October 8, 2014

Our Honeymoon: Day 1, Paris

Part of the reason we wanted to go to Paris, as opposed to some of the other destinations we could have gone to to get to Greece (Brussels, Frankfurt, Munich...) was that we had been there before. Knowing that we were going to have approximately 24 hours wherever we ended up, we knew we didn't want to go somewhere that we would be compelled to get off the plane and run to see all the things...especially right after our wedding!

We landed in Paris at 7:30am and made our way into the city. We had chosen a hotel in the 2nd Arrondissement, right above the Grands Boulevards Metro station. We left our luggage at the hotel, and went next door for a Petit Dejeuner, a traditional French breakfast of a croissant (or pain au chocolat), orange juice, and coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.

From there, we just set off walking. We had no particular destination in mind, we just wanted to stroll around Paris.

From Top Left: A peek at Sacre Cour in the distance, Le Tour Eiffel, Paris streets, Laduree - Paris's famed macaron shop, Rue du Tour Mauborg, where we ate lunch...and possibly got caught on Google Street View, another shot of the Eiffel Tower.

We did some serious walking before it was time to wander back to our hotel and check into our room. We checked in, took a nap to stave off jet lag, and then made our way out and about for the evening.

The last time we went to Paris, we didn't make it to Montmarte, so I really wanted to make our way there this time around since Sacre Cour is so beautiful. We took the Metro out to Montmarte, and then walked up the hill Sacre Cour.

From Top Left: Sacre Cour, the view from Sacre Cour, gargoyles, the walk up to Montmarte Village, a cute little house-turned-gift shop in Montmarte. 
Aside from being a beautiful church, I just love Sacre Cour because it's one of those places that just makes you feel on top of the world. The view from up there is stunning...better than the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower, in my opinion!

 From Montmarte, we decided to make our way back to the St. Germain des Pres (my favorite neighborhood in Paris, The Pilot's too!) for dinner.


We ate at Le Hibou and it was delicious. We ordered a carafe of wine and talked about our wedding. It was the perfect first night of our honeymoon.

The next day we got up and made our way to the Luxembourg Gardens for a stroll and some lunch before heading to the airport for our flight to Athens.


Paris was wonderful. It was so fun to be back there, and so nice to just walk around without feeling the need to really have to do or see anything. After the busy week leading up to the wedding, and taking off less than 24 hours after actually getting married, it was nice to have a low key time in Paris...before hopping on a plane again that is!

Details
We stayed at The Holiday Inn Paris Opera, which we booked on points. 
We bought a carnet, a book of 10 tickets, for the Metro for 13.70 euros. This was enough for both of us to get around the city for the day and a half that we were there. 
A petit dejeuner ranges from 6 to 9 euros, depending on where in the city you are. 
Our highlight in Paris (from this trip) was Sacre Cour. 

5 comments:

  1. What a great way to start your honeymoon! I love exploring a city by foot with no real plan, you see the "true" city and always something fun and unexpected happens!

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  2. I loved Paris when I went--looks like you guys had a great time, too!

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  3. Love love love this! What a perfect start to your honeymoon. I feel like I constantly over-plan every second of our vacations. I love that you guys just walked around and enjoyed Paris! It's on our bucket list of places to go before we have kids!!

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  4. Ahhhh I wanna go there!!! I'm glad you were able to pick a quick destination that you've been to before, but one you could enjoy enough anyway :)

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