10 Things I learned in Paris
Bonjour! I’m back. It took me approximately 48 hours to bounce back from the jet-lag and such, but I am recovered, revitalized, educated, and ready to share. If you are behind in the journey that is my life, I have been in Paris and London for the last 2 weeks. My fiancé and I planned an impromptu trip to Europe over the summer as a nod to us being young, adventurous, and quite frankly, I was bored. We had an incredible time exploring–well, him basically dragging me all around (by foot, mind you)–eating, drinking, and meeting legends (sort of…more on that later). To sum it up for you I have compiled my most treasured lessons learned while traveling around Paris and London, myth busters, and will slowly share more photos that depict our days, style, and unexpected artsy fartsy moments.
Lessons I learned in Paris:
1. Not every cafe is phenomenal. While most serve a pretty damn good cafe viennois (their version of a “vanilla latte” aka strong coffee with whipped cream), the food is not so hot.
2. Paris is a much more beautiful place with sunshine. We lucked out with 2 whole days of sunshine amid the dreary weather and it was breathtaking.
3. The Metro is easy. We even got so comfortable that we started hopping the ticketed area like the locals. Oh, and I memorized the stops. My impression of the announcer is dead on.
4. A boulangerie (bakery) is crucial to your existence in Paris. Fresh baguettes, croissants, pain au chocolat, macarons…you get it. I had no shame biting right into the baguette as I walked the streets. Paul did.
5. Speaking of macarons, a rose macaron from Laduree (I’m cliche, I know) is a must. Skip all the other colors. This one is pink and delicious.
6. A simple bonjour, bonsoir, au revoir will get you places in Paris. Sure, they knew I was American before I even walked in but at least I tried, right?
7. Shopping is not better in Paris. The exchange rate actually makes things more expensive so I now have a list of items spotted in Paris that I will be purchasing in the US.
8. Rue de Buci is the best street for stopping into pretty much any restaurant and being blown away. One major find: L’étage, an Italian spot above a deli is O U T S T A N D I N G.
9. Sorry, but not waiting 2.5 hours to get into the Lourve. Oh sorry, now it’s 4 hours. We came back TWICE and the line was out of control. Same goes for the Eiffel Tower. Luckily we went into the tower one night at midnight and avoided the mess.
10. New Years Eve is not a real thing in Paris. Sadly, we got semi-dressed-up and spent a small fortune at dinner (prices were raised by 30% for no real reason, as they don’t do anything special), only to discover it was just another night in Paris. As we wandered back to our apartment to start the real celebration (pop champagne) we got lost but shared a sweet kiss in the street at the stroke of midnight.