Paris Vacation Photos- Part One
I hope you all enjoyed the photos from our trip to London I shared earlier this week! As promised, I have a TON of photos from our Parisian adventure to share with you all today. It was such an odd feeling going through these photos—was I really there a month ago? And did I really take all of these photos with my iPhone? Yes and yes.
I have SO many photos to share and after sifting through hundreds of images I decided I would have to split this post up into two posts, otherwise I might break the internet (hah). So this will be part one, part two will be Monday.
So, to begin with, we took took the Eurostar train between London and Paris. If you all ever have a chance to do it, you should. SO fun. It took a little over two hours, the scenery was beautiful and we got to have drinks in the bar on the train. 😉 Once we got to Paris we headed right to our flat. On the advice of a few friends, we rented a place through Airbnb. If you haven’t heard of it before you should check it out! We picked a place that had a long rental history and plenty of positive reviews, and had a great experience! Our flat was a tiny little efficiency with the bedroom lofted. We climbed up and down a ladder every morning and evening. After a bottle of wine, this was more challenging, but we made it every time.
Our first night there we went to a local cafe and had dessert then walked around the area. We stayed in the Marias district, which was such a fun area.
The next morning we went to yet another cafe for a delicious croissant and coffee breakfast. We decided it would be a great time to go to Notre Dame, so we made our way there through the winding streets. Speaking of streets, Paris is beautiful. I fell head over heels in love with the city last time I was there, and this time was no different.
Notre Dame itself is a magical place—especially decorated for Christmas. There are so many things to take in while you are there—architecture that is unmatched, stained glass, carvings, art and tile. It also feels sacred and holy, and we made time to sit and pray and thank God for His blessings while we were there.
From there we walked down through the Jardin du Luxembourg. It was an overcast day, but that didn’t stop plenty of Parisians from being out strolling around the gardens.
We had both heard some fun stories about the Catacombs of Paris, so decided to check it out. Apparently there are tons of secret ways to get into the Catacombs and it was totally common for Parisian kids to explore the tunnels growing up. There are some creepy stories about people getting lost for days or weeks in there—there’s even a sad account of someone dying in the tunnels just a few yards from the exit.
We decided against going in by ourselves and instead paid for the official entrance. I wouldn’t say it’s a happy place exactly…the history is that at some point in the late 1800s the public graves were overflowing, so they emptied the bodies out and put them in the Catacombs. So, fair warning…photos of human skulls and bones ahead.
After our sombering experience, we decided it was time to indulge in some Parisian pastries. I had heard rave reviews about Laudree Paris and was definitely ready to have some macarons! I fell in love with the decor and paint colors there…I’m totally filing away that vintage blue-green color to paint something soon! We sampled most of the flavors—no regrets! My favorite was the salted caramel and Scott’s was pistachio.
After indulging our sweet tooths, we then walked to the Louvre. We originally had not planned on going there, but it was raining and they were open until 9pm, so we had a change of plans. So glad we did! Last time I was in Paris I only got an hour at the Louvre and it was so crowded that the only thing I got to see was the Mona Lisa (from a distance!). This time there were less crowds and we stayed longer—about 4 hours. We visited Mona again, but I also fell in love with the sculpture section. Do you all recognize any of these famous sculptures?
Of course we also stopped by the Napoleon apartment exhibition…I would not mind living in those rooms!
That was our longest and most exhausting day in Paris. We had walked at least ten miles through the city and we were both very ready for some sleep! But seeing this view at the end of the day when leaving the museum gave me a rush for sure…Paris, I love you.
So that’s half of the photos/our vacation. I told you guys…so many pictures. But it’s PARIS, how could you not!?!? 🙂 See ya’ll Monday for part two!!! Have a great weekend! 🙂
Tania Griffis is an accomplished writer, blogger, and interior designer with a Journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma. She started her popular blog, Run to Radiance, in 2011, demonstrating her design expertise through the personal remodeling of six houses to millions of readers across the globe.
Tania also owns The Creative Wheelhouse, a respected ghostwriting agency for bloggers, further showcasing her talent for creating engaging and informative content.
OMG! how fabulous! I’m so jealous. I would love to go to the Louvre…. AGH! Time to talk the hubby into a Europe trip. lol
The catacombs are really creepy!!
I love these pictures! I’ve always wanted to go to the Catacombs, so it was really interesting to read about it and see inside. This looks like such a fun adventure so far!
Amazing! What great pictures. I would love to go there sometime 🙂 Stopping over from Caroline’s giveaway. I’m hosting too! Hope you had a great weekend.
your air b&b flat is absolutely gorgeous! i wanna jump into the picture, spend the morning relaxing, and then go find those delicious macaroons 🙂 musta been hard to come home!!
Wow! I have always wanted to go to Paris, even more now that I have seen these wonderful pics. It looks like y’all had a wonderful time!
What an awesome trip!! I would imagine that climbing up into the loft bedroom after 10 miles on your feet was quite a feat in itself!! We’re planning to do AirBnB as well and I’m really excited for that part of it.