48 Hours in Paris: Day Two

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For the last day of our Paris getaway, we decided not to let the bad weather stop us from seeing the Eiffel Tower. Luckily, the rain did not hit before we got there, so we were able to enjoy an hour or so checking out this magnificent tourist favorite. When we went to Paris a few years ago we climbed to the top, so we decided not to climb it again this time. After snapping a few pictures, we headed to a local cafe for lunch.  Our friend that recommend Angelina to us also recommend to check out Amorino, where we could get beautiful, flower-shaped gelato. We just couldn’t pass that up! Our gelato was not only gorgeous, but it tasted so great as well! Allie tried a combination of coffee, chocolate, and raspberry. Shortly after eating our gelato, the intense rain hit (which probably explains our lack of photos after the gelato trip). We took a cab to the Catacombs, something we both had been dying to see. Allie read that the lines are always very, very long, so we had our fingers crossed that they wouldn’t be as long with the rain. However, when we arrived, we noticed hundreds and hundreds of people in line- all with umbrella in hand. We spent a second or two contemplating if we wanted to wait in line, but we decided we wouldn’t have enough time because we needed to head to the train station in just a few hours. Next time I go to Paris, I will definitely wait in line to see the Catacombs. Though it sounds a little creepy- ‘The World’s Largest Grave’- it definitely seems really cool and interesting. Allie and I decided to hit the Musee d’Orsay instead! We have actually never been to this specific museum before, so we decided it would be the perfect activity on this rainy day. After waiting in line for 30-40 minutes in the rain, it was finally time to enter this incredible museum. The Musee d’Orsay is actually housed in a former railroad station, which is something so unique. I really enjoyed this museum because I love Impressionist paintings (almost as much as I love Surrealism). Last year in college, I studied Degas a lot and did several master copies of his work. I really enjoyed all of the Degas pieces that the Musee d’Orsay had to offer! We also got to see tons of beautiful Van Gough pieces including the famous ‘Starry Night Over the Rhone’, ‘Self Portrait’, and ‘The Bedroom’. With an hour left before our train, we stopped by a chaotic Starbucks to hide from the rain. People were sitting on the floor in the Starbucks- willing to do anything to get out of the storm and have some warm coffee. We made a friend in the Starbucks, and we shared stories of our favorite things that Paris and London had to offer. Allie and I ran back to our hotel through the pouring rain to collect our bags and catch a cab to the train station (the tubes near us were shut down due to the Tour de France). I was really wishing I hadn’t worn a maxi dress because it was completely doused. I was so ready to get back to my dorm so I could shower and put on some warm pajamas. We sat near my two LSE friends on the train ride back, and I took a great nap. After we got back to my dorm, Allie ran to Chipotle in the rain and brought us back some tacos to eat in bed. Does it get any better than that? I can’t imagine a more perfect weekend in Paris!

xoxo

48 Hours in Paris: Day One

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Hot chocolate at Angelina

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The Louvre 

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Oh so candid

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‘Is my finger on the pointy part?’

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Okay, I tried.

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Rebecca Minkoff purse (c/o)

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Picked up Crepes on our way to Champs-Elysees

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Heaven on Earth

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We wanted to try the Laduree ice-cream, but it was a little too chilly

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Raspberry, Chocolate, Coffee, Rose Petal, Marie-Antoinette Tea, and Vanilla

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Arc de Triomphe 
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Just a little excited about my Laduree macaroons 

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Half up-half down + bun

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Sacre-Coeur 

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48 hours in Paris. In an incredible city like Paris, it can truly be hard to narrow down your exploration ‘wish list’  to 48 hours. Is two night really enough? My sister, Allie, and I headed off to France for the weekend to find out.

After running through London in the rain, we finally made it to our train just in time. About two hours later, we arrived in Paris. Even though our hotel was less than a five minute walk from the tube station, we managed to spend hours aimlessly wondering around the city at night to find it. Our hotel was called the Hotel du Louvre, a Hyatt Hotel. It was in a perfect location and was very nice. When we got to our hotel room, we spent a few hours digging on Pinterest and the internet to plan out our two full days in the city. We started by making a list of everything we wanted to see during our time in Paris, and then narrowed it down. Luckily for us, this wasn’t out first time in Paris. We have seen mostly everything, but we spent time deciding what we still had left to see and what we wanted to see again. I took a nice bubble bath, and then it was time to sleep.

The first morning we woke up pretty early to get a good start on our day. My friend, who recently studied abroad in Paris, told us to go to a restaurant called Angelina to try their hot chocolate. It was very chilly that morning, so we decided to head to the small restaurant to pick up some hot chocolate and a pastry before heading to the Louvre. The hot chocolate was very good, but very sweet/intense. We really enjoyed our pastry through! When we arrived at the Louvre, we waited in line for 20-30 minutes, which was a much shorter queue than we expected. Allie and I have been to the Louvre before, so we didn’t feel the need to spend hours exploring the huge museum. There were incredible artifacts and paintings, but we found it to be a little overwhelming. It is so hard to see the entire Louvre in just a few hours! We of course saw the Mona Lisa though, which is always fun. After we left the Louvre, we headed to the Champs-Elysees for some lunch and macaroons. We couldn’t resist picking up some crepes on the way though for a ‘pre-lunch snack’. We had a great time people watching at the Champs-Elysees while we enjoyed our lunch. However, the whole time we couldn’t stop talking about our excitement for our macaroon dessert! The line for Laduree macaroons was possibly longer than the line for the Louvre. I have to say it was definitely worth the wait though. We tried six different macaroon flavors, which were all incredibly delicious. My favorite was definitely the vanilla. Next was the Arc de Triomphe. We snapped a few pictures in front of the large arch, and then headed off to our next two destinations- the Espace Dali museum and the Sacre-Coeur. It was not the shortest walk to Espace Dali museum as it is located up on a hill. However, it was definitely number #1 on my Paris list because Salvador Dali is my very favorite artist. I really enjoyed seeing all of his beautiful watercolors, sculptures,  and sketches. I couldn’t resist buying another Dali book from the gift store on my way out. He’s such an interesting and incredible man, and I always enjoy learning more about him! I would highly, highly recommend the Espace Dali museum for any Dali fans! It’s worth the trip! We decided to check out the Sacred Heart Basilica of Montemarte (Sacre-Coeur) because it was less than five minutes away from Espace Dali. The Sacre-Coeur was so gorgeous! We decided not to go inside though for the sake of time. At this point we had already walked eleven miles, and my feet were killing me. We took a cab back to our hotel and found dinner near by. Allie has spaghetti, and I had some great risotto. After dinner we got some ice-cream and headed back to our hotel to get some rest after our long- but exciting- day!

I will be posting about our ‘last 24 hours in Paris’ tomorrow! (P.S. A lot of y’all asked on instagram about my outfit, and my top is from Topshop and my shorts are from Show Me Your Mumu!)

Thank you for checking out my blog!

xoxo