Paris: Four Days in the City of Light & Love

“Paris is always a good idea.”
Audrey Hepburn

DAY ONE

So, I tried. I really, really did. But it is impossible to write about my recent trip to Paris in one post. In retrospect, I should have realized that would be the case. My little day-trip to Nantucket took up two posts, so I should have known Paris would be a saga. 😬

I mean, honestly, there were hours of walking (day one), the Mona Lisa (day two), champagne at the top AND the bottom of The Eiffel Tower (day two, again), electric scooter rides down the Champs Elysees (day three), shopping (day four), a boat ride down the Seine (day three), the Arc de Triomphe (three again), Moulin Rouge (three!), and Napoleon (back to day two).

Honestly – there’s a lot there to talk about. I’m tired just thinking about it. It’s no wonder that by day four, I couldn’t take a decent picture. And believe me . . . I tried. But in the eternal words of Indiana Jones, it wasn’t the years, it was the mileage. 😜

So, beyond the vast amount of content, there were other things I struggled with. Primarily I couldn’t decide whether to make this an informative post, or a more personal one.

I wanted to make sure it was informative for anyone considering a trip to Paris, but, for me, this was a personal trip. This was a trip I shared with my daughter and was something we had dreamed of taking. And keeping the content dry and matter-of-fact, so as to be informative, isn’t why I write this blog.

I write it to capture all the great times I have with family and friends. The nuances in life that sometimes get forgotten. Because when I am old and gray (ok, ok, oldER and grayER), I want to be able to go back and read these. I want to be reminded and laugh about my daytrip with my sister, I want to read about all the Thursday nights and weekend trips with my friends and be reminded how lucky I am to be a part of that friendship. I want to always remember that beautiful moment between my mom and dad so I never forget what true love looks like.

So, yes, there will be some information here. But it will mostly be just me, my daughter, and Paris.

And I hope that I can share it in a way that makes you love it as much as we did. 🥰

So, get comfy, because here we go. Finally.

Booked!

Last Christmas, my son gifted me and my daughter Avery a stay at a Marriott. He knew a trip to Paris was a dream of ours and wanted to help make that dream a reality. He also knew that because I work for an airline me and my daughter could fly to Paris and only be responsible for the taxes (roughly $140.00 total for the two of us). So, with a Marriott gift card in hand and Covid restrictions lifting for international travel, I booked our stay at the Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hotel. The hotel is located in the heart of the city and within walking distance to the Louvre, it seemed the perfect location.

My daughter and I were obviously very excited to go. But we learned long ago to keep any excitement in regard to travel, in check. As an airline employee, when I fly, I fly standby. Which means I only receive a seat assignment if the flight has available seats. I’ve been doing this a long time, so most times we don’t have a problem. I’ve learned when it’s best to fly and when it’s not. But every now and then things don’t go as planned and I’m sitting in an airport for a day and a half trying to get home (I’m looking at you PHX!). About a month before the flight, however, flight loads looked pretty open and I felt fairly certain we’d be able to get to Paris.

So, we did what any normal person would do with a trip to Paris looming only weeks away . . . we went shopping. 😜

Fast forward and my daughter and I were packing our newly purchased outfits into our bags. Our flight left from Boston to JFK then on to CDG. We were lucky enough to get first class to Paris, which for an international flight meant a Delta One suite. These are amazing. Your seats recline fully into a bed and have a door that shuts for privacy. This afforded us to receive a decent amount of sleep so that when we arrived in Paris Friday morning, we were fairly well rested. Once in Paris, we ubered to the hotel and were able to check-in despite it being 10am. We unpacked, freshened up, then hit the street. The city was waiting.

Bonjour Paris!

The weather was perfect every day we were there. Perfect. It was warm enough during the day so that no coat was needed. Blue, cloudless skies and sunshine. Honestly – it was absolutely perfect. For our first day, we decided to familiarize ourselves with the city. We knew that we’d probably tire easily after such a long flight so we decided to take it easy.

Though Paris is considered a walkable city, I wouldn’t really recommend walking to all the sights unless you really, Really, REALLY like walking and have super, Super, SUPER comfortable shoes on. We walked to the Louvre from our hotel which was fairly close and took approximately 25 mins. Once there, we took in the gorgeous architecture of the former palace.

I was an art student in college, so I was well aware how large the Louvre is. I still wasn’t prepared for it’s size. It’s huge!

We lingered there for a bit, snapping pictures and listening to the people chatter around us in French. We strolled around and admired the statues and glass pyramids. When we had our fill, we decided to head over to The Eiffel Tower. It was a 50 minute walk (hard pass) so we hopped into this little touristy open-air cart and enjoyed the 15 minute ride over. My heart was literally bursting.

I know that sounds pretty corny but it is what it is.

The Eiffel Tower

As we were taken through the city, I realized Paris was EXACTLY as I imagined it. I had this thought in my head that only certain parts would have that quintessential Parisian look. You know what I mean? Does that make sense? Let me try and explain. In my mind, I thought only certain areas would look “Parisian” where other areas would look like Boston, or NYC, or any other major city. Maybe I was setting my expectations in a way I thought was realistic. To avoid disappointment.

Regardless, I was wrong. Paris certainly is a city, but it is exactly as one imagines it. Exactly.

So, where was I? Right! Quick ride over to The Eiffel Tower and yes, just as in the video, we caught glimpses of the structure between the trees until . . . Voila! She was there in all her glory! Just. So. Amazing.

And freaking HUGE.

I knew it was big, but it was so much more massive than I expected. Weightier. We sat on the ground underneath it and just marveled at the size of it. My daughter and I were at the foot of The Eiffel Tower and you just couldn’t help but love the sight of it. It’s an image that represents so many things to so many people and here we were at its base. I think it was that moment everything just sunk in and I was so happy to be there.

We walked around and continued to admired the area and the structure. There were street vendors all around, as well as people sitting on the nearby grass enjoying the view. We toyed with the idea of going up, but decided we’d do that the next day. It was getting late and we were hungry and the weariness of a long flight and longer day was starting to settle on us.

Not sure where to eat, we walked from The Eiffel Tower to the banks of the Seine and saw a restaurant on a boat along the shore.

It was the perfect place for our first meal in Paris.

We were sat right away and ate. After dinner we had coffee then having rested enough, decided to make the long walk back to the hotel. We could have ubered, or taken the metro, but I wanted to learn these streets and the best way to do that was by putting foot to pavement.

So We Walked. And Walked. And Walked some more.

Walking back we learned to navigate our way through streets we would eventually become very familiar with. We walked along the Seine, across the Pont Alexandre III and through the busy Place de Concorde (the location where Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were executed). There we saw the Obelisk of Luxor – a 1250 BC Egyptian obelisk brought to Paris during the 1830s. It is one of two obelisks that stood at the Luxor Temple during the reign of Ramesses II. The second obelisk remains in Egypt.

From there we wandered away from the river and through the streets of Paris. We passed Maxim’s and stumbled – by happy accident – past Laduree. A perfect spot to grab a dessert, so we turned around and purchased some macrons for later once we got back to the hotel. Ok . . . we may have eaten one or two right there, but the bulk of them we saved for later.

Oh! And yes. They were delicious. In the past, I never understood why people loved macrons. I’d tried them and thought them good, but unremarkable. Now I get it. They were amazing and definitely worth the hype. The salted caramel version being a particular favorite.

We continued to walk the streets of Paris, marveling at everything around us, never once feeling unsafe despite it getting dark. We walked so long that my feet ached and I was exhausted. When we finally arrived at the hotel, I was ecstatic to see it’s facade. It wasn’t too late, but we were ready for bed. Once in our room, we took showers, updated social media (probably the only time I gave it my full attention), and then dove into bed.

Actually no. Before falling into a very, heavy sleep – I jumped up for one last look out our hotel window, smiled, and snapped a picture.

Everything had been amazing. The day held all that I had hoped it would.

Bon nuit, Paris. It was a perfect day. See you tomorrow. ❤️

– Darlene

PARIS: DAY TWO is UP! Click here to continue reading about our adventure!

PARIS: DAY THREE & FOUR is UP! Click here to continue reading about our adventure!