My flight was at noon Wednesday in Iceland and landed 3 hours later around 5:30 - did I mention how much timezones suck? We had a bit of a delayed start but I imagine that’s not unusual. I zoomed throughout CDG airport following the luggage sign and once again my bag was among the first dropping out onto the conveyer belt.
Went to arrivals area to find my arranged driver that my travel agent booked for me, who sugggested that by booking this, I could avoid the Paris “zoo”. I would take her suggestion this time since it’s my first time to Paris and this stop was meant to be more of a treat for me. Though I definitely overspent in Iceland, it was unavoidable.
Despite the fact that there was a lot of traffic heading into Paris, I got to the hotel within the hour. I checked in and stuffed myself into a 4x4 elevator that only had enough room for me and my one luggage. I was assigned a tiny room on the top (6th) floor.
At first I wasn’t really expecting the twin bed and the smallness especially for the price I paid but, reminder: it IS Paris and I had a small budget. Ahen I settled in, the more I realized I love it. It is basically a whole bedroom with an attached bathroom to myself with room cleaning :)
I dropped my things and unpacked the necessities then went straight back out to check off the first thing on my to do list: see the Arc de Triomphe.
After snapping a few shots and admiring the traffic going around the rotary with the arch as a centerpiece, I headed to rue Champs d’Elyses. I may have been so excited that I walked 1.6 miles in just under 30 minutes, with a stop at Starbucks (PSA: Starbucks app doesn’t work internationally ðŸ˜). I had about an hour and a half worth of good sunlight left. I headed all the way down to the Place de la Concorde, another item on my bucket list.
Took a photo of a nice couple at their request but declined when they wanted to return the favor. I don’t like photos of myself but I love taking photos!
I spent a few moments admiring the fountain sculptures and decided it was time to head back around 8ish. I went to the metro stop in this area and got 10 Paris-zone metro tickets. Have I mentioned that I love cities with subways? Concorde was on the same metro line as the Arc de Triomphe where my hotel is just around the corner of it.
When I got back I walked down rue de Wagman, the main street off the street my hotel is on. I looked for a place to eat and just choose one based off reviews online. I sat down outside amidst Parisians and a few tourists and had a dinner for one. I just had oysters and a salad, but the small table and excessive set up made it look like a lot more, haha.
After the nice meal, I went back to the hotel where I planned out my day trips, bought ticket to the Louvre online, and then tried to go to sleep. Unfortunately I couldn’t sleep that night, much. Around 1am, I had the sudden realization that it could’ve been that iced caramel latte coffee I had earlier on the way to Place de la Concorde.
Eventually I fell asleep. I woke up around 7am to have breakfast in the dining area, nothing too fancy but definitely filling.
Today was cloudy with a bit of a chill. Perfect for a museum day at the Louvre! I didn’t really have a goal or set list of art I wanted to see, but I knew I wanted to see as much as I could. I ended up staying at the Louvre for 6 hours and seeing about 85% of museum, with 10% closed for renovations and me missing some of the smaller rooms throughout the four floors and three wings. My feet are most certainly dead after today.
I shall just drop some museum photos here and call it a night. Tomorrow, I am heading to Versailles!
Top highlights:
- Venus de Milo
- Oath of the Horatii
- Mona Lisa (the crowd made it feel almost not worth it honestly)
- The entire Mesopotamia collection, which includes the Code of Hammurabi (!!!!) that makes the high school honors history nerd in me very happy
- the new Oceania, African, and Asian exhibition addition! They had a sign describing the lack of POC art because it was “regrettably” seen as “primitive” art since the Louvre was founded.
That’s that. Louvre was beautiful and mind-blowing - well worth putting a whole day aside for it, even if I had to lay in bed after that to be off my feet.
Ready for a French day trip!! Versailles is about an hour away using two metro trains.