Anna's Adventures

The city of lights! Oh my, there is so much I could say about Paris. I really, really loved it. It was so romantic, and I’m not just saying that because we were on our honeymoon, (London, Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome) It really felt just like the movies. I did binge watch Emily in Paris before we left, so obviously I felt like I was living out my Anna in Paris dreams. Ha!

Where to stay

We stayed at the incredible InterContinental Paris – Le Grand. We took the Metro from Disneyland Paris, and arrived in the city in the afternoon. Upon checking in, the front desk staff provided us with a free voucher for drinks in the lounge while we waited for the room to be ready. We took our things and heading to the lounge area, and it was absolutely stunning! This is actually where we had our first of many croque monsieurs.

Our room was insane! We felt like a million bucks, haha! I wish I could remember the exact room number we were in but it was a huge suite. When you first entered the door way, you were met with a flight of stairs that took you up to the living area. In the suite there was a kitchen, living room, dining table, bedroom, and a giant bathroom. The hotel also left us so many goodies upon arrival; champagne, water, cake, fresh fruit, and artisanal chocolates.

Our Trip to paris, france

Of course we were itching to explore the city, so that’s exactly what we did. If there is one thing that my husband and I will be doing, it is squeezing as many things as we possibly can into a single day. It’s kind of insane, but it’s worth it!

I mentioned earlier that I binged Emily in Paris. If you’ve seen the show, you’d know that they always walk through the Jardin du Palais Royal. So that’s we stopped first! We walked through the garden and even saw a corgi doing a photoshoot. We decided to continue our adventure and as soon as we walked towards the street we saw a large group of people dancing. It was in that moment that I truly felt like we were in Paris.

All that people watching made us a little hungry, so we decided to stop for a quick bite to eat at this cafe, Brasserie de la Bourse. We ordered another croque monsieur (my husbands vice this trip), and I needed something green, so I ordered a grilled chicken salad. Honestly, these dishes weren’t something I’d write home about but the vibes were high and we loved sitting outside on the streets of Paris. We both downed a cappuccino, a cardinal sin in Europe after 12PM but we didn’t care because we were currently exhausted from spending a few days at Disneyland Paris.

We decided to turn in for the night, or so we thought. Our late night sweet tooth got the best of us and with the help of google, we discovered that the famous Cafe de la Paix was connected to our hotel…..We did not need to know that as we quickly made this apart of our Paris nighttime routine. I think we had the hot chocolate and a new dessert each night we were there.

The next day we booked the Paris in a Day tour with The Tour Guy. If I could recommend one thing to do on your trip it would be to book a tour guide, especially it’s your first time to Paris. We of course needed some fuel for the tour, so we stopped by Copains for breakfast. This was such a lovely bakery and they were blaring Dolly Parton, so I knew It had to be good. We shared a pistachio donut type of pastry, grabbed some coffee and we were on our way.

Our tour took us through the town of Montmartre, and we learned about it’s history. Montmartre is the 18th arrondissement of Paris, and it’s known for being artsy and for the iconic windmills. It’s also home of the Dalida Statue where you touch the breast of the statue for good luck… of course, we had to! We took photos of the famous and beautiful Basilica of Sacré Coeur. We even saw the fence filled with love locks, a Montmartre tradition.

The next place on our tour was the Louvre Museum and oh my goodness, you would not believe how insanely large this museum is. I thought I had a general idea but it blew my mind once we arrived inside. Another perk of having a tour guide is you get to “skip the line”, which really helps cut down the time it takes to enter the buildings. Our tour guide took us around to multiple parts of the museum while giving us information about different pieces. We ended our Louvre tour with the iconic Mona Lisa painting.

Our tour guide took us for a stroll through Paris and we walked by the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris. Unfortunately, we were. unable to go inside due to the fires but it was lovely to experience from the outside. There were these street performers, or “pranksters” that were very entertaining outside of the cathedral. Our group had a good laugh together before we walked over to the Eiffel Tower to end our tour. The Eiffel Tower was incredible to see in person. It was just magical and I wish everyone could see it at least once. We opted to come back later in the evening so we could see the sparkle.

After our tour ended, we decided to go back to the hotel to freshen up for our dinner reservations. Our wedding venue owner had actually visited Paris recently, and gave us this dinner recommendation, so we knew we had to try it. Monsieur Bleu is a located near the Eiffel Tower and is a Paris Society restaurant. We sat outside with partial views of the Eiffel Tower as there was a large umbrella blocking our view, but hey, it can’t all be perfect.

We ended the night and our Paris leg of our honeymoon by touring the Eiffel Tower. We climbed up to the second floor and watched as the lights began to sparkle. It was like time stood still as I was taking in this magical moment of being at the Eiffel Tower with my new husband as the lights just dazzled away.

The next morning we caught a flight out of Paris to head to Venice. We hadn’t had any issues on our honeymoon until this flight…. It was a little bit of a whirlwind, but you can read more about our little mishap here.

MUST SEE: PARIS, FRANCE

• Jardin du Palais Royal – Known for their iconic tree-lined walkways. Loved by tourist and locals.
• Montmartre – A neighborhood in Paris that is full of history, arts, and local shops/restaurants.
• Louvre Museum – Probably the most famous art museum in the world. Home of the infamous Mona Lisa painting.
• Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris – Iconic medieval Catholic cathedral in the heart of Paris.
• Eiffel Tower – A famous landmark in Paris known for its iron lattice structure and twinkling lights.

MUST EAT: PARIS, FRANCE

• Brasserie de la Bourse – Street side eatery with a happy hour near the Lourve.
• Cafe de la Paix – A famous cafe known for their iconic decor, and location. A Parisian staple! We could not get enough of the hot chocolate.
• Copains – A delicious bakery with mediterranean inspirations. We loved the pistachio donut.
• Monsieur Bleu – A Paris Society restaurant with Eiffel Tower views. We enjoyed the black truffle pizza, and beef filet!