Mnastiii-blog - Less Teory More Practice (just What I Like)

Mood: sitting in your flat in Edinburgh, it’s dusk and raining. Your window is open and you can smell the atmosphere. You can hear people chit chatting in the street. There is a lamp on, and the room is illuminated with soft, warm light. You have a warm cup of coffee and your laptop. The cat is sleeping beside you. You crack open a textbook and start taking notes. You are listening to your favourite playlist in the background. All is right where it should be, and you’re content. Life is good.

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Paris: Part 1

Paris…I don’t even know where to begin.

Let me start off by saying that the flight there from Italy over the Alpes is so freaking beautiful I could have cried. If you’re ever flying between France and Italy, please get a window seat. It’s incredible…I probably took a million photos of the amazing view.

I had no idea I was going to love Paris as much as I do now. I mean I was excited to go, but it wasn’t like this huge bucket list thing for me to do (besides see Versailles). But holy moly…Paris is beautiful. And there is SO much to do and see. Even though it rained pretty much the whole time I was there and my feet hurt like they never have in my entire life (on the verge of tears at one point), I fell in love.

We fit basically everything you can do that’s touristy in Paris in two days…besides see the catacombs. We saw the Arc de Triomphe and climbed to the top, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower (even in the rain haha), spent an afternoon in the Louvre, went to Laduree (HEAVEN), went to Versailles, walked on the Love Lock Bridge, saw the Van Gogh and Monet paintings in Musee d'Orsay, went to Notre Dame, and saw The Thinker. If we had more time there we could have done more, but honestly? That’s really impressive for two days. PLUS I pretty much mastered the metro and I’m seriously proud of myself for that haha.

Since Paris was so amazing, I’m going to break it down into two more posts specifically about my two favorite places: the Louvre and Versailles.

BUT before then, let me talk about my overall experience a little more.

We stayed in an adorable Air BnB apartment, which I seriously recommend. Having an apartment for the 3.5 days we spent there was perfect because it really lets you experience the city like you would if you actually lived there. We were right down the street from the Gambetta Metro station (East side of Paris) which was great because we had easy access to the rest of the city.

Right across the street from us was an awesome bakery that we stopped in almost every morning to get pastries and quiches for our ride on the metro. Above you can see my tattered (and deeply loved) metro map. Shoutout to this piece of paper for helping us explore this amazing city. You were a live saver…and being in possession of this map basically made me the human form of Google Maps for the trip haha. Pretty sure I’m gonna frame it for my apartment in the states…no joke.

MOST IMPORTANT TIPS FOR PARIS:

Get a metro pass for however long you’re staying there because it will save you so much money on taxis/buying a new pass every day

Get a museum pass because it gets you everywhere important in Paris (including Versailles) and lets you skip the line! Except at Versailles…but if you go in the morning there isn’t even a line so no worries.

BRING COMFY SHOES. Because you will spend the whole day walking (we walked around 15 miles each day) and you will regret wearing boots trying to be cute. I was in so much pain at one point I couldn’t even enjoy the fact that I was in Paris. I ended up buying Nikes…which I needed anyway but don’t be dumb like me. Lol.

Food: Macarons at Laduree, Lobster Risotto at Le Coq, and gyros/greek beer at Le Gyros.

Must see: Versailles (try to pick a weekday because weekends are super busy), the Louvre (plan to spend a whole afternoon there…it’s huge), the top of the Arc de Triomphe during the day and the top of Eiffel Tower at night.

Stay tuned for details about Versailles and the Louvre….