PARIS!! One of my top bucket list locations! My favorite movie is Moulin Rouge and ever since seeing that, Anastasia (Paris holds the key to your heart obvs), and being DEDICATED to the Madeline movie, tv show and book, OH and dressing up as Madeline for Halloween as a kid... I have been dreaming of visiting the city of lights! I've split up this adventure into two different blog posts because I took a million photos. So here is our first day in Paris!
DAY ONE: Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Avenue des Champs-Elysées, Musee D'Orsay, Jardin des Tuileries, Berthillon, Sainte-Chapelle
The very first thing we did in Paris was visit the Notre Dame Cathedral. I was CONVINCED that it was going to be flooded with tourists so I made Tyler wake up at the crack of dawn to beat the crowds. As we were walking from our airbnb to Notre Dame we were really freaked out. NO ONE was out. It was literally just us, walking around Paris. This is the day we learned that everyone stays out all night and no one wakes up before 8:00am ha ha ha. When we got to Notre Dame we walked right in and to our shock we were the only ones in the entire cathedral except for those sitting attending a morning mass (which was hardly anyone). It was the most BEAUTIFUL and SURREAL experience. We walked down the corridors hand in hand and admired the incredible stained glass. The most beautiful singing/chanting from mass echoed through the towers as we walked in awe. We had planned to also climb to the very top and explore the bell towers but they didn't open until later in the day so we decided to come back. But just for reference, the pictures we took were after we had gone inside so a few people had shown up. But as we went in WE WERE LEGIT THE ONLY ONES! I will never ever forget that memory.
Later in the day we went back to Notre Dame to climb the bell towers. Tyler's favorite disney movie is The Hunchback of Notre Dame, so he GEEKED out about this. We climbed what felt like a million steps spiraling to the very top. The views were absolutely incredible of the city! And we were able to crawl through some trap/door, hole in the wall entrances to the actual bell towers! We saw the bells in all their glory and Tyler was even able to fake yell "SANCTUARY!!" at the top ha ha!
Musee D'Orsay. What an incredible museum! Most people recognize this museum because of the giant clock at the top of the building. A kind gentlemen offered to take our photo and he pretty much turned it into a photo shoot, telling us how to pose and snapped a million pics! I LOVED that guy! Thank you so much random guy for capturing these once in a lifetime pics for us! But this museum was full of treasured artists including Van Gogh, Manet, Degas, Cezanne and Monet! We even met up with our good friends Allie+Brady to explore the museum and then we went to dinner as well later that night! How often are you in Paris at the same exact time as your friends?! I will always remember that!! SO FREAKING COOL! They just moved to Florida and we miss them a lot! I'm so happy we could share some memories in Paris with them!
After the Musee D'Orsay we began our long journey to the Arc de Triomphe by strolling through the stunning Jardin des Tuileries. I fell in love with the long paths lined with green, square shaped trees, fountains and crepe stands. We shared a crepe and walked past a ferris wheel and a man blowing gigantic bubbles for some kids. It was so romantic walking through the gardens with Tyler, enjoying the beauty of Paris.
The Arc de Triomphe was so freaking cool!! We decided to walk pretty much everywhere while we were in Paris so we walked from the Notre Dame, through Jardin des Tuileries, down Avenue de Champs-Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe which is at the end of Champs-Elysées (a long street full of high-end shopping and gorgeous stores). We climbed the spiral staircase to the very top and both Tyler and I's legs started SHAKING uncontrollably when we reached the top. We had to sit down because we were laughing so hard about it and it felt like our legs were going to give out (little did we know we would be hiking up a million more stairs at the Notre Dame later that day ha ha). The Arc de Triomphe has the most BREATHTAKING views of Paris and the Eiffel Tower! The view is definitely worth the climb! And the roundabout surrounding the Arc is INSANE! There is like no order in which cars enter and go around the arc. It's the central monument where all the main streets meet (kind of like a sundial!)
Down the street from the Notre Dame is Berthillon. I had done TONS of research beforehand for the best places and things to eat in Paris and every blog I read said you HAVE to eat ice-cream from Berthillon and that apparently it's the best ice-cream in the world. And after eating it I can officially tell you... IT TRULY IS THE BEST ICE-CREAM IN THE WORLD. I can't even explain it. I got chocolate and salted caramel and it was indescribably creamy and good. Tyler got melon and mango and I kid you not, it tasted like we were biting into the freshest, juiciest fruit on the planet. We both loved his flavors the most which is crazy because I am a chocolate girl through and through.
I, of course, had to take a photo next to Laduree! Where you can purchase the famous Laduree macaroons! It's located on Champs-Elysées but since I'm deathly allergic to peanuts/all nuts, we could't get any because macaroons are made with almond flour! SAD RIGHT?! I begged Tyler to try some since I couldn't but he didn't want to because he didn't want me to feel bad ha ha ha!
Sainte-Chapelle. This picture DOES NOT do this cathedral justice whatsoever. There are two levels to this cathedral. The first level is pretty but when you climb to the top level you enter the main room and your breath is stolen away because of the sheer beauty of the stained glass. The walls are COMPLETELY made of stained glass of every color. The sun was pouring through the glass, illuminating the entire hall in color and vibrant light. It was so gorgeous. Tyler and I kept shaking our heads in disbelief at what we were witnessing. This was our final stop of the day before dinner with our friends and then back to the airbnb for some much needed sleep. We went CRAZY our first day in Paris and walked what felt like a million miles. We were exhausted by the end of day one but felt like we had had the most incredible day of our lives.
