My boyfriend, Jeff of 7 years and I just returned from a two week trip to Paris – my first time. I could barley sleep the night before because of my excitement. Our travel day was slightly extended due to a suspicious bag left in the airport. After about 2 hours we were finally allowed to leave customs to grab our bags. I have to admit I have fallen in love again. The architecture and little cobblestone streets of Paris have stolen my heart. The best part, our apartment was located in central Paris above several cafes and markets and was about a 5 minute walk from the train station.
I was definitely in need of some coffee love the next morning after our 15 hour travel day along with jet lag and boy did I find it. We walked to a little cafe up the street called Le Compas D’Or – definitely recommend if you ever visit. Cute little place where of course they give you a fresh flaky croissant as a necessity. After drinking the nectar of the Paris gods I have completely converted to cappuccinos and espressos.
After breakfast our plan was to walk to the Arc De Triomphe about 30 minutes away, but we wound up way off course after seeing the Sacré-Coeur off in the distance. Little did I know there would be a surprise waiting for me once we reached the top of the Sacré-Coeur hillside. The view was absolutely breathtaking. Side note, if you decide to visit this beautiful spot be ware of the tourist trappers. They will try to get your attention and show you some weird trick with a string and then ask for money. I had one guy grab my arm as I kept walking because I wasn’t falling for it and they are very persistent.
We were on our way down from the top of the hill when this happened…he proposed! Completely over the moon to spend forever with this guy.
After the excitement died down just a little we continued on our trek to the Arc De Triomphe – which was still about 30 more minutes from where we were. If you don’t have too far to go I highly recommend walking rather than taking the metro or a taxi, you get to appreciate so much more of the city. The Arc was exactly how I had pictured it – big and beautiful, but I think the most impressive sight was the traffic circle surrounding the Arc. There are no traffic signs, no traffic lights and no lines on the pavement to direct where to go, so all drivers are at eachothers mercy. Miraculously the traffic never stopped flowing.
By this point my feet were killing me. The boots that I had packed that were “comfortable” when wearing prior to our trip turned out to be not so comfortable after walking all day. Note – if you plan to walk all over Paris in the course of one day take tennis shoes! I was relieved to get to our last stop of the day until I learned we had to climb about 700 stairs if you want to get to the 1st or 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower. Of course there is an elevator, but who would take that when you can climb 700 stairs? Even though I was hobbling along and wincing in pain climbing those stairs it was worth it. There is a restaurant on the 1st floor of the tower and in celebration of Christmas there was an ice skating rink set up.
We stayed in Paris for 4 days and celebrated Christmas Eve by cooking dinner at our apartment instead of going out. Paris was amazing, but this was only the first part of our trip.
Rester, c’est exister, mais voyager, c’est vivre
-Gustave Nadaud
