Weekend in Paris

Bonjour fam :)),

Our weekend in Paris was absolutely incredible. The city is so large that it was impossible to see all of it in one trip, but Jamie and I made sure to make it to as many hot spots as possible. We stayed in a little studio apartment through Airbnb, perfect for what we needed. It was so clean and well put together, and the host woman Paulina was very good about responding to our texts if we had any questions. A really great Airbnb experience for two girls who had never used the service before! 

Thursday:

Our trip got off to an interesting start with an angry Florentine cab driver who spoke no English, google translate couldn’t even help the situation. I called the cab from an app and paid for it through the app (essentially an Uber), and he couldn’t understand that I’d paid for the ride, despite me showing him my receipt confirmation. This man literally pulled over on the side of the road and flagged down another cab driver before finally figuring out what was going on. We made it to Paris with no issues otherwise, and had a nice glass of white Parisian wine with our sea bass & artichoke dinner. Happy freaking Valentine’s day to us.

Friday:

On Friday morning, we made our way to a cute little restaurant before starting our day. We walked all across Paris (completely underestimated just how large of a city it was, thank God for comfy shoes), and headed to the Notre Dame Cathedral. Its architecture was beautiful and the inside was incredible as well. The Church began construction in 1163 (!!), and has been renovated and added on to up until the late 1800s. One of the coolest things I found was that so many people of different religions were all inside marveling at this huge Catholic church.

After we toured the cathedral, we headed to the Shakespeare and Company bookstore. During the 1920s, it was a gathering place for many then-aspiring writers like Hemingway. We then walked across the city, stopping in at little stores, bakeries, and chocolate shops along the way. Jamie and I snagged a bottle of wine and a baguette and sat in front of the Eiffel tower and enjoyed our little snack. 

Friday night we went and saw a concert at a 500 person venue with one of my friends from high school who is studying abroad in Paris right now! Jamie and I navigated the metro and made the trek to his apartment across town. The concert was so fun, I'd seen Louis the Child in concert before but at a major music festival, so seeing them front row in a small venue was an experience to say the least! And for 19 euros?? Even better. 

Stats from the day: 34,329 steps, 15.3 miles, 3048 calories burned.

Saturday:

Saturday morning Jamie and I woke up and took the metro across town and went to a well recognized and very popular Australian restaurant called HolyBelly 5... talk about a MEAL!! Some major soul food, it was delicious and well worth the wait to get in. We then walked across town again and went to see one of the canals in the city. There are little walking bridges that go up and over so we crossed a few of those. On our way to the Lourve, we stopped in a thrift store and I thrifted the most amazing suede and leather purse for 39 euros!! It's super vintage and so freaking cool, definitely a purse with a story. 

On our walk to the Lourve, Jamie and I accidentally walked right into the middle of a Yellow Vest march, interesting to say the least lol, definitely the first time since getting to Europe that I was actually a little fearful for my safety. All is well though, lived to tell the story :-) 

Everything about the Lourve was an experience, starting with me trying to get in for free. I'd read that European students get in for free with their university ID card... this security woman asked me for my FUA student ID card, passport, visa, Italian permit to stay paperwork (????), and essentially document to my name. Fully convinced that there's more security at the Lourve than on the US Border.

One thing I wish I'd known was that the Lourve is MASSIVE, you need at least 6 hours to see the whole thing. Jamie and I saw the Mona Lisa (of course), as well as some other exhibits, but we really only saw about 1/4 of the museum. 

We ended our day with a Seine River sunset cruise that went past the Eiffel tower :) A beautiful end to another beautiful day. 

Stats from the day: 26,304 steps, 11.1 miles, 2500 calories burned. 

Sunday:

On Sunday morning, Jamie and I got up early and grabbed an early breakfast so we could explore more of Paris. We ended up stopping at Laduree, a famous macaron shop (yummmm), a bakery where Jamie got pastries and a baguette, and made our way back over to sit on a bench by the Eiffel tower and just sit and enjoy the sunshine. 

This weekend was incredible to say the least, I completely underestimated how much I'd like it. I will definitely have to go back at some point in my life, as it was far too big to see in just 2 1/2 days.

We got back to Florence this evening, and I'm off to Norway on Tuesday afternoon. A very quick turn around, but I'm SO EXCITED (!!) to head up there and see everyone!! 

Ciao for now, 

Katie girl