on our third day in Paris we set off to buy some sneakers (which I somehow forgot to bring) because the boots that I had been wearing gave me terrible blisters. they were new so not worn in a apparently a little small after having swollen feet from walking around all day. they were so painful to wear that it was a priority to find better shoes. Jason's feet were killing him too- next big trip we are definitely wearing shoes that are comfortable rather than just look good. I was able to find some cute Adidas at the mall and it made a world of difference.
we ate tasty croissants for breakfast (which became a staple food- that and crepes) and walked to the Paris Opera house.
we walked by some fancy stores and they already had their holiday window displays set up. I didn't know they did that in Paris too and they were way better than the ones we saw in New York.
I love how well you can see the beautiful Paris buildings reflected in the glass in this pic.
we walked to the Palais Garnier opera house.
we went inside the Palais Garnier.
we took the subway to Montmartre. the subway reminded me a lot of the one in New York only cleaner and some stops were much fancier. also, while New York has some great fashion it is nothing compared to the styles in Paris. it seemed like every one I saw was incredibly stylish and smelled amazing. I felt so under dressed and wanted to have a Parisian buy me a new wardrobe! I also kept smelling a similar perfume or cologne and I wish I knew what it was so I could buy some. it was some of the best smelling perfume I have smelled on anyone and I wasn't able to find anything similar in stores there.
this guy with his tuba was the Paris version of a subway musician :)
in Montmartre we went to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica which is on a hill and has a great view of the city. along the way I found this jacket at what I think is their equivalent of a thrift store? it just had huge bins full of clothing that you had to rummage through.
a couple was getting their wedding pictures taken while we were there. such an incredible photo shoot location!
we left to explore Montmartre.
the photo of the dogs below I find so funny. the sign on the door said something about being back soon and obviously the dogs got into a little mischief while they were gone! everyone that was passing by stopped and laughed at them.
even the subway entrances in Paris are beautiful!
I love the movie Amelie so we went to the cafe where it was filmed - Cafe des 2 Moulins. we had just planned on visiting it and leaving but we were hungry so we decided to eat there. it was definitely more touristy than other places we could've eaten but we didn't want to spend a lot of time looking for somewhere else to eat. our favorite food we ate in France turned out to be their crepes and pastries. we didn't eat anything else that was amazing but we probably just didn't know where to eat or the right food to order. I'm not very eager to eat snails or frog legs though so maybe french food isn't for me!
the cafe definitely capitalizes on its movie fame and they had a large Amelie poster and memorabilia from the movie near the bathroom. our waiter was so fun though and he showed a more goofy side of the French people.
we took the (beautiful) subway to the Saint Chapelle.
this building is the Palais de Justice which we didn't go inside but the exterior was so pretty.
we only went to the Saint Chapelle because it was on our museum pass but I am glad we went. the interior was so elaborate, colorful and the details were amazing. it has some of the most beautiful stained glass I have ever seen. I just took a bunch of cell phone pics inside and sadly a lot of them are blurry.
the hand painted walls were fantastic. I think the castle pattern would make perfect wallpaper for a kids room or playroom.
we walked to the Notre Dame cathedral which was right next to the Saint Chapelle.
we climbed lots of stairs in a cramped spiral staircase to the tower of the Notre Dame. it was around sunset and it was one of my favorite things we did in Paris. the view was incredible.
my favorite part was being able to see the Gargoyles up close. I couldn't get over how cool that was!
we stayed up on the tower until it got dark then climbed down the stairs. we decided to walk to the Marais district one of the oldest districts in Paris. Paris is so romantic- all the time- but even more so at night.
I loved walking around all the little shops in the Marais district. we found that most French people at shops and restaurants spoke at least some English but if not we were still able to get what we needed across. French is such a beautiful language and I really wish that I knew it better.
if we had more time I would have loved to go back to that district during the day. definitely something I want to do next Paris visit!
we got crepes at this delicious little place called Creperie Suzette. here is their yelp page so you can drool at the tasty looking crepes! it seems weird to me to find their page because a lot of being in Paris seems like a dream to me now.. or rather that this little restaurant that we stumbled into belonged outside of the internet- if that makes sense. so finding it online solidifies that it actually happened- I guess along with my pictures ;) they were by far the best crepes we had in Paris and my stomach is growling just looking at the homemade caramel sauce!
I couldn't get enough of these giant doors.
we went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe next to see the view. we never had time to go during the day and I really wish we had.
it was our last night in Paris and I was very sad to leave. every night we saw the Eiffel Tower twinkle which happen every hour so we stayed on top of the Arc de Triomphe until 10 to see it- for some reason it didn't twinkle that time.
we went back to our airbnb exhausted but it was such an incredible day! I loved Paris so much!
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