Paris — Living Our Dream

Paris, France
September 14th-18th

Taylor and I arrived in Paris before our parents and the Jaras did. We got to see the apartment and get settled in before they showed up which was nice. The apartment itself was huge. It had two bedrooms, 2 living rooms, a large dining room and a kitchen. The windows were floor to ceiling and the weather was perfect to leave them open. Once everyone arrived to the apartment we were immediately ready to explore Paris! Mom, Taylor and I all got ready in separate rooms and when we all met in the living room, we realized we were pretty much wearing the same outfit. We got such a kick out of this none of us changed and went with it. We set out to walk towards the Eiffel Tower to find a place to eat.

After a meal in a very small restaurant we ventured back out into the city. Of course, the minute we walked outside it began to rain.. then pour. We huddled under a tree and tried to make a game plan (Wanda was the only smart one with an umbrella). Half of us were ready to jump in a cab and head home, and the other half of us wanted to stay out in Paris regardless of the rain. The rain let up a little bit and we began to walk. Of course we stumbled upon the Eiffel Tower again, this time at night time, and we were completely mesmerized. Its one thing to see it in pictures and completely different seeing it in person. We took another bazillion pictures and decided to see if we could go to the top.

We waited in a relatively short line and got tickets! Before we knew it we were on the elevator and headed up the Eiffel Tower! It was a bit crowded at the top but a very cool experience all together. We waited for our chance to look out and see Paris all lit up from the top of the tower. I think dad and I repeated over and over again "I'm in Paris. I'm at the top of the Eiffel Tower." It was just awesome.

On our way down we stopped on on the second level. We walked around just to see what the restaurant, bar, and glass floor was all about. It was here where my mom and sister had yet ANOTHER surprise to tell me about. They told me that the next day we would be eating in the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower! They are very good at keeping secrets! I was so excited I couldn't stand it.

As I have mentioned in a previous post, getting a cab for 6 people is not the easiest thing. We ended up paying 5 euro each to take an open disco tourist tuk-tuk back to the apartment. It was more fun than we expected! Plus we made it back way faster and drier than we would have if we walked.

The next morning, dad, Hector, and Wanda headed to Normandy for an all day tour. Mom, Taylor and I woke up leisurely and got ready. We headed out for a quick coffee before ubering to have lunch. We got there a bit early so we wouldn't feel rushed. We had to figure out how to get to the restaurant which involved a series of booths and lines, but we made it. There was a little table set up for 3 and they sat us almost immediately. Our view wasn't of the city but was more in the center of the Eiffel Tower. It was pretty awesome getting to look up into the intricacies of the structure. By the end of the meal we were full and satisfied. It was a real treat. Thanks Mom!

Once we left lunch, we had a run in with the street vendors. Mom caught it on camera from afar. We caught another uber to head to Taylor's favorite Macaroon place! We ended up getting a few macaroons each and walked home! Mom took a nap, Taylor relaxed, and I worked on the blog for a bit. After a while we were ready for dinner and a drink. We heard from the group in Normandy and they let us know they wouldn't be back until 11:30pm. We took this as a sign to get another drink. Mom, Tay, and I had the best time at dinner! The service was great and the cheese was good.

On the way home we made sure to buy wine and cheese for dad and the Jaras. They had a long rough journey back to Paris. We ended up drinking wine and eating meats, cheeses, and bread for a while. It was fun!

Friday morning we had our sights on Notre Dame. Once all six of us were ready, we headed to the cafe for our morning caffeine and a few pains au chocolate. We then took the metro and navigated it pretty well. Notre Dam was beautiful. We waited in line for a free visit inside. We were all amazed.

After leaving Notre Dame, we decided to walk towards the Champs-Élysées. Before we could make it very far, we stumbled upon a street festival and decided to check it out. Almost every booth had free samples as well. We sampled a few things, listened to street music, drank a beer, and bought some cheese to eat later that day. I as very happy this randomly became a part of our day.

We then continued our journey to the Champs-Élysées. This walked ended up being much longer than we expected. We stopped to see where they moved the love lock bridge railing to, to see the pyramid outside the Louvre, and to walk through the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. We were eventually made it to the Champs-Elysee and were ready for a meal. We stopped to have pizza and risotto. Our plan was to go to the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étiole (the most famous one) but were pretty exhausted from the day and decided to go another day. We took the metro back to the apartment and decided to rest for a bit. Dad and I stopped to have a beer at the cafe we ate breakfast in and then Wanda and Hector joined us. Since we had a pretty filling and late lunch our dinner consisted of meats, cheeses, and bread we had left over from the night before. We drank some wine as well.

Later in the evening, dad and I decided to go to a bar Taylor told us about. Everyone else was too tired to join us so we ventured out ourselves. We took an uber because we had no idea where we were going. The place was called Lavomatic. It was a speakeasy located in a laundromat. Literally you walk in to a laundromat. The "bouncer"outside let us in, and left it up to us to figure out where the door was and how to get inside. We literally pulled on a machine lever to open this door. Nuts. Then we walked up the stairs to the teeny tiny bar. We each got a whisky drink and took in the atmosphere. A nice guy came up and tried his best to communicate with dad and I. He ended up buying us a green drink, which was nice. The flavor was interesting. We bought him one back to say thank you. Overall, it was a cool experience! We caught a cab back home and called it a night.

On Saturday, it was our last full day so we had to fit a lot into this day. Tay and I were about to send back her Macbook with our parents (along with a lot of other stuff) as we were trying to downsize for the rest of our travels. Because we wanted to send the computer back, I decided I would get a very small and simple travel computer. I did my research to find a store where we could buy one and we set out on this journey. We walked all the way to where we thought I would be able to buy a computer and we had no such luck. Not a computer in sight. So that I didn't waste everyone's day, I decided to purchase a computer when we got to our next destination. That is a story for a later time. Anyhow, we got some coffee and headed to go to the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etiole. Upon our arrival we were informed it was free this day! We walked up all of the stairs to the top even though it was rainy outside. We spent a lot of time up here taking in the view.

Next we were headed to the Sacré-Cœur. We hopped back on the Metro and made our way to that side of the city. We had kebabs once getting off the Metro and ate them on a bench outside. It was a lot of delicious food for a good price. Now that our tummies were full, we began our walk up to the Sacré-Cœur. It began as a steep hill and the turned into a lot of steps. It took a while but was well worth it. The views were breathtaking and the Basilica itself was gorgeous.

After viewing the inside of Sacré-Cœur, we took the stairs all the way to the top. Again, it was worth all of the steps. It was a great view and surreal to be at the top of such a beautiful place.

On the way back down, there was a guy playing his guitar on the steps. Many people gathered to sit and listen. He sang uplifting songs that most people would know. It was very cool to listen to because everyone on the steps were singing along.

Once we reached the bottom, mom and Wanda got the crepes they had been dying to get and I got a little beer. Can you find Taylor?

Our time was running out for the day so we did a bit of souvenir shopping and headed back to the apartment. Taylor had also heard of an interesting place for dinner so we decided to give it a try. This place is called Refuge des Fondus. Its interesting because it is a fondue restaurant, you step over the table to get to your seat, and you drink your drinks out of baby bottles. We had a blast!!

After we finished up with dinner we made our way back home and got packed up as everyone was leaving pretty early the next morning. We waved goodbye to mom and dad as they left for the airport. Taylor and I left a couple hours later and but didnt have to leave for the airport for a few hours. We walked around the city, packs on our backs and all for a while. We ate lunch at a corner cafe and it was really good! Once finished with that we walked to get some macaroons and ate them while sitting on the steps by the river!

After a while we put our packs back on and headed to Berlin!

Peace & Love,
Savannah