Paris: The City of Love

Paris is often called the City of Love and Romance but is this really true? I guess the answer is subjective. From my experience as a tourist, it is filled with romantic places to visit with your partner so you do get that feeling of enchantment.

However, our first impression of Paris after leaving the train station in a taxi was far from lovely.

Let me set the stage for the things we saw on the short ride to the hotel. The streets were full of trash along with homeless people and tents near the train station, and I even saw a man pull down his pants and pee directly in the street where our taxi had come to a stop (file under things you wish you could unsee).

K and I thought "did this train drop us off at the wrong stop in France?" but no we were definitely in Paris.


 The saving grace was the full day guided tour of Paris the following day which really made us see the beauty of Paris, learn the history, and understand the people and culture better. We visited the Montmartre, Notre-Dame, The Louvre Museum, Eiffel Tower & ended the evening with a boat cruise along the River Seine.

The walking tour also included:
* Headsets for live tour commentary
* Transportation between sites via Paris Metro
* Skip-the-line entrance to the Louvre Museum and Eiffel Tower

Montmartre


Notre-Dame
I wrote about the Notre-Dame Paris after the fire sharing some facts I learnt on the tour.

Walking Paris Tour
Random Photos



The Louvre Museum




Spoiler Alert: The actual photo of Mona Lisa is very underwhelming to see in person but the history behind why it became famous is very interesting.


Eiffel Tower




River Seine Boat Cruise




I cannot rave enough about our tour guide Violette from Paris in a Day: Walking Tours. I've been on both guided tours and recorded tours in beautiful places but K and I both agree Violette was the best tour guide we could have asked for. She was knowledgeable, fun, spoke perfect English, Italian and French, and really made this full day tour worth every penny.


If you are considering touring Paris, Violette is the BEST of the BEST, and can personalize the tour for your interests. Message me for her contact info. 

FYI: This is not a sponsored post



6 comments

  1. I think we definitely romanticize Paris and I'm so guilty of that! I did find some of the people a bit rude when asking for directions and things, but I really enjoyed our time there...and honestly want to go back again! The walking tour you guys did sounds incredible! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

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  2. Sorry about the things you can't un-see, but it sounds like the trip was salvaged and absolutely amazing. You can't beat walks down the river and of course the Eiffel Tower <3
    Green Fashionista

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  3. Beautiful pictures. I want to visit so bad. Our friends just got engaged at the Louvre this week! Your walking tour sounds really excellent!

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  4. Living and working in a major city, I expect the not great parts to be in every place I go. I've never been to a city here or abroad and not encountered something I'd rather not.
    Your tour sounds awesome!
    Love

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  5. Paris is very very romanticized. Going into my trip there last March I thought I was going to hate it because so many people have negative things to say but My SO and I really enjoyed our time there. BUT we also were born & raised in Chicago so we love big city and we are very very aware of the dirty side of major cities so those things don't even phase us.

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  6. Sounds like a great tour (as well as a rocky start to the trip). I'm glad that you had such a great guide!! I can't believe how much ground you were able to cover though! I think it took us three days to do all the same things you did!

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