We're in Paris!

July 20th 2023

Bonjour! 

As I said in my previous blog post my best friend (her name is Maya and feel free to check out her instagram as well, I'll put her username down below) and I are headed to Paris today! 

Our ICE train left the Frankfurt am Main main station around six in the morning and we arrived in Paris Est at around 11 am.

Our train followed the route Frankfurt am Main (DE),  Mannheim (DE), Kaiserslautern (DE), Saarbrücken (DE) and Forbach (FR) to Paris.

As soon as we arrived the great war for tourist metro ticket began. Literally, the queue at the ticket machines was endless. 

The tickets we had were valid for two days and could be used for all busses, trams and metros in zones 1 to 3. 

And to clarify: Paris is divided into different zones for public transportation, but with zones 1 to 3 you have the entire city center covered and can go sightseeing at your leisure. 

When you buy metro tickets in Paris, always buy them from the official turquoise RATP machines. Don't get scammed, people!

We actually had breakfast on the train, very tasty pudding cinnamon buns, but for our first actual meal of the day we had salmon pasta for early lunch at a little bistro (I forgot to write down what it was called, oops).

After lunch (which was sooo good) and lots of walking we checked into our hotel room for the next two days. The hotel is called "ibis Issy les Moulineaux 'Val de Seine' ". It was nice there, so I would recommend it (I guess? we stayed there just to sleep).

We freshened up and then decided it was time to go see Paris.

First we went to see Tour Montparnasse, which is a very tall office building and actually the tallest building in the city after the Eiffel Tower. You can actually pay ridiculous amounts of money there to see the city from above, but in reality Maya just wanted to show it to me because it is "absolutely hideous". Nice, isn't it? 

There is a shopping mall as well (forgot about the name again) which we went to so Maya could show me the train station vibes it gives off. 

But next comes the one thing we've all been waiting for: we went to the Louvre! 

And let me tell you: I'm such a sucker for old architecture so of course I loved it! It's glass pyramid in the courtyard as the entrance to the museum is so iconic and gave me HUGE DaVinci Code vibes. Urgh, I'm still head over heels into the pictures I took and the ones Maya took of me (I look really elegant and regal and I love it). 

Next up was the Petit Palais (also a museum, but this one is for free, yay!). It mostly contained art and sculptures and had the most beautiful ceiling paintings I've ever seen in real life. We actually sat for a very long time in front of a particular painting called "Combat devant l'Hôtel de Ville, le 28 juillet 1830" by Victor Schnetz. The details were astonishing.

One more thing about me: I have a postcard collection and a souvenir coin collection. So naturally on our way out, I bought a souvenir coin there (yay!).

Walking of this time to find the Champs-Élysées (spoiler: we couldn't find it yet) we stopped by the Pont Alexandre III, a really pretty bridge. So we took some pictures again (obviously). 

From there we navigated our way to the infamous Eiffel Tower. Unpopular opinion maybe: I liked it better from far away than up close. Lots of shady people trying to get you to by their glittery miniature Eiffel Towers and such. I can't say I'm a fan of that. 

So of we went in search of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées (again) and found it this time around! I'm not going to lie about this; it was really dope to be able to walk into these expensive fashion houses like it was totally normal.

At the end of the Champs-Élysée was the Arc de Triomphe. And of course pictures were taken again. 

We also talked briefly with a young woman who was going to go to the same festival the following day as we were (I'll write a separate post about that festival, promise). 

As it was getting late we tried to find a place for dinner next. And after a long time of wandering around, we had Pizza Margarita and a sweet pizza with Nutella, strawberries and pistachios. 

And would you believe me when I say deep conversations over pizza in a restaurant in Paris hit different? 

Anyway, the way back to the hotel proved very difficult (it's like in Germany, when it gets late some trains don't run anymore) but it was all worth it because we got to see the Eiffel Tower sparkling! Always thought the miniatures some shady people try to sell you were just really poorly done Eiffel Towers someone slapped a glitter effect across. But no.

We were finally in bed around half past one and my phone had recorded a little more than 32,000 steps after this day. I am so TIRED.

But tomorrow will be even more exciting! 

Again, if you're interested in pictures or even videos feel free to check out my instagram and my story highlight "| FRA🇫🇷NCE". 

Lots of good vibes, 

Anna 📍in Paris 

my friend Maya's instagram: @mayajohannaa