Fast forward to 2018. Vacation is always a good idea, and so is Paris! While I was working on my travel visa to Russia, I realized that I haven’t visit this country for over 10 years – that’s a long time. And making the decision to fly to Paris, was definitely an easy one. I will do it again in a heartbeat.

Being the planner-me-self, I decided I will make the best out of this trip, by revisiting all the cool place I’ve been as a teen, plus a little more with the limited time I had. And to my surprise, I did it. Follow me, as I revisit my memory not too long ago in Paris.

Day 1: Shopping Day
Let’s not let the jetlag kick in at 8AM in the morning. Arriving bright and early, and after checking into the hotel near the Vendôme area. It was all about shopping. I had a couple of things on my checklist where the VAT will save me a fortune, so to the shopping malls and streets I go. And while I was at it, isn’t this the most prettiest thing in the middle of the Lafayette?


Day 2: Museums and Tons of Walking.
Staying true to my itinerary planned literally a week before the trip (because I was obviously busy with work), I made my way to a few iconic places.

Louvre Museum


Yeah, we all know what I came here for. Scurrying over to la Mona Lisa.


And on the way, I obviously went out of my way to other master pieces including “la victorie de samothrace”, “la venus de milo”, and “the spinx”.


But the best finds were not the famous sculptures / paintings. It was this obnoxious baby pose and discovering selfies were of long existence as exhibited by the sculpture below.


Musee d'Orsay
Crossing the Pont des Arts and had a quick lunch before visiting my favourite museum with all the beautiful art work from Monet, Renoir, Rembrandt, and Van Gogh. Below were only a few of my favourites.




My favourite part of this museum, however, was probably the architecture and the clocks displayed in various places of the museum.

Arc de Triomphe
And as the sun sets, I made my way up the Arc de Triomphe…


to catch the view of the sparkly Eiffel Tower.


Day 3: Cathedrals (+Dancing in the Rain)
It poured on my third day in Paris while I made my way and visited the following churches. Had to put Sacre Coeur on hold for a better day because it was just impossible to get anywhere with the downpour of rain.

Notre Dame
The day started off nicely. While it was cloudy, it didn’t rain…


…until (of course) I got up to the top of Notre Dame to see the Gargoyles.


Sainte Chapelle
Instead of staying out in the terrible rainy weather, I also stopped by this tiny chapel (before the line got too long). Based on what I heard from the guide in Montreal, while I was there for work, the interiors of the Notre Dame in Montreal mimicked this very church.


Shakespeare & Company Bookstore
And while hiding out from the rain, what’s better than to spend time in a tiny bookstore?


Day 4: More Cathedrals and the Iconic Tour de Eiffel

Sacre Coeur
The rain definitely cleared up the next day. So I headed out bright and early to the Sacre Coeur to catch a bit of the rising sun. Definitely walked way too many steps and way to many miles by this point. I was exhausted, and it was only the morning


Pantheon (Paris)
After some souvenir shopping, I made my way to the Pantheon Paris (my very first time here). And I was not disappointed. It was by far the coolest thing I ever seen! There in the middle of the church is a pendulum that tells the current time (you know, kind of like that hole on the top of the roof of the Pantheon in Rome?) This was the Paris version. And reading up on it a bit more, it was said that this mechanism bridge religion and science together (or attempted to).


Palais Royal
Had to take a short break by the hotel and found this gem, Palais Royal! And had a great time taking pictures here with my red wool coat on. 


La Tour de Eiffel
And you know, when you are in Paris, you kind of need to stop by here to say you were actually here. Took way too many pictures at the bottom.


And then from the top, while the sun was setting. This was my favourite!


Site-seeing wise, I think I hit almost everything in Paris I could in the allocated time. I only got a week of vacation T_T! It was worth all the walking though. Stay tune for more of France! (i.e. day trip to Versailles and French foods of course).

Bonsoir!
D.