The amount of expectations leading up to Paris were monumental. High school trips, family and friends talking about how it’s the most amazing place, and the beautiful museums. I had heard about how amazing Paris was my entire life, so it was a guaranteed 1000% an awesome place to visit. But the truth is, once we arrived, I felt like it was… overrated. You can throw rotten tomatoes at me all you want, but I did not feel like Paris lived up to the hype. SORRY! There were however, some amazing trip highlights and things we did enjoy. I want to share those things with you so that if you travel to Paris, you don’t miss out.
There’s something romantic about Paris. The layout of the city is both very close and far away depending on where you want to go and what you want to see. Filled with many great monuments such as the Eiffel Tower to the Champs De Leese, there are many places to have a glass of wine or steal a kiss…or both. And once you have been walking around all day you can then find yourself in a gorgeous city park watching the sunset.
Sandwiched in between our London to France to Spain trip, my husband and I arrived in Paris by train. Paris in the spring time is slightly wet and chilly, but honestly one of the best times to visit. Overall there were less travelers and more options for booking hotels and fine restaurants. Not to mention fewer lines to wait in for basically everything. However, this did not mean we could rush to or through anything- the French people simply would not have it.
While we are on that topic, let’s discuss French culture. I’m talking about the hospitality and great pride of Parisians as well as the often rude French locals. I can absolutely say that we experienced both when visiting and that we chalked it up to cultural norms. We were visiting a place that was not our home and we spoke not-so-great French. Between that and our gluttony of food and wine I’m sure we offended some. But I digress..
Our typical day would start with breakfast knowing we had a tight itinerary with a late lunch or lunch on the go. Every morning we had fresh croissants with butter & jam. We indulged in the croissants with chocolate and several cafe au laits. We also enjoyed delicious omelets with fresh french herbs and chives. Our first morning we jetted off to see the Eiffel Tower.
If you are comfortable with it, I recommend taking the subway system in Paris. It’s cheap and quick, and if I’m being really honest a little dirty too. The week we visited Paris there were several riots happening over the La Pen and Macron election. One stop we got off on was literally mid riot, so we detoured rather quickly. On the whole it really helps if you want to make good time. For us, this made sense as we only had 3 days. If you have more time and are able bodied, you can see much more walking.
Arriving at the Eiffel Tower was much like arriving in Vegas. There’s a lot of glitz and glam surrounding the monument and many tourist lines. We purchased our tickets to go up to the mezzanine and walk around overlooking Paris. You can actually walk or ride the elevator all the way up to the top but that portion of the tower was closed during our visit. The elevator was HUGE and was paced to accommodate accordingly.
Standing at almost 81 stories high, the Iron Lady as it’s commonly referred to did absolutely impress.. The building itself is a solid iron structure with many beautiful archways and balconies. The view from the top was AMAZING. We got an incredible view of Paris and took in the fresh air and some scenic photos. There’s certainly something special about experiencing the Eiffel Tower with someone you love, something I highly recommend.
Upon our descent to the ground we noticed several food stalls and a street fair. There were several vendors selling food and chiotchkies. How could you not love that touristy crap? Besides, it’s really just supporting small business owners. Since it was almost lunch, we decided to have a delicious snack of churros with hot, melted chocolate. The owner of the stall did not appear french nor did we care as the smell of cinnamon & sugar wafted into our faces. The churros supported us on our walk back to our hotel just in time to take a nap and be ready for dinner.
