I will never be able to explain what the feeling is, or what causes it, but there is something about Paris that is just...wonderful. I want to go back, every day I want to go back. And I'm sure we will at least once more.
I visited Paris when I was 15, but I was so young (and jet-lagged) and we were led around by teachers and guides...I do not remember loving it.
But now, after visiting as an adult with my husband for our 2nd wedding anniversary, it is my favourite place so far. It took about 1 full day before the magic of Paris hit me, but it just did, out of nowhere.
We took the Thalys train from Brussels, which is a very quick ride to the Paris Nord station. From there we were ambitious (and a little afraid of the metro system) so we walked the 1 hour to our AirBnb room just South of the Pont Neuf bridge. It was a beautiful day and we had minimal luggage so the walk was actually kind of nice.
I would definitely recommend this area for people to stay in. It's not the most central location, but Paris is huge, and there's so much to see, you'll never be in walking distance to everything. BUT the Metro system is extensive and efficient, we never waited more than 5 minutes for a train and never walked very far to a station.
There is a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower across the Seine from Pont Neuf, which was a great way to end our first day (after just a bit of walking around).
Our second day started with a walk to Notre Dame, which is very close to where we stayed. A beautiful Cathedral for sure, and luckily the long line to get in moved very quickly.
We wanted a somewhat low-key first day, so after Notre Dame we took a walk along the Seine to le Jardin des Plantes - a public garden which also has the Natural History Museum (we only admired that from the outside).
And that was pretty much it. We actually ended up doing a ton of walking that day, so we just had dinner then crashed.
The next day we knew we could not possibly walk everywhere, so it was time to venture into the Metro. Which was so easy! Other than getting on a train going the opposite direction, it went very smoothly. And even that was easy to solve: we got off at the next stop, walked up some stairs, down some stairs to the other side, and caught the correct train. Easy peasy.
And where was our first Metro ride to? The Arc de Triomphe!
We walked around the entire...block? street? round about? Whatever you call it, we walked entirely around it to get every view.
Next it was on to the Metro again to the quintessential Parisian attraction: le Tour Eiffel!
Neither of us were interested in waiting amongst the gigantic crowds and paying to go up the tower, so we wandered around it instead. There is actually a ton of park around the tower that is completely free, and in early October, not crowded at all. We got some great views.
That night we had a walk around, along the Seine from the Pont Neuf bridge to the Pont des Arts bridge. Then we did my favourite thing (one of my favourite things? It's hard to choose) from this trip: we went to see the outside of the Louvre all lit up. Do this if you're in Paris!
It is so beautiful, and the crowds are completely gone after dark. I prefered our night time outside visit to going into the museum itself. Just look how cool!
We also walked towards the Jardin des Tuileries to see the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel - an arch built to commemorate Napolean's army.
The next day we went into the Louvre, which also had a long line that moved quickly. This museum is gigantic, and we barely saw one section of it. I'm not sure I would choose to go in again...as someone who isn't a huge art buff and wanted to see more of the city than the inside of a museum. But, we did see the Mona Lisa, which I missed out on when I was here as a teenager.
And the architecture inside, and views of the pyramid and gardens are really nice.
We then took a walk through the Jardin des Tuileries of course. It is very pretty and well worth the walk through.
You end at a huge pond with lots of chairs, a very necessary item after so much walking.
The next day, our last full day, we headed to the Catacombes. These are the thing I remember most from my first trip here, and it would have been awesome to see. Unfortunately, we went on a Saturday, not very early in the morning. So, after waiting in line for an hour, making it less than halfway, and watching the day get nicer, we abandoned ship. We'll go again, on a Wednesday or something.
We headed to the Pont Alexandre bridge. A friend recommended it as something to see, and it is very pretty!
We crossed the bridge which leads to the Grand Palais and Petit Palais. We admired both from outside then went for a walk. We had wanted to see the park behind the Petit Palais, but it was closed off for some reason. Very disappointing.
But we kept walking, and we ended up at the Place de la Concorde! This is the opposite end of the Champs Elysees from the Arc de Triomphe and a very cool photo spot. We didn't even have this on our radar, so it was a nice accident.
And the Jardin des Tuileries is right behind the Place de la Concorde, so we had another sit by the large pond (overlooking it this time).
Then we headed over to Rue Mouffetard, another recommendation from our Paris-loving friend. It's a cute little neighbourhood with some very pretty, old buildings.
On our last night we went one block away from our usual path and ended up finding a very fun, narrow alley full of restaurants!
And, of course, one last night walk along the Pont Neuf bridge to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up.
I can't wait to go back and see so many of the things we didn't get a chance to! And to see some things again (the Louvre at night!).
J'aime Paris!!!
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