My Month in Europe: Paris Day Two

I was super excited for this day!

Katy, Keilee, and I all got a fairly early start in order to make it to The Louvre first.

The Louvre was absolutely magnificent as far as the sheer size of it and how beautiful it is!

We spent probably two hours in there and only saw about a sixth of the whole place.

Overall, I was less than enthused about The Louvre.

It was amazing to see some incredibly famous sculptures and paintings, but it was just too packed with people.

I mean, look at all of those people! 

It definitely made it a hard experience to enjoy.

I was even more excited to head off to the Musee d'Orsay and it far exceeded my expectations!

You aren't allowed to take photos inside, so you'll have to do with reading the following anecdote about my amazing experience :)

I started with all of the Van Gogh, and it was brilliant.

When I saw Starry Night it literally took my breath away. I stood and looked at it from all angles for a good fifteen minutes. I can't really explain it, but the brush strokes are so thick and intentional, it almost looks 3D. It just can't be understood unless you see it in person. Prints or pictures will never do it justice! I never really understood why Starry Night was regarded as a great masterpiece until I saw it in person, and it was definitely life changing to see!
I would easily go back and spend a good half of a day at the Musee d'Orsay!

From there I walked around and saw Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Pissarro, Sisley, and Renoir!

Besides all of the Van Gogh, this one, Bal du Moulin de la Galette, by Renoir, was my favorite.

I have to take a second here and thank my high school Humanities teacher for doing such a great job introducing me to art and sparking my interest in it!

I was surprised at how much came back to me as I walked around!

I also have to thank Katy and Keilee for putting up with my spending an incessant amount of time there, when I know they definitely would have rather been somewhere else :)

From there we went window shopping at the Avenue de Champs Elysses!

For the first (and only unintentional) time of the trip, we definitely got lost and it took quite some time to get there, but it was worth it!

I got to go to Laduree and buy a box of macaroons all for myself :)

That was like a dream! 

All of those pastries and macaroons in there made me swoon!

We walked the Champs Elysses, which was heaven at every turn, from Louboutin, Tiffany's, Mercedes Benz, and so so so much more.

That pear shaped yellow diamond is my dream ring!
SO stunning!

While walking around we found a place to eat some lunch, and I had the most brilliant and life-changing Creme Brûlée of my entire existence.

At the risk of sounding like a psychopath, I literally got teary eyed with that first bite.

I fully expect I will never have Creme Brûlée that delectable ever again.

At the end of the Champs is the Arc de Triomphe!

Shortly after the above photo was taken Katy was stung by a bee, and I'm pretty sure I laughed for a good five minutes :)

After that the three of us argued about how in the world to actually get to the Arc de Triomphe.

Once we found the secret passageway I sat and ate my first Laduree Macroon while watching the sunset over the city.

It was fantastic!

We wanted to find some Crepes for dinner before heading back to the hotel, and while we were walking around we stumbled on this concept car, a Peugeot Onyx.

Super cool!

But even better was the Mercedes Benz museum which put me in car heaven!

1957 300 SL Roadster

1959 300 SL Roadster!

We finally found crepes, and they were the best crepes ever with fresh fruit and cream!
It's safe to say this day was a very amazing day for food and for art!

I ended the evening back at the hotel with a couple more macaroons.

I was happy :)

At this point I had decided that France wins when it comes to food and museums, but as a city in general it just didn't really impress.
Maybe I was still on a high from that amazing day in London!

Regardless, the next day was our day for the Place of Versailles and the Eiffel Tower, and I was oh so excited!

My Month in Europe: Paris Day Three

There was so much anticipation for me leading up to this day, mainly because it was the day my mom was the most jealous of!

Right away when I told her we were going to the Palace of Versailles she begged me to take as many pictures as possible :)

We woke up and took a train to Versailles, which is a gorgeous little French town!

The Palace itself is massive and the exterior is absolutely stunning.

This is my, "Look, mom! I'm here!" pose ;)

We did a tour inside with an audio guide and it was stunning, but to be honest, I was a little disappointed.

I suppose it just wasn't quite what I was expecting, as far as only being able to see a portion of the Palace and it being so insanely crowded.

(I don't do well with crowds, as was very clearly manifest at the top of the Eiffel Tower... You'll hear about that soon...)

My favorite rooms were the hall pictured below, which I believe was either a dining hall or used for parties, and the Hall of Mirrors.

 

Had I known that I would be so unenthralled by the inside of the palace I would have skipped it all together and spent the entire morning in the gardens.

I would gladly take a trip back to Versailles to explore the gardens some more!

Seeing the gardens was a non-negotiable, as we had seen Powerscourt in Dublin, ranked #3, and now we had the chance to see Versailles, ranked #1.
I was so antsy with excitement!

They had courtyards where classical music or Opera were playing, and I instantly wished my dad could have been there.

My dad raised me with a love for music and that's often how we bond.

Well, that and going on hikes, so this was kind of the best of both worlds :)

I knew he would love being in the secluded parts of the gardens with that music playing so serenely in the background.

It was so peaceful.

Fall was in full swing in the gardens, so I couldn't resist making everyone take a cheesy leaf-throwing picture. 

We were in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, how could you not?!

P.S. Brandon's face (far left) made and ruined this picture all at the same time :)

You guys, I can't even begin to describe how massive the gardens are.

I'm positive we only saw 1/5 of the entire thing, if that!

We spent a couple of hours walking around, eating lunch (and gelato of course), and buying some gifts for family back home.

There were so many perfect kitchen and garden things I would have loved to get my mom, but there was just no way to keep them safe throughout the rest of the trip and transport them back home.

I settled with Wild Elderberry Jam and we've been enjoying it on occasional Sunday dinners since I've been back home!

We had to get back to Paris because we had group tickets to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

This was the first time I'd seen it up close and it is so much bigger than you think!

It was a long wait and a long ride to get to the top, but the view was gorgeous!

I never had brothers growing up, but I imagine they'd treat me like these four did all throughout the trip.

From endless teasing to heart-to-hearts, these guys made Europe a blast!

You can see almost every big Paris landmark from the top of the Eiffel Tower, including the Arc de Triomphe in the photo above!

Being 100% honest, I will never ever pay or take the time to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower again.
It was so crowded just waiting in line to take one of the elevators down and I had strangers pressed up against me on all sides.
I started feeling incredibly claustrophobic, and having asthma that's never a good thing.
I took my inhaler a couple of times, but the wait was just so long and I wanted to be out of there so bad.
It sounds silly even to me now, but I ended up having a full on panic attack.
I've never had one before and I honestly don't even know why it happened, but it was pretty scary and I'm pretty sure a part of me will always hate the Eiffel Tower because of that :)

Thankfully after about an hour of waiting and taking cramped elevators we were back on the ground.

From there we decided to grab some quick dinner and take a night tour by boat.

Quick tip - if you ever go to France, never buy crepes from the street vendors on the river, unless they're banana nutella crepes.
You have been warned.

By the time we got on the boat it was dark and we were last on so we ended up standing out on the deck.
We left on the hour right near the Eiffel Tower, so it was twinkling.
It is so true that Paris is most beautiful at night.
Not only at night, but in the rain.
It started raining and luckily I was prepared with my raincoat, so I stayed out on the deck and took in the lit-up city.
I could honestly not have been happier being able to experience Paris at night, from the river, in the rain.
It was a dream practically straight from a movie.
(Midnight in Paris, anyone?!)

 The boat tour was the perfect farewell to Paris, getting to see the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, the Lock Bridge, people dining right on the river, and a twinkling Eiffel Tower greeting us at the end.

Although Paris wasn't my favorite city from the trip, I'd say it definitely treated me well.