Europe Trip Recap Part 1: Paris
This post is LONG overdue! If you follow along on social media, then you know I visited Paris & London in early November – my very first time in Europe! I decided to split the trip recap into two different posts because I have a ton of photos, plus each city was so incredible that I felt they were deserving of their own separate posts!
The trip was basically a spur-of-the-moment idea that was planned in literally one month by my friend and fellow blogger Brittany, and her friend Brit, whom I did not know at the time! {Sidenote: you can find Brittany on Instagram @thehouseofbb and you can visit her blog here }. While I did not know Brit going into the trip, we hit it off immediately and traveling with the two of them was SO much fun…I could not have asked for better travel partners. Taking this trip with Brittany was perfect because she has visited Paris a few other times (she even got married there last spring!), so she is very familiar with the neighborhoods and she even speaks a little French. Her familiarity with Paris allowed us to fully maximize our time there and see as much as possible in the somewhat limited time we had (four full days).
Day 1
Brittany & Brit live in Florida, so I met them in Miami and we flew direct to Paris together. The flight was a little over eight hours and we flew overnight. The time actually passed much quicker than I expected – I watched a movie and a few TV shows, and surprisingly was able to sleep about four hours! We landed in Paris around 9:00 am, and we immediately hit the ground running. We rented an Airbnb (this is the exact one) that was in a decent location – there were a lot of places in walking distance, but Ubers were easily accessible and we used those to visit most of the other areas that we saw throughout our stay. Our Airbnb was around the corner from The Marais neighborhood – an area with cobblestone streets, restaurants, bars, boutiques, etc (this post has some good info on the this particular area). We had lunch at Le Petit Marcel on our first day – the food and service was great. We sat outside (under heat lamps :)), ate lunch, drank wine, and people watched – one of my favorite things to do in Paris! We then ventured over to see Notre-Dame, walked around the Seine, and did a little shopping.
We ended up going to Il Sorrentino for dinner on our first night. It was a small Italian restaurant near the Eiffel Tower – you could actually see the tower from outside the restaurant which is where I am standing in the photo below!. The food here was incredible and was probably my favorite meal we had in Paris!
After dinner, we walked over to the Eiffel Tower, crossed the Seine, and went to one of the best spots for taking photographs of/with the tower – the steps of the Trocadéro. I cannot describe what it is like seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time, especially at night! Don’t miss the light show – it starts at the top of every hour and it is mesmerizing!
Day 2
On our second day, we woke up early and headed to the Montmartre area in an attempt to get there before the neighborhood was fully awake and busy with tourists (this is a great source for learning more about the area). Going early like that was ideal and the perfect way to soak in all of the charm and history without all of the hustle & bustle. We got to see the Insta-famous La Maison Rose restaurant in all of it’s pink & green glory, the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, the historic windmills, and squeezed in a little time to sit and have tea at a café…all while everyone else was still asleep!
After roaming around Montmartre, we headed back into the city where we had lunch at a local bistro, popped into a few small shops, got a quick photo opp at the Palais-Royal (you’ve probably seen those black & white stools on the ‘gram before!), then walked over to see the Louvre. My mind was somewhat blown when I saw the enormity of the Louvre in person!
On our second night, we had dinner at a Michelin star restaurant called Lapérouse. Click here to read about the history of this place – we were able to go into one of the private salons and saw the scratches on the mirrors (if you read the history in the link above, you’ll know what I’m talking about) – so neat!
Day 3
Day 3 started out with breakfast at another insta-famous spot, Café De Flore, located in the Saint-Germain neighborhood. There is a lot of great shopping in this area as well as several landmarks, so after breakfast we spent time exploring and shopping.
If you can’t tell, I was very fascinated with the doors in Paris – there were beautiful double doors everywhere, all painted different colors with the most intricate details.
I bought these patent leather burgundy shoes from a local shoe store and walked right out of the shoe store wearing them! They were perfect with the outfit I was wearing that day, and they look so Parisian!
Our last night in Paris was probably my favorite of the trip. We went to the Bar Hemingway at the Ritz for drinks and it was such a wonderful time! The bar itself is so small and intimate – you have to be there when they open to get a table. As the night goes on, you end up making friends with everyone in the space because you’re in such close quarters. But can we just talk about the COCKTAILS!? I mean, they come with fresh roses! They definitely were not cheap, but they were amazing and beautiful. This place was truly an experience and one of my favorite memories of Paris!
Day 4
This was our last full day in Paris. I really wanted to go see Sainte-Chapelle and it did NOT disappoint. Walking in and seeing the stained glass windows was truly breathtaking.
We made another trip over to the Eiffel Tower to see it during the day, then saw the sunset from the Seine before heading to catch a train to London!
I truly fell in love with Paris and I am so grateful to have had this opportunity! I’ll recap our time in London in my next post, so stay tuned for that! In the meantime, if you have any Paris-related questions, drop them in the comments below and I’ll get right back to you!
Thanks for stopping by!
