This is baguette-ing out of hand!

Another day, another country. While my students at EOI studied hard in preparation for their upcoming exams, Jennie and I planned our upcoming week-long trip to Paris, France. Finally, after much preparation and research, we were on our way! On our trip we spent seven days, from the 5th-11th of February, seeing all that the city had to offer and even made an impromptu trip to Disneyland! Additionally, because of our long-term visa statuses, Jennie and I got into every museum, cathedral, and government building, for free. For that alone, I have to say a quick merci!

PARIS DAY 1: Bonjour!

After another early wake-up call, Jennie and I were out the door and on the 4am bus leaving Vigo to Oporto Airport. Having caught up on lost sleep in the airport and the plane, we arrived at the Paris Beauvais Airport and caught the hour long shuttle bus to the center of the city. Finally, we were in Paris! With tired eyes and hot coffees in hand we took to the metro and arrived at our hostel, the Albergue Internacional de Jouves.

As we were tired and had many big days ahead of us, we decided to explore and do a little window shopping around the neighborhood. We shopped around in many of the local boutiques, however we stoped for a long time at a little store called Le Fleur. Erin, my sister, would have loved the place! It had such a Pacific Northwest vibe and was filled to the brim with plants and other greenery. I even happened to find a magnet there which had Portland, Oregon, stamped on the front! I was shocked to see that little piece of home all the way in France, but it continues to remind me just how lucky I was to have grown up in such a special place such as Oregon.

For dinner, we made a stop at a local grocery store and I bought myself a *fancy* microwave lasagna and a baguette—not the most fabulous of meals for our first night in Paris. However, we did spend our evening in style. Jennie and I made our way to a bar around the corner for happy hour called Le 138. We spent the rest of the evening talking about our plan for the upcoming days, sipping slowly on our Pompier cocktails, and enjoying each other’s company.

PARIS DAY 2: Walking Tours & Macaroons

Jennie and I woke up and took the metro over towards the Latin Quarter of Paris where we met up with my favorite walking tour service, Sandman's. Starting at Place Saint Michel, we first made our way to Our Lady’s Cathedral of Notre Dame. While we were only able to view the exterior of the cathedral, I was impressed by the multiple flying buttresses and disturbing gargoyles adorning every ledge. From there, we walked around the block to see San Chapelle, the Justice Palace, and finally crossed the river to the Louvre. While our tour covered a lot a ground, Jennie and I both knew we would have to return to all these locations later in the day to see their interiors. However, before doing so, we of course had to stop for crepes!

With our bellies full, we returned to our first stop on the tour—the Notre Dame. I actually found the exterior to be much more impressive than the interior. While the cathedral is most famously known for its dual rose windows, which were indeed impressive, the cathedral in its entirety would not have made my top five. However, our next stop was a jaw-dropper. Built in 1246 A.D. by King Louis IX, the interior of San Chapelle was incredible. After entering the humble quarters of the servant’s chapel, up a short set of spiral stairs to the right leads viewers to a room filled with stunning stained glass windows. Arranged across fifteen windows—each standing at almost 50 feet high—the stained glass sections depict 1,113 scenes from the Old and New Testaments. I truly have never seen anything as gorgeous and sincerely unexpected before.

Notre Dame & San Chapelle

Notre Dame Exterior

San Chapelle Interior

Before long, it was time to get a move on. Jennie and I crossed the River Seine once again and arrived at the Louvre. I am still in awe at how ginormous and extensive it actually is! While in most movies and pictures only the infamous glass diamonds are featured, the museum reaches two levels underground and encompasses the above-ground entrance within the Louvre Palace. While we in no way had enough time to see all of what the Louvre had to offer—approximately 38,000 objects in total—we made sure to see the highlights. Throughout our visit, we enjoyed many Greek statues including the Venus de Milo and Victory, the Mona Lisa, and Liberty Leading the People.

Feet hurting and starved out of our minds, we walked through the Tuileries Gardens and continued onto the high-end shopping district of Champ de Elise. After walking the entire street to Arc de Triomphe, we turned back for a late night treat. Having visited when she was younger with her family, Jennie recommended we stop at a famous macaroon bakery called Ladurée. There we both sampled their white coffee tea and treated ourselves with a few macaroons. I ended up ordering three different flavors including salted caramel, licorice, and rose. While they were all very delicious, I found myself enjoying the licorice flavored one the most!

As the rain started to come down with a torrential force, we took the metro back to our hostel for the night. With fingers crossed the rain would stop soon, we counted down the hours until the park entrance of Disneyland Paris was to open the following morning!

PARIS DAY 3: The Happiest Place on Earth

Starting our sunny day full of excitement, Jennie and I took the RER train all the way to the end of the line—to Disneyland. Having entered the park, we took to the souvenir shop to treat ourselves to a pair of Mikey Mouse Ears and then we began our adventure. With our new Ears in tow, we immediately ran straight to Space Mountain in Discoveryland. From there, we explored Fantasyland where we rode the Tea Cups, had a blast on a carrousel, and sang along to “It’s a Small World”.

While the morning’s weather was beautifully warm, the weather began to turn after lunch. Having sought shelter for a time within one of the park’s restaurants, we then made our way to Adventureland. There, we made sure to hit up the rides for Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones. We ended our evening in Frontierland which turned out to hold our favorite ride of the day, Big Thunder Mountain!

To finish off the night in Disneyland, we joined the large crowd in front of the Castle and watched their light show complete with fireworks and Bellagio-syle waterworks. One of my favorite parts was that all of the Disney songs were performed in French which added a very unique and brilliant element to our day.

Jennie and I had such a wonderful time in Disneyland Paris! While most of the rides were familiar and had the same themes as those back in the United States, they were also quite different. Even though we were in places like Frontierland of the Old West and the Main Street, USA, I never once forgot that I was in Paris. Another incredible facet of our time visiting Disney in the off season, the longest line we had to wait in was at the most forty minutes long! We ran into other wait times of twenty to thirty minutes—even those we could simply walk on—however, being Disney, we were shocked! As the park closed its doors, we said our goodbyes to our favorite characters and ended the night on the highest of notes. Hot chocolate in hand, we took the RER train back to Paris to turn in for the night.

PARIS DAY 4: Palace of Versailles

Another early wake-up call, and Jennie and I were out the door. We caught another RER train out to the Palace of Versailles. Arriving as soon as the doors opened, we spent the next three hours exploring the grand rooms within the main palaces. Walking through the Hall of Mirrors and other extravagant rooms leaves little wonder as to why the French people revolted and beheaded their exhaustingly grandiose monarchy.

Around lunchtime, we left the palace grounds to grab a bite to eat and roam the surrounding city’s streets. Eventually we ran into a small outdoor and indoor local farmer’s market. We spent a long time looking at the variety of cheeses, fruits, vegetables, and meats, as well as taking samples as they came.

Eventually we returned to the palace grounds where we took a long walk through the gardens to visit the Grand and Petite Trianon. Although it was the winter season and all of the fountains were turned off and statues were covered, it did not take away from how impressive it all was. The Grand and Petite Trianon were much like the main palace, but happened to be smaller in size. Out of all the palaces on the grounds of Versailles, I must say that if I had the chance I would much rather live in the Grand Trianon than the Palace of Versailles. As it was much smaller, yet as elegant and extravagant as the main palace, at the very least I would not have to worry about getting lost on my way to the bathroom!

Fairly exhausted from our last couple days, Jennie and I took the RER back into Paris in the early evening. However, we happened to stop off early and went into the famous Shakespeare Bookstore. Although the history behind the bookstore is something not to be missed, the overflow of tourists and combination of skinny walkways made for an uncomfortably intimate experience.

Finally, we hopped back on the metro towards our hostel. For dinner, I decided to treat myself by stopping into a patisserie and buying a small nut and cranberry baguette to go with my quinoa salad. Again, Jennie and I found our way to another happy hour where we talked about our last couple days and solidified plans for our time to come.

PARIS DAY 5: Catacombs, Protests, & The Eiffel Tower

One of the few activities we had to pay for, which also included the longest wait, was for the Les Catacombs. Jennie and I arrived just after the doors opened, however there was already a line around the corner. Finally, we took the stone staircase down into the tunnels. The extensive 200 miles of old caves, quarries, and tunnels were first used in the 13th century to mine limestone. The very same rock from below the city was then used to make some of the most prominent structures around the city—including the Notre Dame. However, it wasn’t until 1786 when the tunnels were first used as an ossuary as the city could no longer contain immense numbers of the dead. Obviously macabre, I found it very interesting to walk along the tunnels and view the intricacies of the bones themselves. As it was unnerving to see other tourists taking selfies and posing with the remains, I never forgot the fact that we were in a mass grave. Which begs the question, how much time would it be okay for fanatical tourists to take silly pictures with your dead body? Morbid thoughts aside, I had a great time learning about Paris’ darker history.

Leaving the catacombs, we walked to see the Palace and Gardens of Luxembourg. However, finding the area closed for the day, we continued to the Parthenon. Functioning as a mausoleum, Jennie and I once again descended beneath the city to the crypt. There, we saw the tombs of many distinguished French citizens such as Voltaire, Jean Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Louis Braille, and Marie Curie. Around the corner, we additionally made a stop at the Saint Etienne du Mont Church and viewed the tomb of Saint Genevieve.

For lunch we made a stop near the University of Paris for crepes at a nearby cafe called Le Crêperie. Having thoroughly enjoyed my ham and mushroom crepe, we hopped back on the metro to finally visit the Eiffel Tower!

Having already stayed in Paris for five days, Jennie and I were so excited to finally be able to see it. However, the moment we stepped aboveground from the metro, we were greeted by police sirens, smoke, and swat teams. We just so happened to unknowingly arrive at the peak of the ninth week of protests by the Yellow Vest Movement. As the movement spans the political spectrum and fights for economic justice, recent protests have turned to riots. Due to this fact, the grounds and entrance to the Eiffel Tower were closed due to safety risks. Even though Jennie and I avoided the protest and skirted around the main roads, we still ran into burned cars and broken glass.

Yellow Vest Protests

Retreating to an area further away from the protest, we stopped in a corner store for some goodies and to kill time before the light show on the hour. Finally, we found a spot to sit at the end of the gardens where we enjoyed our bottle of wine, shared a bar of chocolate, and enjoyed the sparkling lights. Freezing cold and in dire need to a real dinner, we returned to our hostel and soon went to bed.

Eiffel Tower Shenanigans

PARIS DAY 6: Museums, Sacre Cour, & Escargot

Waking up to pouring rain and high winds, Jennie and I decided to sleep in a little and create a new plan for the day. Excitingly, before leaving our hostel, we decided to make a reservation for a highly-rated French cuisine restaurant for the evening. Being that the rain did not show any hope of stopping, we spent most of our day in and out of museums.

Our first stop off the metro took us to the Musée de Orsay. Constructed out of an old train station, the museum happened to be a masterpiece in its own right. Featuring Van Gogh, Monet, and many classical greek statues, we spent most of the morning wandering around its exhibits.

Next, we braved the windy streets and walked to the Rodin Museum a couple blocks over. Solely featuring the artist Auguste Rodin, the museum was much more intimate than any of the others we had visited in the past couple days. While his most famous work featured at the museum is “The Thinker”, he was also a very talented painter, drawer, and even began the decoupage movement with his cut-out series.

Feeling thoroughly “museum-ed out”, we left the Rodin Museum to find the terrible weather had finally lifted. Next, we boarded the next metro line to Sacre Coeur. After walking up the long set of stairs from the metro line below, we arrived at one of the best viewpoints Paris had to offer. The Basilica itself was huge and took up most of the space on the top of the hill. The interior dome of Sacre Coeur was decorated with a detailed gold mosaic. While impressive, the Palatine Chapel’s golden mosaics I visited while in Aachen, Germany, greatly outshined this one. Nevertheless, it was not to be missed.

Finally, we made our way to our dinner reservation at the Cafe Francoeur. Jennie and I shared a plate of escargot—which I found to be delicious! For my main plate, I order the duck with a carrot purée that was brilliant. I only wished that I had more! After our tasty meal we walked down the street to the Moulin Rouge to take in the sights of our last night in Paris. Returning to our hostel for the night, we printed off our tickets, and set our alarms.

PARIS DAY 7: Final Day, Final Croissant

Jennie and I both woke up early and ate breakfast together in the hostel. As she had an early flight leaving Paris to meet her family in Lisbon, we said our goodbyes and she took off for the airport. Luckily, my flight was not until 5pm, so I had some extra time in Paris. I decided to spend my last day in true Parisian style—going to the Eiffel Tower, buying a loaf of bread to take home, and eating a cream filled croissant. Arriving at the Eiffel Tower, I spent most of my time walking around the gardens and beneath the tower admiring its architecture and taking in the sunlight. Nearby I found a small patisserie where I bought my snacks and returned to the park to enjoy them in peace. Finally, after a long morning and even longer week, I caught my bus to the airport back home.

Reflecting on my trip to Paris, I believe before traveling to the city I had very high expectations. San Chapelle had my jaw dropping, the Eiffel Tower was not to be missed, and of course Disneyland brought additional joy to the entire trip. However, in my own personal opinion, I found Paris to be highly overrated. Some of this opinion I can place blame on the time of year and cold weather, but I don’t believe I would want to visit again anytime soon. If I were to do so, it would definitely have to be in the late spring or summer season where I could catch the city’s parks and gardens in all their glory. Notwithstanding, I was so glad that I was able to see and experience everything I was able to in Paris. Although there may be a few things I may skip in the future, I would recommend any first timer to enjoy as much as possible.