Lady in Spain

People who know me well are aware that I am obsessed with 3 cities: Madrid, London, and Paris. I am currently living in one of my dream cities and I was lucky enough to visit another last week during the long weekend. Paris was everything I dreamed it would be and then some.

I’d heard from so many people that have been to Paris that I would be disappointed when I saw the Eiffel Tower in person. Well, they were wrong. I was a like a giddy school girl the entire time I was at the Eiffel Tower. I could not stop smiling. People probably thought I was a little crazy. I can’t even fathom someone being unimpressed by the tower. The Iron Lady is beautiful and awe-inspiring! I managed to ask an Italian girl that was sight-seeing with her mother to take a picture of me:

After my stop at the Eiffel Tower, I meandered over to the Musée d’Orsay. I can definitely say that the Musée d’Orsay is my favorite museum. I LOVED it. I know so many people love the Louvre, but the Musée d’Orsay has such charm! Plus the exhibition they had while I was there was impressionist paintings, which I love!! 

After I left the Musée d’Orsay, I noticed that I could see the Arc de Triomphe. It seemed like I could walk to it fairly easily. HAHA no. It took me over 40 minutes to get to it. I blame that moment of stupidity on the fact that I was running on very little sleep and had only rested when I checked into my hotel to drop my bag off. Anyway, I did finally make it down the Champs-Élysées and saw the Arc de Triomphe. I’d say it was most definitely worth the walk and the exhaustion I suffered through.

After this, I ate at a café and bought some delicious hot chocolate to warm me up during the walk to the metro. I was pretty much exhausted after this and decided to call it a night. Of course, since my hotel was a 5 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower, I had to go back to see her in all her glory at night. It was raining and extremely windy so I didn’t take a picture. I made up for it the 2nd night though!

Day 2 of my Parisian adventure began at 7:30 when I set off to Montmartre. I knew it was going to rain again and I really didn’t want to see the Sacre Coeur in the rain. After trekking up over 200 steps (Yes, I counted), I finally made it to the Sacre Coeur!

Normally, there is a huge crowd here, but since it was only 8 am, most of the toursits hadn’t arrived yet. Afterwards, I wandered about and bought some delicious macarons and made my way down to the Moulin Rouge. And nearby is the Café des 2 Moulins, which is where Amélie was filmed. Amélie is one of my favorite movies so having my brunch there was a necessity. Once I finished my lunch, I took the metro over to the Notre Dame.

There is a lot of construction going on at the Notre Dame, which I was a little peeved about only because it was obstructing the beautiful view. I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to get to Point Zero because I knew a girl who went last month and the construction had Point Zero blocked off. Luck was on my side, though, and as I walked to the front of the Notre Dame, I found Point Zero!

They say you should put one foot in the center and make a wish. I ended up doing it after I came down from the Notre Dame Towers because I realized that I forgot to make a wish when I first saw it. The view from the towers is AMAZING. I went a little picture crazy. I especially loved the chimeras. This one was one of my favorites:

After leaving the Notre Dame, I was determined to find the Shakespeare & Company bookstore. After about 5 minutes or so, I located it! A very nice group of American girls that were studying abroad offered to take my picture, which I greatly appreciated.

I went on inside and was so overwhelmed by the amount of books in this tiny place!

Everywhere you looked there were books! For a bibliophile like me, it was heaven! I happened to see a Pablo Neruda poetry book on one of the tables and had to buy it!

My next stop was the Louvre, but first I had to see the Lover’s Bridge! SO MANY LOCKS!

Then it was off to the Louvre! I must say that I’m probably one of the only people who really does not enjoy the Louvre. I found it to be entirely overwhelming. I didn’t care for the Mona Lisa at all. My favorite part of the museum was seeing of the things Napoleon had (like his dining room and bed). After that, I was sufficiently exhausted. I stopped to grab a quick snack at the Starbucks and then made my way back to my hotel. But first, I had to see the Iron Lady one last time. This time I planned to make it exactly 10 minutes before the hour. I wanted to see her sparkle! It was the perfect ending to my Parisian adventure.

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