Nicole and Paul wanted to celebrate their 10th anniversary somewhere romantic, iconic and international. With amazing architecture, food, and one of Paul’s favorite soccer teams playing- Paris was the perfect destination! We sent them on a week long adventure in the city of light. Here’s how it went:
We absolutely LOVED our trip – the weather was gorgeous with the exception of one afternoon we got rained on. Everything was GORGEOUS – in awe of the history and architecture.
Here are some quick notes:
Flight
So awesome to travel internationally again. They give you food, don’t charge for alcohol, and have plenty of in-flight entertainment to keep you busy. The first-class area looked really nice too (if anyone wanted to pay for that).
Transportation
The car service that picked us up was decent. The driver said he almost left bc it took us almost an hour to get our bags and go through customs. He said he tried to call me but I didn’t have international calling or decent wifi to accept calls. Luckily he waited but they should know that it can take over an hour to get through everything.
Paris Food & Drink Tour
It was the perfect tour to “ease” us into Paris. Due to the timing of our flights, we did not feel much jet lag which was nice.
Joshua, our tour guide was AWESOME! He gave us the right info at each place and was personable with everyone. The small group was nice. It was nice to visit local shops and to learn about how the different cheeses and wines are made. Paul is now a Chablis fan! The tour ended at an Absinthe bar which made Paul very happy. đ
At the end of the tour, Joshua gave some recommendations on where to eat for dinner. We took his recommendation and went to Chez Nicos for crepes!
Hotel
We really loved the boutique hotel. [Hotel Pont Royal] The staff was very nice and spoke English! We were thrilled breakfast was included as it was one less meal we had to worry about. We absolutely LOVED our balcony – it was perfect.
The room itself was nice (a bit small) and there was nowhere to put our luggage but we made do. The bathroom didn’t have much shelving for our stuff so we just had it on the floor…maybe that’s a Euro thing.
Friday – Walking Everywhere in Paris
We walked an INSANE amount of steps: 26K and walked all over the place. We saw Moulin Rouge, Paul found the cafe from the movie Amelie that we really liked, we went to the I Love You wall, took some cool photos of the metro signs, and ended with the catacombs
Saturday – Photo Shoot, Notre Dame & the Louvre
I was able to find a last-minute photographer through a referral from another photographer and made Paul get up at 5 AM so we could meet the photographer at 7:15 and take photos with the least amount of people in the background. Now THAT is love. The photos came out really well and the photographer was great!
[Photo Credit: Jordan with The Parisian Photographers]
Afterward, we enjoyed a croissant and cappuccino at Patisserie where we met the photographer (it was delish) and headed back to the hotel to change. From there we walked to Notre Dame which was breathtaking even though we could not go inside. They had these cool exhibits showcasing different photographers and how they documented the fire and showed the plans to put everything back together.
That afternoon we toured the Louvre which was really cool and HUGE. Seeing the Mona Lisa was neat after seeing it in so many art history books. Our tour guide was really passionate about art history so we lucked out.
Soccer Sunday
Sunday was our Paris Saint-Germain soccer game. THAT WAS EPIC – Paul was in soccer heaven. Such a cool experience, so glad we splurged on the seats – we were about 7 rows from the field and the players were RIGHT THERE. PSG didn’t play well and lost but we were thrilled with our experience.
Monday- Eiffel Tower and Shopping
Monday was our Eiffel Tower and shopping day. Eiffel Tower was VERY BUSY. Cool views but very crowded. We witnessed a proposal! Afterward we walked to the Arc de Triomphe. You could not go up because it was their Labor Day in Paris and was closed. All the shops on Avenue des Champs-Elysees were also closed for Labor Day. We did find an Italian place to eat lunch and that’s when it poured on and off.
We continued to stroll to Alexander III Bridge and luckily no one was on it due to the heavy rains so we captured some nice shots.
Tuesday – Giverny Day Trip
Giverny was sooo pretty and it was nice to see the France Countryside. Our tour guide was very nice. Lunch was really good and Chateau de Versailles was beautiful. Could see where Newport got its inspiration from. Versaille was VERY CROWDED and we did not have much time to explore the grounds. Inside was fairly quick but VERY crowded. Like navigating through a crowded concert.
While we were sad to leave, if we stayed I am not sure where else we would have walked bc we confidently walked everywhere in Paris! LOL
