08 October 2012

< Paris//Day One >

Well, we are back from Paris! Turns out the internet at the hotel was wonky and froze my computer every time it was on, so I gave up the hope of trying to blog each night. But now I think that is better that I did not.

It was bittersweet leaving Paris, sad because I truly loved it, but also happy because I was tired of sore feet from walking around HOURS each day, sick of being sweaty and I am just happy to be in our own home in our own town. You know the feeling. I absolutely loved Paris. I was nervous before going just because I get nervous for new things, but I had nothing to be worried about. Everything went so smoothly and we had a great four days there. Four days felt like just enough.

When planning the trip I had exactly five places/things I for sure had to see. 1. Notre Dame 2. Eiffel Tower 3. Hotel des Invalides 4. Arc de Triomphe/Champs Elysees 5. the Louvre and it was seriously seriously marvelous not planning a jam packed trip. We felt sooo relaxed and never felt like we had to rush rush rush everywhere. It felt so calm there and that city is seriously beautiful. I highly recommend not planning too much each day, it felt great to take our time to get to the place we were going each day and explore on the way there and back.

Thursday, day one, after a long journey from our doorstep, which we left at 5am, to our hotel we finally made it to Notre Dame. Actually, before even taking the metro to Notre Dame we scouted out the nearest grocery store to make sure we knew where that was. Good thing because that became our favorite shopping spot. It's called Monoprix and it had everything from nice food to really nice clothes in it. Anyway, so we got to Notre Dame...so so beautiful. And holy cow was it a nice day. Almost too nice. The sun was shinning all day. Inside Notre Dame was beautiful as well, it was free and a short line to get in. There wasn't a ton of lighting so I didn't take much video or pictures inside. The cathedral seemed a little smaller than I thought it would be, but still big of course.

{{There were tonsss of English speakers/Americans and it was so so great to hear all that English. {which we continued to hear a lot of the other days} OH MY heavens there was amazing fashion going on in Paris. So so so many great dressers. Also, can Parisians look any cooler?? Like literally their faces. I can't get over how great a really cool man looks in Paris. And I have never seen so many Ray Ban eyeglasses worn. Basically, I felt a little grubby in my leggings, baggy t-shirt and ugly running shoes. Oh well.}}

We then walked around the whole cathedral and sat in the park behind the cathedral for a while and took in the views. The river runs right next to it and what a beautiful area that was. After Notre Dame we travelled the streets in that area. Found a street with tons of little restaurants, we vowed to go back another evening and have dinner there. {and we did}. The restaurant store fronts were so diverse and fun. We then hoped back on the metro to Les Halles area to check out the shopping there...however, our tired feet made it a short visit and our hungry bellies led us to Mcdonalds. Exciting, I know...but man that orange Fanta and fries totally hit the spot. Walked around some more then headed back to the grocery store near our hotel and picked up ice cream and breakfast for the next morning. We found on tv this hilarious 1970's French comedy movie called Les Fous du Stade of the comedy group Les Charlots. I highly recommend following that link and watching it, still funny without knowing French.

That pretty much sums up day one in Paris.
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>>>M

4 comments:

Jenn said...

ADORE this video you made. Fab. Felt like I was there :) keep them coming :)

stephanie said...

Hooray! I'm excited to hear more.

Anonymous said...

Alyssa and think it is awesome. We also love the music - more French bands please.

Natalie said...

Loved the post. Glad you got to hear some English speaking. More videos please! Did you take any video of french people speaking? or just the sounds of the streets? if so, put those on. Glad you had a safe & fun trip. Skype me soon.