Paris is ALWAYS a good idea!
If you don’t know me very well, you might not realize that I’ve been obsessed with Paris, specifically the Eiffel Tower, my entire life. You see, I grew up in Paris…Tennessee. (Did you think France while reading that? Most people give me a funny look when I pause after Paris when I tell them where I’m from.) In our little tiny West Tennessee town, we have our own “Eiffel Tower”. While it only stands 60 feet tall, it’s one of the staples of the city. (You can learn all about Paris, TN here) All that to say, whenever we found out we were moving to Germany, my husband knew that Paris had to be one of the first places we visited. Thankfully, he’s known my obsession with the Eiffel Tower for many years, as most of the framed artwork in our house many years ago had something to do with Paris when we first got married.
We were very blessed that the first time we visited this amazing city my parents kept our children so we could site see on our own. It was the fastest, most exhilarating, most exhausting 48 hours of my life. Ha! We trained into the city, walked a million miles, and trained home. I won’t forget the first time we saw the Eiffel Tower though…it was breathtaking! I’d dreamed of seeing it for so long, it was everything I had imagined!
Paris is such a massive city, but it is so amazing! Many people hear that French people are not kind people, and I disagree. We were never treated poorly, and enjoyed everyone that we met. The second day that we were in Paris I had a sunrise photo shoot at Trocadero with two couples. It was so much fun!!! Plus, since it was October, the sun came up later so we were able to sleep in a bit. The colors from this sunrise were breathtaking! Just to stand on that platform and gaze at this magnificent, historical structure in all its glory, in the dark…and in the orange glow of the sun…PERFECTION! We’re so blessed that we can travel around Europe and witness this magic.
Ok, ok…enough about the Eiffel Tower…Paris has SO many amazing landmarks! I think my second favorite is the Arc de Triomphe. After spending more time in Europe I’ve come to learn that these types of arc’s are very common…but man…they are always so stunning! The craftsmanship, the sheer size…its astonishing! While this arc is one of the most famous, it’s also my favorite of all of them that we’ve witnessed. Being that I am a photographer, I always want “that shot”. While visiting this amazing city I couldn’t help myself when it came to finding that perfect location or angle. In doing this, I may or may not have aggravated my husband a few times as he didn’t appreciate my willingness to stand in BUSY traffic to grab a photo of a landmark. Ha! How dare he not understand that this is IMPORTANT!! Ha!! If you’ve never been to Paris, the traffic is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Sheer CHAOS! Cars are within mere inches of the one in front of them, constant honking, they have to slam on their brakes every few seconds because they lunged too far forward. It’s bananas…and may be the reason my husband was not a fan of me trying to play frogger in France.
The Louvre was another stop of ours…and once again…WOW! This place is so deceiving if you ask me! My first thought was, wow that pyramid is so cool…click, click, click. We entered the entrance line (which was not short, but moved pretty quickly) and I was still very oblivious to what I was walking in to. Once we paid and entered my mouth fell open. That place is ENORMOUS. I was not ready for everything that just came my way. Mind you, we’d been walking for a full day already so I was not the happiest person on the planet when my husband wanted to see EVERY room, and EVERY piece of history. (face palm)
One thing that we both wanted to lay our eyes on was the Mona Lisa…everyone does, right? Well, I can’t lie…that was a huge disappointment for both of us. First, there was another massive line to view this masterpiece that we did not want to stand in. Being the impatient couple we are, we decided we didn’t want to wait…so we walked around the line to get closer. You guys, the picture is a simple 8×10 size painting…which we didn’t expect. So, I snapped a few photos with my zoom lens, and off we went to the next room. Pretty big letdown, but we recovered quickly. After a few hours of walking around the Louvre, my husband was happy with his exploration and we were ready to go find food. All in all it was a good time, but we’ll need to go back another time since the museum is too large to see everything in one day.
One of the things I will never forget about Europe, and Paris especially is the ornate architecture. It’s unlike anything I have ever laid my eyes on. So detailed, so perfect, so unique. Upon arrival to Europe I made sure to teach my children that no matter where you are, inside or outside, in a new place…don’t forget to look UP! We miss so much focused on what is directly in front of us, and the most lavish paintings are on the ceiling sometimes.
I’m sure everyone knows about Paris and macarons. If you’ve never had a fresh one…do yourself a favor and try ALL of them! So delicious and so worth the experience! Between the fancy macaron shops and the gelato restaurants that offer to put a macaron on top of your ice cream, I think I tried them all! My favorites are strawberry and salted caramel.
Over the last three years I’ve been to Paris twice, the first time with just my husband and the second the kids joined us. It’s such a magical place with so much charm.
Everyone should see Paris…it’s ALWAYS a good idea.
Don’t forget to follow me on social media. My Facebook page is here, and my instagram can be found here.
