A Weekend in Paris

Last weekend, Kaili and I ventured off to one of the most beloved, romantic cities in the world--Paris. Although it was very cold, we had a truly amazing weekend and somehow managed to fall in love with this city even though we were only there for a few days!

Upon our arrival in France, we had a very convoluted and exhausting trip to our hostel (the Paris train systems are not our friends) but eventually made it to the Eiffel Tower that night. It was absolutely beautiful at night, and the light show they play every hour is so awesome! We toasted to the night with some champagne, then headed all the way to the top for a spectacular nighttime view of Paris.

The next day, we woke up early and filled up on free breakfast from the hostel (fresh baguettes and nutella, yes please) and headed out for a long day of sightseeing (and eating). First, we visited the cathedral of Notre Dame--it was a giant, beautiful church and we even got to witness a mass going on while we were in there!

Next, we headed toward the Louvre, but made a quick pit stop....

To this place. 

This was the first stop on our Paris food tour, and arguably one of my favorites. Here we got some delicious and original macaroons!

I tried chocolate and salted caramel...they were to die for. 

We continued on our journey to the Lourve to see nothing other than the Mona Lisa. The Louvre is so unbelievably vast and beautiful, you would need a month just to see all of the masterpieces displayed within it. But since we only had a day or so, we headed straight for the Mona Lisa so we could check that off our list. 

Up close and personal (and pale...yikes) with the legend herself

Next on the agenda was to get a classic French lunch. We found an adorable, upscale café where we had the perfect meal. We started off with escargot, had the best french onion soup I've ever tasted, then finished it off with some créme brulée. 

After our delectable lunch we walked down the Ave des Champs-Elysées (one of the main shopping streets in Paris) for a little window shopping. Once we reached the end, we marveled at one of the most iconic Parisian symbols (next to the Eiffel Tower, of course) the Arc de Triomphe. It was very cool to actually see it in person. 

After a little more sightseeing, we continued the food tour--but this time we took it to the streets. 

We had a nice warm and gooey banana-nutella crepe, which was hands down the best crepe I have ever had! And then we tried some highly-recommended street grilled cheese...it was AMAZING. I wish I could eat one of those every day for the rest of my life..that kind of good. 

To top off our awesome day, we spent the night at a really cool bar on Rue de Lappe, a street chock full of bars, making it a hot spot for Paris nightlife. 

Before we made headed home to Florence on Sunday, we completed our food tour with fresh croissants and omelettes after seeing a beautiful panoramic view of Paris from the only sky scraper in the city. 

Paris was SUCH an amazing trip...definitely a place I hope to revisit someday. 

Ciao!

Becca