24 hours in Paris, France <3
As crazy as it may seem, I flew to Paris for just a day! I’ve never been, so when my friend asked if I’d like to join her, I said YES! Getting to see Paris during Christmas time was so magical. From the lights to the weather, it was a perfect mini getaway.
TRANSPORTATION: transportation started out as a nightmare. Our flight was delayed from SEA to CDG. The plan was to land at 7:30 am local time, we landed at 10 am. But we figured, no biggie. The line for customs was painfully long and once we crossed there was another long line to buy metro tickets. We experienced a man trying to cut us in the line and we were like nope, get to the back. He wasn’t happy but that wasn’t our problem. Buy a ticket was easy, and it’s 10 euros from the airport to the center, Gare du Nord station. Getting around Paris was very easy via the metro or by foot.
WHAT I WORE: as much as Paris is beautifully decorated in December with Christmas lights its freezing, literally, FREEZING. I made sure to pack thick (200 denier) nylons from H&M to wear under my jeans. I also packed a thermal top from Uniqlo to wear under my grey turtleneck from Zara. My blazer is from Target, my beret is from Forever 21 and my shoes are my favorite booties from Sam Edleman. When walking around I had a heaving black coat on over my blazer and gloves to keep me extra warm.
WHERE TO EAT: so many reasons to go back to Paris for linger and its to eat more! Since we were sitting in business class from SEA to CDG, we had breakfast on the plane. After we checked in and freshened up we walked around, worked up at appetite and headed to Carrette. Carrette is not far from the Eiffel Tower and is known for their pastries and traditional Parisian breakfast. I ordered a cappuccino and a macron pastery. The cafe is so cute and the staff were very polite and helpful. Le Relais de l’Entrecote.
WHERE TO STAY: if your traveling on a budget, I would recommend staying at the Generator. The Generator has different locations throughout Europe. You can do hostel or hotel type of rooms. It’s one of the best hostels out there. Clean rooms, cool lounges and unique lobbies.
WHAT TO DO: First things first, head over to the Eiffel Tower. There so many views and angles from different streets, it’s incredible. The most popular view is from the Tracadero Square, from the popular stairs to the view from the square, its an incredible view. From the Square you can walk directly towards the Eiffel Tower. Once you are at the foot of the Tower, steer to the left, and there’s a really pretty park and a perfect side street with the Eiffel Tower towering in the background. Next on the list would be to the Arc de Triomphe. There’s a tunnel that will take you to it, so please don’t try to run in traffic. As the sun started to set we headed to the Musée d’Orsay. The museum used to be a train station. Packed with paintings and sculptures that’s date back to the 1800s, the popular attraction is the ginormous clock. From here we walked through the the Jardin des Tuileries to the popular shopping street, Rue Saint Honoré. You can find every designer you can think of and more on this Main Street along with the store windows decked out in Christmas decorations. After dinner we walked around some more but the rain made us decide it was a good idea to head back to the hostel and enjoy the lounge. On the way there we stopped for some Leffe ruby Belgium beer and when we stepped out from the the store, it began to snow!! I grew up in Los Angeles, so the only time I seen snow was in Big Bear when I was 12. This moment was a perfect way to end our evening in Paris.
I was taken back on just how much fun this trip was. I was a little nervous about going to Paris because a lot of friends of mine that have gone have had mixed experiences. Either people were extremely rude or extremely nice to Americans. Those that we encountered on this trip were very friendly and very helpful. I can’t wait to go back for a longer period of time and enjoy so much more than Paris and France as a country has to offer.
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