Paris is always a good idea

“Paris is always a good idea.” –Audrey Hepburn

This is exactly what Andie and I thought when we chose to visit Paris during Valentine’s Day weekend. Nothing like a ~romantic~ weekend in the city of love with your bff!!! LOL. But in general, Audrey said it right because there’s not a thing I could think of that would make Paris a bad idea in any way.

We arrived at our Airbnb Thursday evening to be greeted by the homeowner Philippe, aka the cutest old French man in the world. He provided us breakfast each morning consisting of French bread with marmalade and much-needed American coffee.

Friday morning bright and early we sought out the metro to go about figuring it out, which proved to be relatively easy and inexpensive as well as incredibly useful throughout our next two days—a day pass was only €7 and included the use of any metro line within the city limits. By the end of trip, Andie and I might as well have been locals, that’s how strong our metro game was. Our first stop of the day was the Eiffel Tower, as we were trying to beat the crowd. We got there around 10am (30 minutes after it opened) and were pleasantly surprised/shocked to see virtually no line and in general an extreme lack of crowds or very many tourists at all. We were thus easily able to right away begin the 600-step trek to the second floor. It was a little foggy this morning, providing an incomplete but still breathtaking view of the city. The tower itself also looked incredible surrounded by a fog blanket.

Next we hopped on the metro to the Louvre, one of the largest museums in the world and a central landmark of Paris. I was lucky to have been here before during my last trip to Paris as a 10-year-old, but I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to go back at this time in my life. Having studied a decent portion of the Louvre’s art in AP Art History in high school (S/O Jean Peters) as well as in general having a greater appreciation for art and history at my age now, needless to say the Louvre was incredible. The coolest part about the Louvre is that the building itself is also a work of art, originally a royal fortress built in the 12th century. We spent several hours roaming around the museum and admiring its masterpieces. (I mean roaming quite literally, as the Louvre is an actual maze. Finding the right exit when we finally wanted to leave took probably 30 minutes.) Obviously some pics of the Louvre favorites were necessary, aka the homie Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and Winged Nike. And of course a photoshoot of sorts in the Napoleon Courtyard was also a must.

Mona Lisa

Venus de Milo

Winged Nike

After the Louvre we were feeling rather famished and therefore treated ourselves to some typical French cuisine at a cafe along the Seine River, including crepes and croque-madames.

We then made the necessary stops to the beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral and Basilique du Sacré-Coeur, both spectacular to admire from the outside and inside. Unfortunately, while at the basilica we were deceivingly scammed by bracelet-wielding African men and accidentally stumbled into a prayer service complete with an appearance of singing nuns. However, the hill upon which the basilica sits provided a breathtaking view of the sprawling city at dusk, so it was definitely worth it.

Notre Dame Cathedral

View from the Basilica

By now it was time to begin the hunt for dinner. We had spent very little money nor eaten very much all day (our student visas got us in for free at the Louvre #blessed) so we were ready to splurge, and decided on a cute restaurant near the river called Le _______ (insert French-sounding name). For €16 we got the set menu consisting of a delicious tomato-mozzarella appetizer and a pot of mussels for our entrée. By “pot” I mean the kitchen appliance once uses to cook macaroni for a family of four. The picture below just doesn't do it justice. But WOW.

Towards the end of our meal we befriended a young American in Paris on business (or rather, he befriended us after asking if he could buy us a drink and talk in English for a while) who ended up being from Chicago and having random connections to people we know. The world is a small place. We chatted about school and jobs and the ~professional world~, of which he had a lot of advice to give. While discussing the countless cool cities Andie and I wouldn’t mind finding jobs in after graduation, something he said stuck out to me. It doesn’t matter where you live, how cool of a city it is, what the weather is like, or what state you’re in—if you’re not surrounded by people you enjoy and love, you won’t be happy. Or, as my ridiculous shorthand in the note on my phone reads: “it’s all bout the ppl u surround urself w.” So I really love that. I also really love meeting strangers and making friends in new cities.

Speaking of which, after dinner we headed towards a street our new friend calls “Diagon Alley” (if you understand this reference you’re the best kind of person) and stumbled upon a very swanky, very French piano bar, which ended up being one of my favorite and most spontaneous memories of the weekend. The piano player was accompanied by a very theatrical Marilyn Monroe-esque singer and together they created a super fun atmosphere. At some point four Americans who were also in Paris on business sat at the table next to us and we got to chatting. Basically Andie and I hung out with real-life adults for the night and therefore were feeling very ~cool and mature~. We reluctantly left around 1am (a mere disgrace by Salamanca standards) as we had another very early, long day ahead of us. Side note: using the metro while minimally buzzed is inherently more fun than doing so while not.

Saturday morning came very soon but somehow we managed to drag our weary selves to the metro by a little after 9am to embark upon the expected 45-minute journey to Versailles. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to us (specifically because the lady who sold us our metro ticket failed to inform us:,)) the main line to Versailles was closed for the weekend due to construction so we had to do some impressive problem-solving/trial-and-error to finally somehow make it there around 1 ½ hours later. However it really was okay in the end because even though we got there a little after 11am (I thought this was late?), we literally walked straight into the palace without waiting in any kind of line. Can’t complain about that, nor about our student visas coming in clutch with the free entry yet again.

Versailles was just as amazing as I remembered. When I was younger I was obsessed with European royalty (ugh) and therefore love the history of Versailles and its role in the story of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution. Tragically, Marie Antoinette’s wing is closed for TWO YEARS (!!!) for reconstruction but we were still able to see the incredible gardens, all of the State Apartments, the king's private rooms and of course the Hall of Mirrors. (Here’s an epic mirror selfie for your viewing pleasure.)

After the trek back to the city we ate lunch by the Arc de Triumphe and took a stroll down Champs-Élysées, a famous mile-long street of beautiful historic buildings and expensive retail that is used today for the Bastille Day parade and the end of Tour de France. There were actually lines to even enter the most high-end stores…people are crazy. We splurged only by visiting Ladurée, perhaps Paris’s most famous luxury bakery and one of the most best-known premiere macaroon sellers in the world. We admittedly did have to wait in line to go in—it was a Thursday night at the Hawk one-in one-out kinda deal. Feeling like Blair Waldorf (except not really because she wouldn’t have had to wait in line), we treated ourselves to four mini macaroons each. It was worth it.

We then made our way to Musée d’Orsay, an impressionist museum housed in a beautiful old railway station, only to arrive three minutes before it closed. Typical. Guess I just have another reason to come back!!! So instead we wandered around for a while, strolling alongside the Seine. It was dusk (my favorite time of day) and I think that if possible, the city is at its most beautiful and magical during this time. We bought a bottle of €4 champagne and made our way to the Eiffel Tower, where for the next three hours we sat on a bench underneath it drinking cheap as hell (but actually not too bad) champagne out of the bottle. 10/10 would recommend. In the evening the tower blinks for five minutes on the hour. Watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle is something I think I could do for the rest of my life. This was one of my favorite moments of the trip—it was almost surreal, one of those times where it was hard to believe that I was in Paris as a 21-year-old with my best friend. My tipsy tweet sums it up (literally why did I think it was necessary to tweet this): “Currently drinking champagne under the Eiffel Tower & just feeling really grateful for this life & also for the truly magical city of Paris.”

We ended the night and trip with dinner at a restaurant nearby, equally as delicious as the night before. By Sunday morning we had walked almost 25 miles in the previous two days and were sore, exhausted and extremely worn-down. I’m here to tell you that 48 hours in Paris is doable, but tiring. If only we could’ve stayed another few days...but our wallets and GPA’s were begging us not to. The travel day home was mildly painful, but all good things must come to an end. Paris, I’ll be back for ya.