European Adventure | Days 1 & 2

Aww, Paris. J'adore Paris.

Mom and I began our European adventure in Paris, one of my favorite cities in the world. I first visited Paris in 2004, and Dad and I spent about 10 hours in the Paris airport back in 2006 (on our way to South Africa). I loved being able to return 10 years later and see some new things as well as some old favorites.

We arrived in Paris after a sleepless night on the plane, but once we made it to the boat and got settled, we set off to explore. We had originally planned to visit the Musée d'Orsay, but once we arrived outside the museum, we saw the longest line of people waiting to get inside. Since we had so little time in Paris, we didn't want to spend it standing in line. Instead, we walked across the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor to the Tuileries Garden. The Garden was all abloom — there were flowers and green trees and people out enjoying the outdoors.





The Musée de l'Orangerie is located along one corner of the Garden, and although there was a line here too, we braved it and made it in fairly quickly. The museum houses Monet's Water Lilies, along with several other works of art, and both Mom and I really enjoyed our visit. It definitely made our trip to Giverny a few days later more meaningful. After we left the museum, we took the Metro back to the boat and enjoyed our first dinner on board.


The next morning we took a bus tour of the city to many of Paris's most famous sites, including the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and the Louvre. While we were at Notre Dame, Mom and I made a mad dash over to Shakespeare & Company, a bookstore I've wanted to visit for years. We took several wrong turns and were about to give up when suddenly it appeared around the corner. I only had a few minutes to look around and grab a book off the shelf (I decided on a Fitzgerald) before we had to walk back to the bus. At least I was able to mark something new off my bucket list.



After our guided tour ended, Mom and I set off on our own. We headed back to the Île de la Cité for a lunch of crepes before visiting Sainte-Chappelle, a Gothic chapel located near Notre Dame. It was absolutely breathtaking inside, especially the stained glass windows on the top floor. We then took the Metro to Montmartre and Sacré-Couer, one of the highest points in Paris. The views were spectacular, especially once we climbed the 300 steps to the top of Sacré-Couer's dome.




By the time we climbed back down, however, our legs were shaking, and the thought of doing anything else was a little intimidating. We rewarded ourselves with macarons and headed back to the boat. That evening we said au revoir to Paris and began sailing down the Seine.

If you'd like to see more of my vacation photos, please visit my France and England album on Flickr.