When in Paris...

We’re finally back into the swing of things. I wanted to get vacation recap posts up before I become lazy and/or forget about things. The trip was amazing but tiring to say the least. We left home at noon and arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport around 8:00 the next morning. At that point, we were up for almost 24 hours and still needed to find our way into the city. We somehow managed to figure out the Paris train system. 2 train rides and 2 hours later, we made it to our hotel. On top of that, I unfortunately caught a bug on the way there and felt miserable the entire time. I crashed as soon as we checked into our room. As I was lying in bed, I kept thinking to myself – I am in Paris, why am I lying here? I forced myself to get up and do what I do best – shopping (lol – don’t judge!). We made our way to the original Chanel boutique (located at 30 Rue Gembon). I was expecting the wait but luckily, that was not the case. We got in right away and only had to wait 15 minutes to be helped by a SA. I will do a separate post about my shopping experiences in Paris/Rome as well as my VAT refund experience. We spent the rest of the day exploring the area, got back to our room and called it a night.

Woke up the next morning feeling like a new person and ready to explore the city. The first stop, of course was the Eiffel Tower. It’s pretty impressive to say the least. We spent some time admiring the incredible structure. The queue going up in the tower was very long so we decided to skip it. We spent almost 2 hours at the tower, took a gazillion photos and loved every moment of it. You need to be fully aware of all the scammers, pick pockets and vendors that abound in the area. We then strolled along the Seine river, saw the Arc de Triomphe in the distance, passed by Musée d'Orsay and made our way to the chic neighborhood of Saint-Germain

We stopped by Bistrot Saint-André (36 Rue Saint André des Arts, 75006) for a quick lunch. Service was great but food was just overall average. After lunch, we headed to Saint-Germain City Pharma to pick up some skincare products for my Mom. The place was absolutely crazy and packed to the rim. A lot of French skincare brands like Caudalie, Vichy, Bioderma are cheaper in France. They’re even cheaper in City Pharma. If you're planning a trip to Paris, make sure you visit this place. It’s always helpful to bring a list with you. I ended up getting 2 of the Caudalie Vinoperfect Serum for the price of one (£35 vs. $79 at Sephora)

{Wearing: Trench | Shoes | Skirt | Sunglasses | Scarf | Camera}

We then made our way to the Pont des Arts bridge (the Lover’s bridge). It was really cool to see thousands of padlocks on the bridge, each engraved with a message of love. Last stop of the day was Notre Dame. Words can't express how beautiful it is! We were just in awe of the stunning architecture and beautiful inside and out from all angles. Being one of Paris’s free attractions, this amazing cathedral is well worth a visit. We then made our way back to the hotel, had dinner and ended our second day. 

Last day in Paris - We woke up early and headed to the Louvre Museum. We made so many stops on the way there and didn't get to the museum until 11:00 a.m. We had to wait almost 2 hours just to get in. Luckily, it wasn't raining. The museum is massive and filled with over 35,000 works of art. It is one of the world's largest museums and you can undoubtedly spend your entire day there. We went straight to the main attraction which is the famous Mona Lisa painting. There were literally hundreds of people in front of the painting taking pictures. The little one and I did wiggle through the crowd and saw the painting up close and personal. We ended up spending 4 hours at the Louvre, grabbed a late lunch at L'Impérial Brasserie (food and service were both wonderful) and headed back to the hotel for our dinner cruise.

We booked a dinner cruise for our last night in Paris. Since everyone is all dressed up, we decided to take a cab instead of walking to the port. We hailed a random taxi outside the hotel door without realizing the driver doesn't speak a single word of English. I gave him the address knowing that the port is only 10 minutes away. The driver didn't seem to know where he was going. After driving around for 30 minutes through little alleys, he still couldn't find the port. At that point, I was concerned. We started asking questions and he seemed mad. He finally made a stop at a random port and asked strangers for directions. We all got out of the vehicle as quick as we could. The guy was incredibly rude and demanded the fare even though he didn't get us where we needed to be. We ended up getting another cab and have missed the boat by the time we got to the port. It was very frustrating to say the least. Seeing Paris at night from the Seine river was one of the things I look forward to the most. However, I am glad everyone was safe that night. We went back to the hotel, ordered Chinese take out and got everything packed for our early morning flight to Rome. Paris is a beautiful city and I wish we had more time there.

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When in Paris...