It has been two and a half months since I got back from my trip to Paris and let me tell you, I think about it every single day. Aside from this being my first major international trip, I absolutely fell in love with the city. The architecture, the food, the architecture....I mean just look at The Louvre.
Unfortunately, Kendall and I were only in Paris for five days. So of course we had to knock out the touristy things in the first day or two - The Louvre, The Eiffel Tower, etc. Don't get me wrong, these were some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We spent several hours in the Louvre and probably didn't even traverse half of it.
We're huge foodies, so we had reservations EVERYWHERE. While yes, the nice restaurants were incredible. We honestly enjoyed every corner bistro and café that we went to just as much. We ended up canceling some reservations and just wandering around the city. Stopping for lunch and macaroons as we please.
Recommendations: Giraffe, Le Castiglione, Le Train Bleu (get the lamb, seriously), and literally ANY corner bistro.
Photography
Paris was an absolute gold mine for photography. I was fortunate enough for the weather to cooperate pretty much the whole trip.
The nightlife and street photography was awesome, as well as the monuments and architecture. An entirely different world from the United States.
However, the two places that really stood out were:
The Catacombs, which was a whole experience in itself. The story behind them, walking through the dimly lit, cramped, tunnels avoiding moisture seeping through the cracks in the ceilings really made the images seen in movies (such as As Above So Below) a reality.
The second was Sainte-Chapelle. From what I gathered, a portion of this street/building is now the courthouse in Paris. The street was lined with Police vans and littered with armed officers, all of whom were very polite individuals. When you walk inside the chapel, you are nothing short of breathless. I'm not a religious person, but seeing 1,113 scenes of the bible depicted by hand on stained glass was mesmerizing. Check it out below!
What I learned
Do the touristy things - if you haven't been you'll be blown away
Get the lamb at Le Train Bleu - I cannot stress this enough
I am a huge fan of the Metro
Take a night walk. Paris has so many great locations for cinematic night photos. We felt safe the entire time.
Don't over dress! You would think with all of the designer brands in Paris that Parisians would dress in immaculate fashion. There were a few nights at nice restaurants where we were by far the most dressed up people in the building.
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