Je’taime Paris! (That means I love Paris, right?) I don’t know if it was the novelty of being in a country for the first time, or this being our first stop that truly felt like Europe, but I loved Paris.
Its historic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Notre Dame literally had an emotional effect on me, unlike I remember feeling in any other city. Paris is just, first and foremost, a beautiful city. The architecture, the narrow winding streets of Le Marais, the islands in the middle of the Seine, the sparkling Eiffel Tower at night…
I loved watching everyone carrying home a baguette in the afternoon, or listening to Parisians speak a language I barely know at all, or wealthy tourists strolling the Champs Elysee (not us poor tourists, ones that could actually afford to walk into LV and buy a bunch of stuff).
There’s just a different atmosphere in Paris than in other European cities I’ve visited so far – it’s historic, it’s delicate, it’s royal, it’s world-reknown.
I’m definitely coming back, and soon! On my to-do list:
- Learn French
- Visit the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery
- Spend more time at the Louvre
- See the Catacombs
- Wander around the Latin Quarter
- Eat fine French food
- Have a picnic with a baguette, some French cheese and wine
- Visit Sacre-Coeur and Montmarte