Paris, I never thought I would fall head over heels in love with you, but I sure did. I can not wait to see you again!

Charming isn’t it? Ahhh, Paris.

Where do I even start with my love for Paris? Really France in general, but Paris has such a huge part of my heart. The lifestyle blew my mind. I enjoyed all the cafes and the cafe lifestyle. Can we talk about the chocolate au pain just for a second? The cheese? The freshly baked bread? It is ALL SO RIDICULOUS people. Good, now that we got that out of the way, I can get down to the details. I think Paris would be the ultimate girls trip, if you’re going for a big city vibe. Just a side note!

Back to the adventure now…One of my coworkers came with me on this 3 week European adventure. We arrived at Charles du galle airport after a very long overnight red eye from Seattle. What was the most unfortunate part was that we lost a half of day in Paris due to a missing connecting flight. It was a very sad moment when we saw our plane but could not go on it! The worst! We did finally get another flight out from the Dublin airport about 5 hours later. When I landed in Paris, I was kind of nervous. It was late at night, I was in a whole new place, and the taxi guy was in a totally different area from where all the other taxis were. I just didn’t have a great feeling about it all, but everything turned out okay. It was a short half hour trip into the city and we were there! I would definitely recommend the location of our hotel. We stayed in the Le Marais district of Paris, which is a lovely neighborhood all around. There are plenty of cafes, shops, bakeries all around to enjoy. Our hotel was called Villa Beaumarchais and it was such an enjoyable experience. Breakfast is included and it was my favorite part about the whole stay. I have never had a better breakfast buffet, that I can honestly say. Homemade crepes, Nutella, freshly baked baguettes, croissants, and numerous cheeses and jams.

We went out for dinner on our first night there to a place right around the corner from our hotel called, Grazie. It was a quick and yummy meal, which is exactly what we needed. We had a big day ahead of us exploring Paris the next day.

Day 2: Breakfast like I said before was literally incredible. I wanted to sit there all day and graze like goat haha. Time to explore though! I made my friend walk all over Paris, which is why she got major blisters all over her feet by the end of the day. Tara tip* bring bandaids with you, you’re going to need them! It’s so much better to be able to take a couple as you venture out and slap one on if needed. The shoes I ended up bringing were BOMB though so I hardly had that problem. (I’ll be posting about them in my fav travel shoe post. Stay tuned!)

We decided to walk from our hotel to the Notre Dame de Paris also known as Notre Dame Cathedral first. So many people were there taking pictures of this beautiful cathedral and soaking it all in. After, we stopped at the famous bookstore, Shakespeare and Company, which was such a unique and quaint bookshop.

We were SO thirsty walking around for miles and miles so we decided to stop at a restaurant along the way to the Eiffel Tower called, La Fregate. We decided to relax for a little and order some wine and waters. W ordered SO many waters! Like, too many waters. All the waters cost about $35, ahhhhh! lol. We never did that again, let me just say that. But we definietly needed the hyrdration in that moment! It was a such great break though on our way!

I was so thrilled to keep on walking so we can get our picnic on at the Eiffel Tower! We stopped at a wonderful little wine shop, a bakery for some fresh bread, and a “supermarche,” or grocery store in french. It was incredible to finally see the iconic Effiel Tower and to experience a lovely picnic underneath it. Tara tip* You must have a picnic under the Eiffel! We sat on the other side of the Eiffel Tower where there were less people around, but it was a little dusty, which I wasn’t expecting! Below is our picnic spread. I still think about what a wonderful experience and how delicious this was. I am such a HUGE picnic fan in this BEYOND 🙂

We walked up to the Trocadero to get another view of the Eiffel and take some pics. There is a great cafe up there and a lovely rooftop restaurant that you can enjoy some views from! We just stopped for some cute pictures because we had much more to see!

After taking some pictures, we made our way to see the Arc de Triomphe. We were getting very tired (I’m sure the glasses of rose and heat didn’t help! lol) but we pushed through and got our second wind. Finally made it to the Arc de Triomphe!

Next, we walked on over to perhaps one of the most expensive and famous streets around, Champs Elysees. One of my favorite things to eat is Macaroons so we of course had to visit THE one and only Laudree. It was so girly and beautiul inside and out! Didn’t leave there without ordering a bunch of macaroons for the road!

After that, we started to walk back towards Le Marais and grab some late dinner. We stopped a few times along the way to soak in the beautiful sunset and check out Love Lock Bridge <3. Some of the best things in life are free, and sunsets are one them. I am a sucker for a good one, but really, who isn’t??

We kept walking and walking until we reached Le Marais district. We were only about a 15 minute walk from our hotel. What a day of walking and sightseeing! We picked a fun spot and we weren’t too hungry, so we just ordered a nice cheese plate and some drinks. It was so nice to sit down for awhile and relax.

All in all we walked about 13 miles that day and let me just say that every step was so worth it because I got to see A LOT of Paris. Next visit, I would love to spend some time in the Montamrate area, located in the 18th arrondissament. Until next time!

Merci Beaucoup, Paris! ❤

Tara Tips*

Paris = EVERYTHING! Need I say more?

To Stay

 Le Marais district | located in the 8th arrondissement |  Experience the trendy area of Paris

Villa Beaumarchais | Le Marais | This great hotel option for location, price, and buffet breakfast

Citizen M | AMAZING airport hotel by Charles de Gaulle | if you need to be close to the airport, this is the place!

To Do

Eiffel Tower | Must have a picnic at the Eiffel Tower. Grab some cheese, wine, and a baguette and head on over for an experience you will never forget

Notre Dame de Paris | A must see! It is also very close to the famous shopping area

Champs Elysees | This is a very famous shopping district! There are so many stores and restaurants on this street.

Laduree | This is such a unique place! It’s very girly and fun too. You must get some macaroons here and enjoy them with a little champs!

Seine | Walk along the Seine River and prepare to feel in awe. Bring a bottle of wine and some goodies and relax along the river. You will find lots of people doing this at night!

Love Lock Bridge | Buy a lock or bring your own and enjoy this special experience.

Shakespeare and Company | Famous bookstore | If you love books, you NEED to come here. Located near the Notre Dame de Paris.

Walk, walk, and walk! I walked over 12 miles and loved every minute of it!

To Eat

I can’t even begin to tell you how much cheese and bread I had while I was in Paris!

Breakfast | Enjoy the buffet at your hotel (if they offer one). Ours was INCREDIBLE and I still think about it today. If not, grab yourself a chocolate croissant at a local cafe and people watch for the morning.

Lunch | Picnic style | Buy a bunch of picnic items and head over to the Eiffel Tower or a nice park. Enjoy all of the local cheeses and breads. I recommend getting some hummus and olives too. Whatever looks good at the markets, just buy and enjoy! Enjoy lunch at Le Fregate for a sit down meal. Order the Croque Monsieur with fries and sit outside.

Dinner | Enjoy Epicure for a fancy night out | Cafe du Trocadéro for a nice night filled with the Eiffel Tower in your distance. They have a lovely outside patio area to enjoy the view too. For dinner, I ended up in the Le Marais District and enjoyed…you guessed it…some more cheese! Can you blame though?? When in Paris!

Au revoir!