Okey dokey it’s time to get this Paris recap on the boards seeing as I got back from vacation over a month ago!

I am going to do all of this in one post so bear with me as it is A LOT of photos and might I add that this is only about 1/15th of the photos I actually have. So while I will do my best to recap Paris in a nutshell, I will more than likely miss some things and will try not to become long-winded. We did a whole lot in one week!

After Belgium, we took the train to Paris, where our lovely friends Adam and Stacy were meeting us. They had gotten to Paris one day ahead of us.

On our first day, we got acquainted to the city a bit, went to the metro station (Gare du Nord I believe?) and bought our Paris museum passes. These passes were around 60 euro a person and got us into a bunch of different museums and sites around Paris. I highly recommend it. We definitely got our moneys worth out of it and a plus is we always had access to bathrooms which was very nice.  

Gare du Nord

On our first night we had tickets to go to the Moulin Rouge for an evening show.

The inside was very red, velvety, showy, and packed with tables and people. We didn’t do the dinner option but we did get a half a bottle of champagne per person included in our ticket price.

Moulin Rouge is spendy but it is a must-do if going to Paris if you ask me. Yes the show is a little risqué (probably not the best idea for kiddos), but it is all part of the culture and the ambiance of the theater is something you must see.

Pantheon

Eiffel Tower

I adore the Eiffel Tower, especially at night. It is magical. In the evening it lights up and sparkles every hour. Talk about romantic!

This is the memorial site of where Princess Diana’s vehicle crashed the night of her death.There were notes written in the cement giving respect to Princess Di.

Sainte-Chapelle This church was absolutely stunning to me. The stained glass everywhere took my breath away.

Notre Dame Cathedral

So cool.

My favorite bakery where we bought bread a few times for our lunches. The dome mall called Galeries Lafayette. It is an upscale department store.

I loved the walls in the lingerie section covered in tulle. So feminine.

Champs-Elysées

A street full of shops and cafés from the ritzy Cartier to everyday normal people stores like H & M and Gap. It is so fun to say Champs-Elysées [shahn zey-lee-zey]. Notice the photo-bomb. Nice.

Arc de Triomphe

We decided they were either cleaning it or fixing it. Either way it didn’t make for a very pretty view.

We climbed to the top and got more great views of the city.

The Thinker at the Rodin Museum

The Sacré–Coeur  This beautiful church (which we called our Parish while in Paris), was right down the street from our hotel in the Montmartre neighborhood. We all mutually agreed that sitting on the steps with some beverages and snacks, people-watching, enjoying the view of the city, and watching guys trying to sell mini Eiffel Towers while watching for police, was one of our favorite moments of our trip. It was so relaxing!

We visited the Père-Lachaise cemetery where Jim Morrison and Chopin (among others of course) are buried.

We visited the Louvre Museum of course where we got to see Mona Lisa in her (or his?) finest.

Jardin des Tuileries

I think this is where we were at least. We were at a tiny fountain a little ways down from the Louvre. We stopped for a snack and to decide on our plans for the rest of our day.

A day trip to Palace of Versailles. This is a MUST when visiting Paris. Everything about this royal château is unbelievably stunning.  

Haribo gummies. The foodie in me had to snap a photo. Haribos are so good!

K, I know I’m missing a bunch here.

We also went to Musée d’Orsay.

We toured part of the underground sewage process of Paris for all of about five minutes before we all felt like we were going to ralph. This was a for real tour and it was included on our Paris pass.

We attempted a trip to Fontainebleau to visit the Palace of Fontainebleau. We took a train out to it; it is 35 miles or so away from the city of Paris. Little did we know that upon our arrival we would find out it was closed for construction and of course it was pouring. But, we ended up making a great day out of it anyway by finding a cozy little steakhouse and enjoying lunch before heading back.

We went to dinner every night at the brasseries except one night when we ordered pizza in. SO GOOD!

For lunches we would usually just buy a loaf of bread, some cheese, and apples and call it a day.

We stopped at cafés for coffee, hot chocolate and vin chaude (hot mulled wine).

We went into a ginormous fabric store and looked at all of their super pricey fabrics. We walked, we climbed stairs, we rode the metro, we took the trains.

We enjoyed baguette and french fries at nearly every meal.

Ok I need to stop. Yes, I’m sure I’m missing some things here but I feel bad that this post has gotten so long. Thank you for reading (if you’re still with me that is :smile:) and sorry if this post took five years to load! Talk about photo overload.

As you can see Paris was simply amazing. We were so lucky to be able to spend our time there with such great friends!

Au Revoir for now my friends!

QOTD: Have you ever been to Paris or plan to go someday?