Kasey and I head to Paris on the Eurostar Train that goes from London to Paris through the Chunnel. My friend, Debbie, did a great post about taking Eurostar, check it out! My brief overview, London station nicer than Paris, security was quick (we went and returned on off days though) both trains on time, trains were clean, and I would definitely do it again!
We arrived in Paris late on Tuesday evening so decided to forgo any touristy stuff and headed down the street to find pizza and wine :) We were staying close to Bastille which is known for it's great neighborhood restaurants. We quickly found our spot and enjoyed our first European pizza (my fave) and bottle of French wine. Yummo!!
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Wednesday morning we got up early for a run to Luxembourg Gardens which was about 5 miles round trip. I love running through new cities especially when it's with my favorite workout/running buddy! You never get bored with all of the new things to see. It was an absolutley beautiful morning in Paris!
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| Notre Dame in the distance |
After fueling up on French pastries we headed out for the day to cover day 1 of our fast and furious tour through Paris. I think we covered a lot!!
Notre Dame
Monmartre/Sacre Coeur: Loved this area, would like to spend more time here next trip!
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| Sacre Coeur |
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| Our first macarons of the trip! |
Eiffel Tower: As amazing as I imagined and then some.
Cafes': This was just one of many we popped in throughout our trip but probably my favorite. I wish I could remember the name. In the area of the Eiffel Tower.
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| Best caprese ever! |
Hanging out on the Eiffel Tower Lawn: It's cliche, yes, but it's probably one of the coolest things I've ever done! One of those things you only see in movies for so long and then to see it in real life and it's everything you imagined!
Fat Tire Bike Tour: yep, we did another Fat Tire Bike Tour! It was great and included a river cruise and wine. What can beat that!?! Paris is known as being the City of Lights and what a great way to it!
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| Stop for the famous Berthillon ice cream! |
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| The Louvre at Night |
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| Every hour she turns on her dazzle lights for 10 minutes |
Sainte Chapelle: other than the Eiffel Tower, hands down my favorite thing we saw in Paris. It's a small chapel with 13 sets of stain glass panels each telling the story of the books in the bible. It is truly amazing. They were unfortunately doing some cleaning of the windows to one side so I couldn't get a panoramic.
Pont Neuf: The oldest bridge in Paris. Each face has a difference expression.
The Louvre at daytime. We payed the 12 euros to go inside. We basically just wanted to see the Mona Lisa which is not worth 12 euros to see but we can say we did it. The Louvre is worth a stop in without paying. It's a pretty magnificent building and if art is your thing you could probably spend days in there!
Laduree Paris' famous macaron shop. Worth. every. penny.
Arc de triomphe: In 1806, just after the Battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon I declared to his soldiers, "you will march home through arches of victory". The monument was to dominate Paris and indulge the Emperor's liking for Ancient Rome. (info from brochure I picked up at arc)
Kasey and I decided to climb to the top to get a panoramic view of Paris. There are 284 steps to get to the top!
And that pretty much wraps up Paris and our London-Paris adventure. So thankful for friends that will come thousands of miles to come see me with the added bonus of seeing the world! We had a blast and we were already planning our next trip, we're thinking Spain in March!
