Paris took me by surprise. I always thought I’d love it when I finally got there, but I never realized just how much I would LOVE it.
Paris is the first city I have ever traveled to that I have always wanted to visit. While I love New Zealand and Central America to death, I knew very little about these countries before I visited them. I definitely never dreamed about traveling to New Zealand or Guatemala or El Salvador when I was a little girl. Hell, I didn’t even really know where they were.
But Paris…. Paris is another story. I have dreamed of going to Paris for as long as I can remember. I wrote a grossly long ten page paper – in French! – on Paris as a travel destination for my Grade 12 French class (sadly, the process of writing a paper that long in a language I hardly grasped was so traumatic, my brain’s defense mechanisms have left me with zero ability to converse in French). I dreamed of sipping coffee at a corner cafe, eating French pastries, wandering through the Louvre, and strolling under the Eiffel Tower.
The Louvre
So when I realized that we could make a little sidetrip to Paris before starting the Camino de Santiago in southern France, I knew we had to do it. Mike knew how much it meant to me, so he readily agreed to spend the extra cash (about 60 Euro/$80 CAD per person) to travel there.
My expectations were high heading into Paris and, I must say, it did not disappoint. It has been the most expensive city we’ve ever visited (blowing our budget at a whopping $107.16 per day, twice what we were spending in Barcelona), but that didn’t damper our enjoyment of it one bit. In fact, we left wanting more. Of course, we saw all the major sites… the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, the Musee d’Orsay, the Cathedral de Notre-Dame, Sacre-Couer, and Versailles, just to name a few. But our favourite moments were spent walking the streets, kissing on every bridge we crossed (thanks, Jennie, for putting this into our heads), picnicing in the parks, kissing every time we saw the Eiffel Tower, and just taking in the Paris atmosphere. Oh, and did I mention kissing on the streets of Paris? The mostly chilly, cloudy, and rainy weather couldn’t even ruin our time here…. though it certainly seemed to be trying to.
People taking pictures of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre
We didn’t spend much money on the sights (with the exception of Versailles, which cost 25 Euros each), as we didn’t feel we really needed to. The experiences we loved the most didn’t cost a cent. And we easily could have spent more time everywhere in Paris. We went to the Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay in the same day (they were both free on the first Sunday of the month, so we took advantage of that) – we sure didn’t see everything, but we got a nice taste of each. We toured the Notre-Dame Cathedral, but decided to forego the bell tower tour that would have meant at least an hour waiting in line. We spent ample time admiring the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, but didn’t feel the need to fork out the cash to climb them (and, again, wait in line).
In the Musee d'Orsay
Our hostel included a French breakfast and a Korean dinner (the owners were Korean), so we splurged on lunches of French baguettes, pastries, cheeses, chocolate, and wine. It wasn’t exactly the healthiest way to go, but it sure was delicious! Every day we tried a new item or two (or three!) from the bakery… pain au chocolat, croissants, all kinds of baguettes and breads, pomme tartelette, macarons, eclairs, flan, and pain raisin (in the draft of this post, I called it some sort of delicious bready custardy raisin thing that probably has a cool French name, but I don’t know what it is – then I looked it up and found out it was… pain raisin).
All in all, Paris has been one of my favourite cities of all time and I expect it will be hard to beat.
Gardens at Versailles
Showing some pyramid love at the Louvre
Thousands of locks locked to a Paris bridge by couples in love
Inside the Palace of Versailles
Gardens in Paris
Inside Notre Dame Cathedral
Louvre pyramid at night
Gardens at Versailles
Inside Musee d'Orsay
- Sacre Couer
Metro station
I love this post. About a year and a half ago, my boyfriend (of only three weeks by then) and I went to Paris and it’s easily one of the most wonderful cities in all of Europe (especially for the newly enamoured couple, or really just about any couple).
It’s so great you made it!
There’s just something in the air there, isn’t there? Perfect for romance, whether you’re a new couple or been married for 5 years like us, or like you said, any couple.
Reading about your experience in Paris really brought me back to my own time in the city… full of such happy memories. It is indeed very expensive, but having “left wanting more” you seem to have really enjoyed every moment. I hope you get to enjoy the City of Lights again soon 🙂
I would definitely return to Paris one day. I see that you were lucky enough to live there for a short while… think you’ll go back?
Absolutely! I was never a Francophile growing up, but it really is easy to fall in love with Paris.
Shaun and I loved Paris. We only spent 3 days but it was the most magical romantic 3 days. Reading about your time there transports me from my desk right back to walking the beautiful streets.
We’re actually just sorting through all the Paris photos we took (something like 1200 in a week!) right now. I know I will go back to them again and again – you’re absolutely right… Paris is magical through and through.
Yes, Paris is a beautiful city with so much to offer. I grew up there and lived there almost 25 years before moving to USA. I miss sometimes the food, the culture and the vibe of the city. great post Ashley and I will be visiting Paris in 2 months.