Tuesday, January 7, 2014

A Nerdy Girlie Christmas Vacation: Day 7 & 8 Paris

After an Who-tastic day in Cardiff and SIX amazing days in the UK, it was time to say CHEERS and head to Paris!  We awoke at the un-Godly hour of 4 a.m. and made our way to our 6 a.m. train.  I had the deepest sleeping nap the entire train ride to Paris and awoke in the "City of Love!"
We took a VERY crowded Metro to our hotel, which was quite an upgrade from our London flat.  For one there is a TON more square footage, a comfy bed and a bathtub!  I loved our London room, but it was nice to finally spread out a bit.  We dropped our stuff in the companions room and headed straight out to site see.  I would have loved to take a quick break and freshened up, but our room wasn't ready, so sightseeing it was.
We walked to eat some breakfast and I had my very first Parisian crepe: ham, cheese and egg.  The cheese was perfection, as was the ham.  It was so delicious and filling.  The server at the restaurant was also so great at getting us refills on our water, unlike in the UK.  I also noticed that the city drivers are less honk-y and speedy, but Paris in the winter is quite muddy.
We walked down to the Seine River and through an open air market, selling so many wonderful smelling foods.  We all shared desserts and walked down the Champ de Eleysee to the Arch de Triumph.  Then it was time to make the LOOOOOOONG trek back to the hotel.  I thought we would never get there.  But finally we did, not before stopping and getting some well deserved Pepsi and Kit Kats!  I was able to take a nice LONG and HOT bath, rest my feet and relax.  I was so happy to have some down time after six long days on the go.
Day two had us again walking the entire of Paris!  I was more refreshed this day, but by the end, I was exhausted again!  When I awoke at 9 a.m and looked out the window, the sun was barely coming up.  Isn't that a glorious site?!  We had breakfast at a small cafe, where I had a tartine for breakfast and fell in love!  It was fresh French bread with lots of butter and raspberry jam.  Perfection.  Add in a coffee and I was a happy camper, until the bill came and my coffee was $6!  Oops!
We walked to Notre Dame, back to the market on Champ Elysees and over to the Eiffel Tower just in time for sunset.  As we were starting to head back to the hotel for the night, I turned around just as they lit up the Tower for the night.  I was so happy to see it during the day and lit up so pretty at night.
Our final day in Paris had us waiting in a 2 1/2 hour line to get into the Louvre.  It was also the coldest day of our trip.  Once we got in, we headed right over to the Mona Lisa, which it seemed everyone else did as well.  It was PACKED.  Pushing and shoving to get to the front.  There were signs all over the museum saying no pictures, but no one followed that and the security didn't seem to care either.
The museum was complete sensory overload.  There was SO much to see and since it was our 9th straight day of sightseeing, I was completely wiped out!  

After a very LONG trip back to the States, which was a bit of an ordeal, I look back on our trip and think about how blessed I am.  This trip was completely last minute and though it was a bit pricey, it was worth every penny!  I have so many wonderful memories and I can check so many things off my bucket list.  I truly had the time of my life!

You can read ALL of my Christmas adventures HERE!

4 comments:

Mariko said...

Sounds magical! I will make it to Paris one day.

Joie Fatale said...

Awww! This so cool! Glad you had a great time, and lots of memories to cherish!
I hope to one day travel! Thank you for sharing your trip!
(My name is the french version of Joy--though I pronounce the "Oi!" in it, and not the french way.)

being erica said...

oh my, i j'adore paris! my favourite city in europe x

MEGAN ELVRUM said...

Thank you so much Erica! xo

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