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Published: August 1st 2015
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Crepes are everywhere in Paris! There are crepe stands, restaurants, and kiosks. This was perfectly alright considering Brittney and I absolutely love crepes!
We arrived very early in the morning to Paris and unpacked a bit before heading out to wander around our stay. Not even one block away was the Eiffel Tower!!! We couldn't believe how close we were to the tower and probably did a quadruple take before this amazement registered as a reality. On our walk to the tower, we had to cross a bridge and all along it were couples taking wedding photos. This made the view even more stunning! There was also a strip of vendors and a man with about 8 bunny rabbits. We stopped to look at them because, well, they were adorable! All of the sudden he started piling all the bunnies on to Brittney and then me. They were so squirmy and fluffy. We couldn't help but smile and nervously laugh. The man was so kind and let us hold some of the bunnies one by one until they got to antsy and we gave them back before they hopped away. Then, we stood in awe for a good while, taking pictures
and getting the full 360 view of the tower. Unlike Dublin, Paris had clear blue and sunny skies. We decided to spend our first day relaxing, walking around the city and exploring the street markets and grocery stores. In the evening, we went and ordered an Italian sandwich and stood in line to the go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We timed our tour perfectly so that we got to the top just in time to see the view of the city in daylight, at sunset, and in the evening. It was worth the wait, the cold, and the crowd of people. It was breathtaking, riveting, just... wow. I wish there were enough words to describe how much I loved the view.
The next day we slept in a bit and headed to St. Michel square to explore the area. We joined a walking tour that took us all over the entire city center of Paris. We began at the Fontainte Saint Michel that had a devil and the saint. It was said that whenever the French would win a futbol match, college aged kids would put the losing teams' jersey on the devil. Other stops were
the Theatre dela Huchette and the Notre Dame Cathedral. Both places were so intricately detailed and crafted. We saw the oldest clock in Paris which dates back to 1317. The clock had chubby, little, golden babies that the tour guide just loved. We walked by the Lourve, Arch of Carousel, and ended at the carousel shopping center. It was raining a bit and the entire city was shut down due to the Tour de France. We ventured through the rain trying to find our way when we stopped in a Sephora and it was the biggest Sephora ever! The rain stopped and we went outside to witness greatness. Quickly, we climbed on the top of the ledge of the subway entrance just in time to watch the final lap of the race!! It was so incredible to watch the bikers zipping by and it was all by chance. The crowd was going crazy; cheering and screaming. This is something I'll never forget.
Monday morning we woke up in time to be one of the first ones in line for The Lourve. It was worth the wait, because we saw the famous Mona Lisa in a room filled with less
than ten people in the room. Everyone told me I would be disappointed when I saw it, but it was exactly what I pictured. No, it wasn't as big as I thought, but it was still really neat to see in person. Afterwards, we explored the Egyptian and ancient artifacts. They were so much bigger than I pictured in my head! Most all of the artifacts were only partially there and I definitely imagined the entire piece as if it was completely put together. We spent the rest of the time writing captions for all of the sculptures and laughing our butts off. It became a little bit of a competition between us two. Next, we waited in line to enter the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was so calm and peaceful inside. We said our prayers and lit candles in front of the giant stain glass windows. These windows reminded me of the ones my great-grandfather would make. He was so talented and would have loved to see the stain glass in the cathedrals all over Europe.
One of Brittney's favorite places was Laudree. This was he famous macaroon place of Paris. We went to all four in our
short time there; two on purpose and two on accident. The macaroons were perfectly soft and flavorful. The best one was the rose macaroon! Our last night in Paris, we ended up back at the Eiffel tower to enjoy a bottle of white wine, macaroons, and a caramel filled eclair. Each hour, from 11 pm to 2 am and we stayed for three of the sparkling Eiffel Towers! If you readers ever get the chance to see the tower sparkle, go!! We sat on the blanket, saying "cheers" with our plastic cups because that's the classiest cup we had, and talked all night. We met many French people that night. I love meeting natives int he countries I visit. Their accents are so nice, and the cultural differences are very interesting to me. There were two students; one from Russia and one from France. We all four compared the school systems and careers, and people even got a free bottle of champagne from vendors. We got little sleep that night as we stayed out late enjoying the night life, and woke up early for our flight to London.
Some of our favorite places we went to we found just
by chance. There were three specific places we adored in the Ru due Faubourg Saint-Honoré area. The first place was the Opera Gallery which showcases work from notable international painters, photographers, and street artists. There were wax figures, sculptures made out of colored pencils, holographic art, and more. All of which were incredible! The second place was tucked away in an alley that was beautifully decorated with vines filled with flowers. It led us to a small garden with one shop. The shop was Rose Desgranges. It's a perfum shop with only one scent. The love story which began in 1958, is of a man who fell madly in love with a woman named Rose. Being a chemist, the man made and gave her a perfume rather than a piece of jewelry. Today this is still the only scent produced and run by the daughter and granddaughter of Rose and her man. The presentation and story behind the light pink perfume made it that much better. Lastly, the third place was a chocolate store that k can't quite remember the name of. I know what you're thinking, "really, a chocolate store?" This was not a typical one, no! It had
the finest of chocolates with intricate designs and some were even shaped like animals. The upstairs lounge had a man posed like the thinking man all carved out of chocolate. We were both very impressed!
Paris was gorgeous from the buildings to the people to the culture. I would love to go back and experience more!
P.s. Crepe count for two people: 7... We have zero regrets!
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