Paris, a city known for its food, art and architecture, is a wanderlust’s dream destination for myself and many. While my time in Paris was short — only 24 hours , it was definitely sweet. I had wanted to visit Paris, ever since my days of reading Madeline as a little girl. Growing up, I took french from grade school to my freshman year of college and while my french speaking ability never truly progressed above sub par, the dreams of ordering a cafe au lait from a quaint Parisian cafe never went away. With Paris being only a train ride across the Channel away, it was the perfect side trip to take while visiting Hannah in London.
Early Saturday, we morning took the Tube to St. Pancras International Train Station where we would be catching the 8:30am EuroStar train to Gard du Nord, Paris. Taking an international train is similar to taking an international flight, you want to arrive early since you’ll have to go through security and border control. If like I, you too find happiness in the little things, such as stamps in a passport you’ll be happy to know that the France border control doesn’t use the APC or Automated Passport Control like the U.S and England, so you still get that cute little passport stamp as a token of your trip!
A little over two hours later, our train arrived at Gard du Nord station, we were in France! From there, figuring out how to get a metrocard took us a minute but once we figured out how to work the ticket machine, their underground system was just like any other and we were on our way. When we surfaced at the stop for our hotel, it was the first time since we had arrived in Paris that we were finally taking in our surroundings and it left me in awe. It looked just like an illustration, the buildings were beautifully elegant and historic in ways that photos could never do it justice.
Our hotel for the night, was just around the corner from the Argentine metro stop and right down the street from the Arc de Triomphe, which would be our first monument stop after we checked in and ditched our bags.
The Arc, is located at the center of the Place Charles de Gaulle, a giant traffic circle that joins together 12 avenues. Approaching the traffic circle, we realized that we had no idea how to actually get to the Arc, since it is surrounded by oncoming traffic. Pulling a very touristy move, we waited for a break in the traffic and made a run for it. Later, we of course discovered there was a much easier [and safer] way to the Arc by an unground tunnel, but our moment of excitement did make for a pretty good laugh, for us and the locals who were laughing at us.
We walked everywhere that day; after the Arc we strolled down the Champs-Elysees before cutting over in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower was constructed in the late 1880s as the entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair, since then it has become a cultural icon of France. Standing at 324 meters tall, it’s presence can be seen peeking out from behind buildings and down the ends of sides streets. As we got closer to the monument it became clear just how giant it really was and as gorgeous as it was, we didn’t stay long in Champs de Mars, for there was more sights to see.
We meandered through little streets, past the Esplanade des Invalides, a gorgeous building in the 7th arrondissement, dedicated to the military history of france and past boulangeries, over the Seine again before settling into a cafe for some dejeuner [lunch]. Every cafe we walked by was picturesque, the street music was classic and it all added to the dreamy atmosphere that is Paris. Getting to sit outside at a tiny bistro table, in the month of November while sipping white wine was true bliss and the butternut squash soup with chestnut cream was to die for. I can definitely see why the French are well known for their food.
After lunch resumed our course for the Notre Dame. Although the Notre Dame was still under construction from the tragic fire this past spring, it was still historically charming and the area was bustling with tourists, peddlers and a good handful of street musicians. We walked back up the other side of the river towards the Louvre, which would be our last stop for the day before dinner.
For us, we didn’t do a lot of preplanning for this trip, we didn’t map out every stop and every restaurant, we just went with the flow of the day. Some more experienced Paris travelers, I’m sure would have plenty of suggestions for places to eat, but there are really so many good places to eat, most offering classic french dishes such as escargot ( which I tired for the first time! ) and creme brulee.
After dinner, we went to catch a look of the Eiffel tower all lit up. We picked a streetside bistro in the 16th arrondissement with the perfect view of the glowing tower just across the river. The rain started to fall but we stay warm and dry under the heated awning and we spent the remainder of our Paris evening sipping on rose and taking in the night.
The next morning would come too quickly and our time in Paris would be coming to a close, we checked out of our hotel with just enough time to grab some petit dejeuner at a local cafe, took one last view of the Arc and caught the metro back to Gare du Nord.
Since our time in Paris was limited, we chose not to tour most of the attractions, but instead just to admire their exterior beauty and keep going, we really only just scratched the surface of what Paris had to offer, but it was just enough to satisfy for now, but I’m definitely looking forward to another visit hopefully in the not so distant future.
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