PARIS! I would go back in a heartbeat. I love that city. The people were nothing but friendly, and the food was fantastic.

So, as you already know, day one in Paris was amazing. Sitting on top of the city at Montmartre and looking at the beautiful place that we were about to explore was incredible.

We started out on day two of Paris (which was Saturday, February 27th) at 8:30 am. Brandon, Taylor, and I were all sick, and we needed to sleep that morning because of how bad we felt. We were able to get free breakfast at the St. Christopher’s Inn Canal, which is the hostel we stayed in, both nights. We were right on the canal, which was so beautiful and peaceful, so we could just sit by the water for meals (inside, of course, because it was terribly cold outside). We met three young Indian men, and our roommate Horatio (from England) ate breakfast with us!

After breakfast, we hopped on the metro and headed towards the sightseeing attractions!

We were doing really well with the metro system in Paris and did not get lost once! We made it to the main part of the city in under an hour and started our day with Notre Dame. WOW. That building is something else. I just love seeing the architecture of these buildings, and the Notre Dame was built in such a unique and wonderful way. We spent a good chunk of time appreciating each little part of that cathedral!

After the Notre Dame stop, we made our way over to the Louvre! We walked along the river to get there and ended up watching these men jump off the bridge and swim down the river. There was a boat that was spraying them and making it difficult for them to swim. We believe that they were training for rescue swimming, but it was so fun because they were swimming at the pace of us walking, so we were able to stand on the bridges as they jumped! It was a neat experience.

We also stopped at the bridge where they moved all of the love locks to! They had to move them off the original bridge due to their weight, so we saw them all on another giant bridge, and it was very neat. I was looking for one with my name on it, but apparently nobody loves Emilys (kidding)!

We eventually reached the Louvre, and the line was not bad at all. We saw the most guards we had seen the entire time we were there. Being in Paris after the attacks was interesting. At every single tourist place we went, and even on the streets randomly, we saw men in military uniforms with GIANT machine guns and their fingers just resting on the trigger. It was intense and makes you feel safe and completely not safe at the same time. We just know we need to be careful traveling like we are, and that was a big reminder of everything.

 

 

The Louvre was so amazing. I loved every second we spent there and could have stayed there for days! We spent a good amount of hours looking at everything, and I loved being there. WE SAW THE MONA LISA! We also took a selfie with Mona. I am so happy thinking about the fact that we were in the front row, and we just walked straight up to her. NO LINE! What a day!

After the Louvre, we went to Chipotle… yes, Chipotle! Paris has the only ones in Europe, and I miss Chipotle (if you know me well, you would know how often I go). SO to sum this blog up now, this was one of my best days here in Europe 😉  wow am I happy just thinking about Paris and everything we did there. My Chipotle burrito bowl was so large that the lady ringing me up whistled at it… I felt like a fat American, but I was so happy!

So of course, after our stomachs were full, we took on the big Eiffel Tower! We had seen it earlier in the day, but seeing it during the sunset and at night was something else. It literally sparkles at night! AH, so magnificent! We waited in line in the freezing cold, windy night for over an hour just to get up the tower. WELL, it was most definitely worth it, that is for sure! The views were incredible, and I am so happy we went up it!

ALSO SIDE NOTE: We got into every single thing that we toured, we got into for free since we are European students now! The only thing we paid to do was go up the Eiffel Tour and it was only 14,50 Euros!!! We are so lucky!

After the Eiffel tour, we went home and had some wine, and I ate gluten-free cookies, and we all went to sleep after talking for a little bit. I slept through the entire night!

The next morning, we decided to go shopping at Champs-Élysées! Basically, it was window shopping, but we saw the Louis Vuitton building, and it was unreal! Holy cow! I bought a fur headband too, and I am literally so happy that I found one because I love it so much!

After that, we headed to the Arc de Triomphe, and it was really neat! We then took the metro to the Sainte-Chapelle, and holy cow was it stunning! I have never seen stained glass windows like that in my life!

After we walked around the church, we went to go and eat food in this little area that was all hidden and so cute! We also ended up buying cheese from a fromagerie off the street, and the man kept giving us samples of cheese, and I could not stop eating them!

We ended up spending about 80 Euros on cheese all combined… but oh my gosh was it delicious!

That night we went back to the Montmartre and watched the city at night! We wanted to finish the trip exactly where we had started it! We ate crepes on the steps and could see the entire city glowing at night! We had such an amazing trip, and I loved Paris. There is something about the way the city looks so put together, and how everyone was so nice to us!

We left Paris, France, at 7 am on Monday morning, and I was back in class (which, yes, I do attend school) by 2:30 pm!

I LOVED PARIS!