Hey everyone! I (20M) have got another trip report for you all in my quest to see as much of Europe as possible during my semester abroad. After spending the past two weekend trips in the UK, I decided to switch it up and booked a Eurostar to Paris, which was one of the cities that was a must-do on my European bucket list since, well, it’s Paris. Like usual, mile counts are added below as a reference for how much ground I covered per day.
Day 1: Paris
Because the weather was so nice that day (high 70s), I decided to scrap my original plan, which wasn’t particularly detailed in the first place but involved a couple of museums, to take advantage of the good weather and walk all over Paris. Because Paris’ attractions primarily lined the Seine, I made my first stop at the Eiffel Tower and moved my way eastwards. I thought the Eiffel Tower was beautiful and very impressive, if a bit smaller than I had imagined, but I was a bit surprised by how fenced off and degraded the area around the Eiffel Tower base was. From there, I walked around a bit before checking out the courtyard and gardens of the Army Museum and outside of the Tomb of Napoleon. Both were quite pretty, and I especially loved how the gardens were still in full bloom, even as the leaves were changing colors, and made a note to myself to come back later to explore the interiors. After that, I walked alongside the Seine, enjoying the tree-lined lawns and autumn foliage, and after taking a bit of an awkward detour because I had mismarked a monument on my google maps, I arrived at the Grand and Petit Palais. Unfortunately, the former was under renovation and totally covered up, but the latter was quite majestic, with a beautiful arched doorway and an ornate gold gate. From there, after a short breather, I walked to the Place de la Concorde, which was totally covered up by rugby insignia, before heading to the gardens around the Louvre, where I saw police escorting two young women out of the metro (pickpockets perhaps?)
While the gardens were cute in the beginning (tree-filled plazas and pools of water), as I headed eastwards, they became increasingly manicured and fancy, tall hedges and lush lawns, as the Louvre appeared in my view. And although I did not head into the Louvre, I would still consider viewing the exterior as the highlight of my day because it was just beautiful. Loved how grand and majestic the absolutely enormous building was, with lots of cool details, like the sculptures lining the spaces between the windows, matching exactly what I had envisioned Paris to be like. And of course, the iconic glass pyramid did not disappoint too. After leaving the Louvre, I walked alongside the Seine for a bit before exploring the Southern part of Paris a bit, heading down to Eglise Sant Sulpice, before turning up and going to the island with the Notre Dame and Sainte-Chapelle on it. While the exterior of the Sainte-Chapelle was very impressive, though the density of the island made pictures a bit difficult, it was still sad to see that the Notre Dame was totally scaffolded up as a result of the fire. After more Seine strolls, I took the metro up to Sacre-Coeur, where I landed up in a bit of a suspicious area (Chateau Rouge) since it was noticeably dirtier than the areas around the Seine, likely because it was a poorer, less privileged, immigrant-heavy neighborhood. But I was able to easily make it to the Basilique but was not able to head up to the dome due to what I believe was a massive communication error between me and the ticketing person. I asked for a ticket to the dome, and she told me “No. Buy a ticket outside,” which I was very confused by since I was at the ticketing office. I left since she was getting increasingly irritated but was quite disappointed and sour about what had happened. After thinking about it more, I realized that “Buy a ticket” sounds awfully like “Basilique,” and so when I asked for a ticket, she heard Basilique and visa versa.