Paris: 4 Days in the City of Light & Love – Day Two

(We had some technical difficulties as the blog was down for “maintenance”.  🥴 Thank you for your patience!)

Day Two

After a looooong Day One of traveling AND exploring, I wanted to wake up super early for our first fully rested day in Paris, so of course we didn’t open our eyes until 11am. 😳  I was a little disappointed about it, I’m not gonna lie, but I blame the room-darkening curtains as well as the fact our bodies obviously needed it.  

For Day Two, we decided to go back to the Louvre and The Eiffel Tower, but this time actually go in and up.  Everything I had read when preparing for our trip highly recommended purchasing tickets in advance online to avoid lines. This was a little tricky for me since we were flying standby. I didn’t want to buy tickets for something I couldn’t be 100% sure we would be able to use (if we didn’t make it on the flight). So I crossed my fingers that we’d be able to purchase tickets once in Paris.

Purchasing tickets for the Louvre online for the time we wanted was a breeze. I’m not sure if it would have been so easy during a busier season, but for The Eiffel Tower I couldn’t purchase tickets to the summit.  This was disappointing because I had dreamed of drinking champagne at the top of The Eiffel Tower . . . while the sun was setting (yes, I have very specific dreams). I was not going to forgo that little pleasure, so I decided to take our chances and purchase tickets on site. 

The Louvre Museum

With our day planned, we showered and got ready quickly. We walked once again to the Louvre and found that despite there being a line, all the recommendations were spot on.  We waltzed right in.

It was so exciting to be in this particular museum. I can only really compare the feeling to two other occasions when I was over the moon: visiting the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Metropolitan Museum in NYC. As a former art student, I was geeking out and I was thankful my daughter (who was NOT an art student) happily joined me and didn’t – not for one moment – try and rush me along. We decided to get a croissant and coffee at the Starbucks inside the Louvre (I know, I know, eating a croissant from Starbucks while in Paris has to be some sort of blasphemy, but it was all we saw inside and we were starving). 

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As I already mentioned in the Paris: Day One installment, the Louvre was huge, however, once inside, it went from huge to overwhelming.  I was well aware of the amazing masterpieces housed at the Louvre, but the task of finding them seemed daunting. Because of this, I was thankful to have reserved a headset.  It was very reasonably priced and not only gave information on the works, but also acted as a GPS for the collection.  

Want to see the Mona Lisa?

Just simply tap the image on the display and it would map out how to get there – in real time. And believe me, it was needed.  No matter how much I would have loved to just roam around and get lost within the collection, discovering things here and there, I know I would have missed much of what I wanted to see. For those heading to Paris in the near future, I suggest researching the pieces you want to see and make a list.  It will make things much easier for you once you are there with the device in hand. 

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We spent hours within The Louvre. It was busy, but not crowded. We had to wait in line to see Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, but only for approximately 15 minutes.  Compared to how long a person might have to wait during the summer months (hours I was told), I was again thankful for coming during the off-season. There was so much we saw and learnt, but so much we had to skim past. After 4 hours of walking, we decided it was time to go. 

The Eiffel Tower

To get to The Eiffel Tower we took the bus – which was easy enough (once we found where to get it). By the time we got to the Eiffel Tower, the sun was starting to set. Once in line for the tickets, I was certain we wouldn’t make it to the top for sunset. The line for tickets was an hour long. However, that’s when a little miracle happened. A woman announced they had JUST opened up the other ticket booth and there was no line there.  I thought it might be a prank, but since I was last, I wasn’t losing anything by sprinting over to the other side of the tower base.  

Sunset at the Top

Once there, I found it was no prank.  I was 5^th in line! I called my daughter (who had gone to purchase a bottle of water) and told her to come quick. Within minutes, we were in the elevator headed to the top. The sky was just starting to turn pink as we crept higher and higher, Paris gloriously sprawled all around us. It was beautiful. Stunning really. Ten minutes after that, we were at the top, champagne in hand, toasting to Paris, and the setting sun.  I felt excited and content at the same time. Every time I think about it I get goose pimples. It was a dream come true.

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We had another round of Champagne and watched as dusk fell to darkness and the city lit up. After some time, we headed down and found a place to sit in the surrounding park at the base of the tower. There, from local vendors, we purchased a bottle of Champagne, crepes, and enjoyed the night.  Music played in the distance and every hour on the hour, the lights on the Eiffel Tower danced and twinkled.  It was pure magic.

Back to the Hotel

I don’t know how long we sat there, but it was around 1am when we decided to head back to the hotel.  The thought of walking the hour back was torturous! Keep in mind we had been standing and walking pretty much the entire day). So my daughter coaxed me into trying an electric scooter.  

Yes. You read that correctly.

There were electric scooters all around the city just begging to be rented. After downloading an app and getting a lesson from my daughter on how to ride it, we were off! Was I a bit scared scooting around the city? Yup! But it was SO MUCH FUN! (Probably as much fun as the mopeds on Nantucket!) Thankfully it was late, and the sidewalks and streets were pretty empty – the chances of hitting a pedestrian was pretty slim. 😜 There were still some very busy roads here and there, but I followed my daughter (who took to whizzing through the streets of Paris like a pro) and soon enough we were safely home at the hotel. 

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By 2am, we were in bed. The day was everything I dreamed it would be. In spite of my tired mind and feet, I was the happiest I had ever been. I loved the Louvre. Loved it. But no matter how much I loved it, sitting at the top of the Eiffel Tower with my daughter, watching the sun set, sipping champagne – it will forever be one of my most favorite moments of my entire life.

Bonne nuit la Tour Eiffel. Thank you for living up to my dreams.

– Darlene

DAY THREE & FOUR of our PARIS trip is UP!! You can find it by clicking HERE.

PS: If you missed DAY ONE of our PARIS trip. You can find it by clicking HERE.