Paris (Europe 2017)

by - October 30, 2017

Pics: Dad & Mum Pham in 1988 versus Little Sissy Pham & me pulling my best mum face in 2017

Beautiful, grand, pompous, over-the-top Paris. It was our first stop on the Europe trip so we spent a little longer there than other cities on our whirlwind trip, in case we gots the jet lag. Instead, we got the cankles which was unfortunate because Paris was the biggest city we visited with sites spread out far apart. Nice walking distance for the fit and healthy. Torturous and painful when your sibling has cankles and is in agony.

The people were arrogant, (though very very good-looking so I forgive them) and generally did not give a crap about tourists or anyone for that matter. The food we had was expensive and the worst we had in Europe - I'm guessing Paris is one of those places you have to be in the know to find the good food spots. Basically, we did not have a good time in Paris. I'm glad I experienced it but will never go back - there are too many other places I'd rather explore or return to in Europe.

Day 0. We arrived, took a while to get to our airbnb apartment, then took another little while to find a SIM so we could call the host and get inside. We adventured as far as the nearest supermarket to gawk at all the things that looked same same, but different. Then went back to sleep because it was 10pm in Paris but 6am in our body clocks.

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Day 1. We went to the catacombs because it felt like the thing that you have to do when in Paris. It was a mildly stinky adventure, and not creepy because everything was well lit but boy, I would not want to be the tourists who got stuck down there in the dark for days. You'd have to walk along the corridors, feeling your way, along dead people's bones. Ew.

We walked through Luxembourg Park which was gorgeous - our favourite park on the entire trip. Though, the Gardens in Prague trump it for beauty. As a public park, it was so beautiful and vibrant and full of activity once the rain cleared up.

From there we walked to the Notre Dame, which is my favourite of all the buildings we visited in Europe. Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona was stunning in its uniqueness but there was something about the Notre Dame that I adore. This early in the trip we were still excited by buildings so went into the Sainte-Chapelle as well. We'd soon burn out and just look at the outside instead of paying to go in and mozy about.

Day 2. We went to the Louvre because, duh, you have to. It's so bloody big, and full of art history. The Mona Lisa I didn't expect to be so tiny, crowded - I didn't get it, hey. But then I'm not into historic, traditional art. We also went to the Musée de l'Orangerie to see Monet's Water Lilies - probably my favourite art piece on the trip. I found it soothing to sit and stare at the paintings. Then we soldiered onto see Napoleon's grand tomb before we called it a day.

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Day 3. The Eiffel Tower was awesome but probably because of the personal connection. It was one of the few places Mum & Dad Pham made it to on their honeymoon before Big Brother Pham had an asthma attack, and they rushed back to Germany. We opted to cheat and take the elevator because Little Sissy Pham's cankles were killing her. The view was stunning, and the novelty of being on the friggin' Eiffel Tower made my day.

We also went on two boat tours of the city at the recommendation of a French friend. A day one to see all the beautiful buildings, then a night one to see all the beautiful lights. I enjoyed the day one more because I love architecture, but the Eiffel Tower lit up is gorgeous at night so I’m really glad we had time to do both. Hoard all the experiences!

Day 4. Versailles aka the day from Hell. It was a spur of the moment decision to do a day trip to Versailles and we thoroughly regretted not doing our research and booking a tour group in advance so we could skip the epic, 5 hour queue in the sun to then walk in a dusty and old albeit decadent castle. I loved the gardens WAY more, and while I would still see the castle again given the choice, I'd have booked in advance to allow more time adventuring in gardens with the water fountain shows.

Day 5. We took our first and only local flight from Paris to Barcelona, which I'll tell ye about next time, in my Europe 2017 series.

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