We arrived in Paris on Tuesday, late afternoon around 5 PM. By the time we left Limoges, of course I was sad to leave my host family, but I was excited to see and do something new. Long vacations tend to have me hit a wall towards the two week mark, so I was ready to go for Paris!
When we first arrived in Paris, I was really shocked with how everything was laid out. Because there are so many monuments and just things in general to see (think Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, etc), I had pictured the city to be pretty spread out. Um, this is not the case. Paris is crowded. Everything is tiny and squished together, it's so funny. After dropping our bags at the hotel, we headed out to la Defense, the business district towards the edge of Paris. This area was surprisingly pretty spread out... it reminded me a little of Chicago mixed with the Capital city in Hunger Games.
We had dinner on our own and did a little shopping before heading back to the center of Paris for a boat tour on the Seine. If you ever have a chance to do this, it is pretty touristy, but it's amazing for a first trip to Paris. The tour really put into perspective where everything is and how everything is actually so close together! Plus, it was a gorgeous sight at night.
Wednesday was our first full day, and definitely the busiest.
First stop: the Louvre. I was pretty excited to see the Louvre... I had imagined it really secluded from everything and I was always curious what the pyramid was in the middle of the buildings. First of all, it is not secluded at all. Like I said, everything is pretty centralized and the Louvre was no different. However, I was surprised to see how huge this museum is! This picture was taken from inside of the museum in one of the other buildings. The whole Louvre is shaped like an "H". Second, the pyramid is not that exciting, it's just how you enter the museum underground, haha!
After the Louvre we went to the Champs-Elysees for lunch and shopping. The Arc de Triomphe is on one end of the Champs Elysees, and the actual street is so different than how I'd imagined it. It's not actually that big, and the shopping is just the funniest combination of stores. In all honestly, it was like a less grand version of fifth avenue, just with more stylish people! The Laduree though... fabulous. Just fabulous.
After the Champs Elysees, we headed out to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur (or Sacred Heart) church. This was one of my favorite places to visit because despite the extremely touristy streets with souvenir shops all lined up one after another, the view from the gorgeous church pictured above is just breathtaking.
We followed this with some time to take pictures in Front of the Eiffel Tower, back in the center of the city.
For me, I had always been really confused about where the Eiffel Tower actually was. I felt like every picture I saw, there seemed to be a new surrounding! But, what I discovered is that it just appears this way because you can't see the Eiffel Tower from almost anywhere. It's so big.
Post Eiffel Tower was back to the Champs Elysees for dinner and then we returned to the hotel around 10 PM. Now that I'm writing it all out, I guess it doesn't seem like a ton, but this day felt packed with things we saw!
Stay tuned to hear about the rest of my trip!
xoxo
This looks like so much fun!
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Alex | Mrs. Mason Dixon
Love the top from the picture of you on the lawn! You should do an outfit post on that outfit!
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