Alice and I have been talking about this trip for a few years now. Alice studied French for several years in high school. She had heard so much about Paris and had been wanting to go for a long time. I was more of a skeptic. “The City of Lights”, “Eiffel Tower”, “Notre Dame”, “The Most Romantic City in the World”, blah blah blah, so what? I thought it was all just a big hype. We hesitated at first because as we all know, an European trip can take a big bite out of the pocket books. We weren’t sure if it was worth it. We went back and forth so many times about whether we should go or not. We keep coming back to this strong argument: “If we don’t take a vacation soon, we won’t have another chance probably until winter or even later!” It’s back-to-school season and fall wedding season is just around the corner. If Paris has been Alice’s number one destination of choice, that’s good enough of a reason for me! I thought what the heck, let’s go for it. As long as she is happy, I am happy. We book the tickets two weeks prior…very last minute!!
When we got there, it took me no time to figure out there was no hype at all. The stuff we saw was just amazing. The culture, history, art, culinary, and etc, it was everything that we had heard about and much more! Paris made a believer out of me!! We took thousands and thousands of pictures while trying to absorb 2000 years of history in only seven days. It was quite overwhelming!! I will try to narrow the pictures down as best as I can…but it will still take me three blog post to show you all the cool stuff we did and saw. Here goes nothing!
We took an RER train to Paris. Since there was so little planning done ahead of time, there was me trying to study the map of Paris.
We got to our hotel before they had the rooms ready, so we walked to a nearby garden. Later on we found out (from a Parisian) we had actually stumbled into one of the best gardens in Paris, Jardin du Luxembourg!
You don’t see people do this in the middle of the summer in Texas. The sun actually felt nice!
After being homeless for about two hours, our hotel room was finally ready. On our way up to our room we saw this sign for the hotel. The name of the hotel is Seven Hotel. That is the most amazing sign I have ever seen!! If you are going to Paris, definitely think about staying at this hotel. Good and friendly service, good location!
Cool right? We got a room called “Levitation Room”!
Super cool bath room! We had to be extra careful not to walk straight into the glass walls. HAHA!
We started our adventures after dropping our luggages off. We were jet-lagged, hungry, and tired, but there was no time to waste! Our first stop was the famous Notre Dame de Paris. So much intricacies just under one arch!
First meal, Cheese Fondue. It was alright…probably because we were at a tourist trap. We didn’t want to go too far because we were waiting for twilight to come.
This is it! Twilight! My favorite time of the day to photograph architectures because the amount of light from the sky and the buildings are so balanced.
Seine River boat tours…very popular!
City of lights!
By this time we were exhausted. A day and a half without real sleep. But every time I see something cool I forget how tired I was. This was “just another church” on our way back to the hotel. After the first night, we realized since we are much closer to the north pole the sun doesn’t set until 10pm in July and the twilight lasts over an hour! That means our days will be very very long!! It’s both good and bad because we will have more time to visit many places, but we will also be dead tired.
First thing we did the next morning, sandwiches and pastries. We also found out what a real macaron is!
After our tummies were satisfied, this is our main destination for day 2. You probably guessed it.
Just to show you how popular this place was. The movie “Da Vinci Code” probably helped!
We knew it was going to take us more than one day to see everything. Mona Lisa was the first thing that came to mind, so we headed straight towards it. On our way there we saw this: Nike of Samothrace. I didn’t know Nike means victory in Greek!
There she was! OK…so are people really looking at it or are they just trying to get a picture of it? I don’t get it. I am sure they can find a better version of it online.
Not only the pictures and the sculptures were incredible, the ceilings were also work of art!
Unbelievable!
OK…we had to come outside and breath a little, there were too many people and too hot! I don’t think the French believe in A/C
We also wanted to go back to Notre Dame because we didn’t get to look at the inside the day before.
Outside of the Louvre.
Beautiful architecture everywhere we turn.
Another church on our way to Notre Dame.
..and this was what it looked like inside! Amazing!
Another thing you must have in France is crepe, Alice found one next to Seine River and she was a happy girl!
Should’ve known better…another tourist trap! Looks gross!!
Ahh…finally inside the Notre Dame. Look at the stained glass, chandeliers, and arches, incredible!
I wonder if any weddings are held here at the Notre Dame. We would love to photograph a wedding here!
French McDonald’s. Cool self-ordering kiosk and square hamburger!
Croque McDo and Potato Wedges
After dinner, we walked back to The Louvre. I wanted to see where they found the secret in Da Vinci Code.
We also checked out the big ferris wheel next to The Louvre Museum while waiting for twilight to come
Our money shot of day 2!
Or was it this one? Couldn’t decide.
This one is cool too…dang…
Did we have a great time? You bet! I almost didn’t get up to take a shower before going to bed.
You know there is more to come. Check back soon! Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Can’t wait to see more of it!
by serendipity
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