After almost 30 minutes of waiting, we eventually left and got a few croissants to-go at a different bakery.
One thing I remember about Paris was that I remember The Louvre being incredibly busy and slightly underwhelming, if i’m being completely honest! It was included in our Paris Pass, so we went anyways! The week we were in Paris happened to also be Paris Fashion Week. I have never been close to a major Fashion Week before, so it was really cool to see these incredible installations where major fashion shows were going to take place. On our way to The Louvre, we walked right in the middle of the installation for the Louis Vuitton show, which was happening right in the middle of the historic building. We went right in to The Louvre, went straight to the Mona Lisa, and left! The crowds mixed with the shoving were giving me high anxiety.
For the last year, I have seen all my favorite bloggers visit the Tuileries Garden and take photos. As someone who has been practicing photography for 10+ years, this has been a place I was so excited to walk through and photograph the stunning flowers and architecture of the Louvre in the background. We wandered around the gardens as Justin patiently waited while I took photos of literally everything around me. After my hundreds of photos, we stopped for some lunch at the cutest cafe in the middle of the garden. We had the sweetest waiter and honestly, the food was incredible! It was so lovely to just sit in the garden and listen to everything going on around us.
After wandering around the gardens, we made our way over to the Musée de l'Orangerie which houses the breathtaking painting by Claude Monet, Water Lilies. I remember my first time seeing this, it took my breath away… Justin was even speechless! He absolutely loved seeing the Water Lilies and had no idea how many different parts there were to the painting!
Something very silly about me and Justin is that we are a sucker for Aquariums and Zoos… when we saw the the Paris Aquarium was on our list of attractions included in the Paris Pass, we literally ran to it from the Musée de l'Orangerie! Ok, we didn’t run, we walked very slowly and it actually took like an hour and a half because we didn’t realize how far away it was…… anyways! We were literally the only people in the aquarium and it was so cool to roam. The aquarium wasn’t that impressive, to be honest, but we still had so much fun. We can pretty much be anywhere together and make it fun because we make each other laugh so hard.
After dinner, we started camping out in front of the Eiffel Tower to watch it sparkle! It happens at sunset at the top of the hour for 5 minutes every hour. I always see those cheesy instagrams of people eating crepes in front of the Eiffel Tower… so… I got a crepe to take photos of in front of the Eiffel Tower….. Don’t judge me, ok??? I was so thankful I got it because it was so freaking cold! The crepe warmed up my hands for a good 5 minutes, but I needed it.
Each minute that got closer, I was back to that feeling of a kid in a candy store and a jumping jelly bean. I started recording at :59, waiting for the tower to start sparkling. I saw a couple of sparkles and tears were already streaming down my face. I have been waiting for this moment for so long and I couldn’t believe I was standing here with my husband. We were SO. COLD, literally the second it was over we headed back to our apartment!
