a day (or so) in paris, france

If y’all know me at all, it’s no secret that I absolutely LOVE to travel and I am pretty sure this trip may top them all (so far)! I had a BIG birthday earlier this year (4-0!!) and so I knew that it was a perfect time to mark off an equally BIG item from my bucket list. Can you think of a better trip to celebrate than France and Italy?? I can’t wait to take you with us on our journey! Our first stop was PARIS – the city of light!

Make sure you are following my TRAVEL INSTAGRAM so that you don’t miss one minute of our trip!

Our original plan was to spend two and a half days in Paris, but a series of travel delays caused us to miss a whole day. BUMMER!!!!

Even though we were jet-lagged and super short on time, we were determined to see as much as possible in this beautiful city! After finally arriving at our hotel, Le Marquis, we took a short walk to Le Suffren, just one of the many quaint cafes you’ll find in Paris.

We were lucky to find one open early because a lot of the restaurants don’t even start serving dinner until 7:00 or 7:30 PM! We were so glad to get a waiter who had a great sense of humor and even spoke English! And…the food was so good!!

After dinner, we couldn’t wait any longer to see the Eiffel Tower, so we took the 10-minute walk from our hotel. It was a dream come true!!

Of course, with that amazing background, you KNOW we had to have family photo shoot!! We ended the day with a stop for ice cream before heading back to the hotel for some rest before our first full day in Paris.

There is so much amazing architecture in Paris! I am literally obsessed with all of the ornate doors!!

Can you get over the beauty of the doors?!

We started day two with continental breakfast at our hotel. I was really surprised that I had to request coffee, as it isn’t normally served with breakfast in Paris. The coffee is a little different than what we are used to and you KNOW that this Folgers-girl needed her sugar and creamer!

After breakfast, we took off for a bike tour with Paris Bike Tours led by our wonderful guide, Helen. I HIGHLY recommend renting bikes to see Paris. We were able to see some well-known sights like the Louvre and the Notre-Dame Cathedral without having to be in the crazy traffic.

Most of the restaurants have bike racks to make for easy parking. (TIP: Did you know that you can even select a bike route on Google Maps for easy navigation?!?)

After our tour, we grabbed lunch outside at another cute cafe. The locals who were sitting beside us were giggling as they listened to Blaize’s attempts at speaking French. They were super nice, and it’s obvious that they appreciate you at least trying to speak their language.

Later that evening, we did a little more exploring before our dinner at the Instagram-famous restaurant, Pink Mamma. It is really hard to get a reservation there, but somehow I managed to get one the day before! It was so beautiful with vintage photos lining the stairwells and foliage and florals everywhere!

If you ask me what I love most about Paris, it has to be seeing the beautiful character and craftsmanship in all the buildings. It’s so rare these days and it’s surreal to see it all and to think about how long it took to construct such beauty!

I still can’t believe everything we’ve seen and knowing this is just the beginning of our trip! Paris definitely has our hearts! Have you ever been to Paris or would you like to go?

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Last Updated on June 3, 2024