Playful Rooted

Paris.

Will you think I’m crazy if I say I didn’t LOVE Paris?

You probably will. But I’ll take the chance.

I liked Paris. I really did like it, and I definitely want to go back. But I just came from living in Chicago for five years, and Paris reminded me of Chicago in so many ways.  It’s chaotic and crowded. Public transit smells like pee. People exhaust each other. When you’re in a really big city, you could be in any really big city.

But Paris is beautiful and huge and historic. We did a ton of stuff there, but since I’m ready to wrap up this vacation recap, I’m just going to hit the highlights of our five days in Paris:

Notre Dame

Notre Dame was truly breathtaking. Definitely worth the trip.

There was a mass going on while we were there, which was pretty cool to witness.

We stood in line forever to climb up into the towers. It was actually fun because we met some new friends – two older couples from New Jersey. They were boisterous and loud and hilarious. I have a serious affinity for ridiculous people. And the view was worth the wait.

Just hanging out in the tower. 🙂

Eiffel Tower

Since it was our first time in Paris, we had to see the Eiffel Tower. It was gigantic!

It’s a thing at the Arc de Triomphe…

…to stand in the middle of the road and get your picture taken. Like, you’re probably lined up just right so it looks like you’re standing in the middle of the arch.

But… why?

Louvre

The Louvre was one hundred percent massive. I can’t even describe it with words, and I couldn’t capture it in pictures.

Another view.

To be frank, we did not stay long. In Mandy’s words, it was “like a shopping mall at Christmastime.” It was so crowded, and so hot, and so big. We did, however, stay long enough to see the Mona Lisa. Annnd, she’s tiny!

I realize there’s no scale in this picture, but trust me. It’s probably the smallest painting in the Louvre! Kind of cool to see in person, though.

We also saw the Venus de Milo.

And after that, we were pretty much done. It’s just so big. If I were to go back, I would definitely have a game plan and a marked up map of what I wanted to see. I’d also go either very early in the day… or in January. The tourist crowd is no sweet thing.

Champs-Elysées

I was super excited, having grown up singing the song “Au Champs-Elysées” in my head (okay, and out loud) all the time. And it was… bizarrely disappointing.

Part of me hates to say this, but: If you’ve been to the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, you’ve basically been to the Champs-Elysées. Yes, it has some stores you wouldn’t see elsewhere, but it also has an Adidas store, two Zaras, a Banana Republic, a Tommy Hilfiger store, and the list goes on. Everyone speaks English, and there are fast food restaurants as well as crappy chain restaurants.

It just wasn’t what I had pictured.

Restaurant tips

One our second day in Paris, we had dinner in this very touristy restaurant, where people were speaking English all over the place and getting conned by the server into leaving a tip. Here’s a real tip: Service in France is always included. You never have to tip your server. It’s polite to round up on the bill by one or two euros, but you don’t even have to do that. And none of this 20% tip stuff. So don’t ever be conned! Luckily, the server didn’t try anything with us (maybe because we were speaking French with each other). Mandy was totally ready for him, though, and I would have loved to see that interaction!

Another thing about restaurants in France: they serve dinner from about 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm. Anytime after that, you’ll really struggle to find something that’s open. On our fourth night, we were out sightseeing until about 10:00 pm. Once we returned, we found absolutely nothing that was still serving food near our hotel. We decided we could either go hungry or purchase some goods from the convenience store nearby.

It was the worst dinner yet, obviously.

Rue Mouffetard

To end things on a positive note, we stayed in an excellent location. We were in the Latin Quarter near the Rue Mouffetard neighborhood. I would absolutely stay here again. It was far enough away from the city that it was quiet and comfortable, but there were also tons of cafes, shops, markets, and restaurants. Plus our hotel was so, so cute. We had a canopy bed and everything was rose-colored and floral. It felt like living in a little Parisian girl’s bedroom.

The street we walked down to get to the Métro every day:

We were also really close to the Jardin du Luxembourg, which is gorgeous. We had a really fun picnic here the day before we left.

We had a great time, but I was a little relieved to get out of Paris. We obviously hit a lot of the major tourist sites, so I think that contributed significantly to my impression. On my next trip, I’d really like to stick to the less traveled paths. Explore some smaller neighborhoods and spend more focused time somewhere. But, of course it was necessary to see all the big stuff, so I’m glad we did it like we did. And I think I’ll like Paris more the next time I visit, which will be soon.

xo!