Sunday August 6

This morning we woke up and headed to Paris, France! Yes-that happened. Lol

Paris was an idea we had a few days ago, when someone told us the flight was an hour away from Dublin. Merhawit realized I had never been and worked her should be travel agent ways and we had cheap flights and a hotel in a perfect area of the city for just 95€ between us for tonight. AMAZING.

We had an early flight at 6:30am so we had an early start.  Arrived in Paris and took the train & metro into Paris which I must say is a fantastic system. The trains are clean and the routes are pretty much dummy proof. Not knowing the language has been a smidge challenging…english is not a thing here. We are clearly foreigners and it’s awesome. Haha After getting ourselves to the hotel I am IN LOVE WITH THIS CITY. I have never been anywhere that is so beautiful. Every street, every park, every inch of this city is cared for–and it’s breathtaking.

We dropped our bags and headed to Versailles. (Disclaimer–get a cut the line pass/tour ahead of time. We waited in line for almost 2 hours with no shade on cobblestone to get in and the sun was blazing) OK-Can I just say… for a summer home–it’s a lot. Louis XIV was so extra, but I am enjoying it. Haha The palace is HUGE and the artwork/decor/Furniture/Grandeur is more impressive than I could have ever imagined. This is just something you experience bc photos are great but no where near being there and taking it all in. Walking through every room with one more grand than the previous and halls with amazing artwork on the ceilings and dramatic heights of the rooms. Absolutely amazing. We also bought the pass for the gardens which are IMPRESSIVE. They go on forever and you immediately recognize the plan-fullness that went into architecting the landscape you are treading on. You can literally get lost in the gardens and I totally had a secret garden flashback from childhood. I loved that movie. Haha You can rent these adorable row boats in the pond and enjoy the gardens from that perspective as well.

I must say, the garden in Versailles is incredibly romantic if you are in France with your person. You can rent bikes and there are restaurants as well. I think you can also purchase entrance just to the gardens if you want to bring blankets and lawn games for a picnic afternoon, we sat next to people doing that.

One funny story was the take away situation. Take away aka takeout is not popular here. Merhawit and I found this out the hard way. We asked our server if we could have our sandwiches take away as we wanted to enjoy the rest of the gardens before closing and our server made an unhappy face, then questioned why we don’t want to eat there? Then had to make sure he understood that we actually wanted to eat our food from, “Plastic!?” It was a learning experience. We are tacky. Lol

Once we got back from Versailles we went to the hotel and changed for our night tour of the Eiffel Tower. We were on the metro again and met our tour guide and fellow tourists at 9:45pm. We had a great guide and saw the Eiffel Tower “sparkle” for 5mins. It was beautiful! They light up thinly lights on the Eiffel Tower for 5 mins a night so people gather to see it. From there we went inside and took in the views. Every corner your eye looks is another insane/historic structure. It’s awesome and truly beautiful at night.

We got out around 11:30 and headed back towards the hotel in search of a late dinner.
This ended up being more challenging than we thought but we eventually found a little cafe, “Cafe Louise”near our hotel on Saint Germaine des pres. We both had gnocchi and it was hands down one of the best meals of my life. The gnocchi was bigger and a different shape than I am used to in the states….the cheese and cream was addicting and the “ham” was the best prosciutto I have ever had. Seriously. I wiped my bowl with the fresh bread and washed it down with a great French Pinot Noir that was 6€ which seemed wrong because it was so good. Haha Annnnnnd I am now hungry again. Ugh From there we walked back to the hotel with happy hearts and tummys and passed out.

Random Notes:
*If you are in another country without google translate you pick up the language quickER.
*Cafe’s here are adorable, and I love that you face the street and take it in with your meals or coffee.
*Public restrooms pretty much don’t exist. You have to buy a drink at a cafe to use the Lou which is kind of a vicious circle. Lol Plus a water is like 3€. So go before you leave the hotel.
*There is a line (que) for seemingly everything in this city. EVERYTHING.
*Be prepared to walk a ton, my feet still hurt from 2 days there.
*EAT EVERYTHING. Seriously. Also, the French eat dinner normally 7-10:30…lunch 12-2:30. Eating outside those times can be more difficult.
*When you see “ham” in a dish on the menu it’s normally Prosciutto. #Fancy