Three Days In Paris Pt. I – The Landmarks

Sometimes you get lucky enough to get invited on amazing adventures. Last fall my friend Tailyn called to let me know that the Deer Creek High School Band had been invited to perform in the London New Year’s Day Parade. She couldn’t bear to miss his performance but didn’t want to travel alone, so she invited me to tag along.

Once we got into the trip planning, it was hard pass up the opportunity to spend a few days in Paris with it only being a two hour train ride away. With only three days, we wanted to make it a point to hit a few major things and leave a day to just explore. We scheduled visits to the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower and snagged tickets to a boat ride alone the Seine.

It’s so hard not to fall in love with Paris. Despite the frigid and gloomy December weather we made the best of every moment. This is a city I will absolutely return to.

I didn’t lug the big Canon around for most of this trip as I wanted to spend more time soaking in the moments, but my still did Ricoh GRIV still did all the heavy lifting. This little camera truly delivered in capturing the moments for me. It will definitely be a constant companion on all future trips. I took a lot of photos that I really like I am going to break this trip up into a few posts, starting with just the major landmarks we got to see.

Palais Royal

We stayed in the Timhotel Le Louvre in the 1st arrondissement within walking distance of the museum.

We needed to stretch our legs after the incredibly long flight so we dropped our bags off and went for a. quick jaunt. We thought we were walking into the courtyard of the Louvre but instead found we had inadvertently walked into courtyard of the Palais Royal. We spent some time admiring the Les Deux Plateaux and the Jardin du Palais Royal, which I can only imagine is absolutely stunning in the growing seasons.

Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile was our first planned stop of the trip. The monument is absolutely beautiful. We climbed the 287 steps of the winding staircase to the very top where we were greeted with stunning evening views of the Champs-Élysées and the Eiffel Tower.

Each evening, the Arc de Triomphe holds a solemn ceremony in which the flame beneath the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is rekindled. This tradition has been carried out every night since 1923 to honor fallen French soldiers who were never identified. Accompanied by music and the laying of wreaths, it’s a powerful moment of remembrance, and we were fortunate to witness it during our visit.

Eiffel Tower

We couldn’t make a trip to La Ville Lumière without visiting the iconic Eiffel Tower. We took it a step further and snagged tickets to the summit – a full 276 meters up! The ride up is pretty interesting with glass elevators giving a structural view of monument from inside. While we didn’t get that picture perfect sunset in the frigid weather, the views of the city were still incredible and we enjoyed a glass of champagne and macarons from Pierre Hermé to celebrate the journey.

We had landed in town with just enough time left to enjoy the Christmas decor, which included lovely pop-ups throughout the grounds. I’m so glad we chose the ticket time we did because it was so special to see this beauty in the light and the night.

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

During my morning walk to explore the Louvre courtyard I walked across the street to get some better view of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel which sits just in front of the Tuileries Garden.