I am finally writing about my trip to Europe, little by little!!! This summer, Nate & I went on the trip of a lifetime! We have both always wanted to go backpacking around Europe & we decided to take the plunge & do it! looove researching places to travel, so Nate let me go crazy & plan the whole trip!! Here was our itinerary: France (Paris) 5 days Germany 7 days Austria 1 day Italy 10 days NYC 3 days PART I: PARIS , FRANCE We flew out of LAX, had a layover in Copenhagen, & then arrived in Paris at 10pm! I can't sleep on flights at all and thought I would be exhausted after 25 hours without sleep, but once we got to Paris I was wide awake & so excited! We took an Uber cab to the little studio we were staying at. We found all of the places we stayed on airbnb & it was really fun staying at cute, quirky little places. We were staying right by the Pantheon and just a few minutes from Notre Dame! When we got to the apartment, we threw our stuff down & then ran outside to explore! There was a celebration going on at the Pantheon, so there were tons of people & music was blaring. We walked the streets, got crepes at a little cafe, & got to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle from a distance! After a few hours, we crashed and surprisingly woke up around 8am feeling well rested! I was so glad that the time change never seemed to affect us! Our 1st day in Paris was my favorite day there! First, we walked down to a cute little bakery and got chocolate croissants for breakfast. We ended up getting those for breakfast every day we were there, they were AMAZING! Then we walked to Notre Dame. Notre Dame was beautiful!!! I love gothic style buildings & it was crazy how every single side of the building looked completely different. I loved the gargoyles and just kept thinking of the Hunchback of Notre Dame the whole time! The inside was also beautiful with lots of stained glass. Next, we went to Sainte Chapelle, a cathedral commissioned by King Louise IX and said to hold the crown of thorns (I'm not sure about all of the relics different places claimed though, each cathedral seemed to claim they had different things). We had heard from Nate's sister that Sainte Chapelle was here favorite building and was made almost completely out of stained glass so we were very excited to see it. We got inside and I have to admit, I was very disappointed, there was some stained glass, but not near as much as I expected. Nate tried to act like he was still impressed, but we were both a little disappointed. Then we walked out to leave and realized, there was a staircase to go to the top level. The top level was AMAZING!!!!! It really was almost completely made of stained glass & the sun was shining and lighting up the whole room! The stained glass pieces made up thousands of little pictures depicting Bible stories. We stayed there until our necks ached from looking up so much! One thing about me is that I have very high expectations for holidays & vacations. I get an idea in my head about how things will go and then things must go according to the plan! Poor Nate has definitely realized that! I had pictured getting a fresh baguette & cheese & having a picnic, but for some reason, we could not find a place with baguettes where we were at. We were starving & Nate was getting grumpy & I was getting hangry, as he tells me. We finally found a place and were able to have a picnic! And then I promised not to plan things out too much in my head... :) After lunch we walked around by the Seine and put a lock on love lock bridge. Then we headed back to take a nap! Napping on vacation is the best! When we woke up an hour later, I remembered that my cousin had told me about a beautiful opera house that had ballets. We realized if we wanted to go, we needed to run down there and get tickets if they had any left over. We booked it & ran for about 1/2 an hour to get to Palais Garnier. Palais Garnier is the opera house that inspired The Phantom of the Opera & it is also the most beautiful building every. The outside is gorgeous and then the inside is just to beautiful to describe! The walls are so ornate & covered almost completely in gold, there are hundreds of chandeliers & the ceilings all have the most beautiful murals. We loved just walking around and exploring before going in to the ballet. We took our seats for the ballet & they were in a little personal balcony. The funny thing about the seats was that with most of the balconies, they were at angles that made it so hard to see! The ballet was beautiful though and I just loved being there, it was one of my favorite moments of our trip & it was only our 1st full day there! The rest of our time in Paris was spent eating lots and lots of amazing food and exploring the city. We walked 13 miles to the Arch De Triumph & Eiffel Tower one day. They looked much closer than they really were!!! We went to an outdoor market and some cute shops & got a baguette, macarons, sundried tomatoes, cheese, & olives & had a picnic in the field next to the Eiffel Tower. We spent one day going to the Louvre. It was way larger than I even picture it & is seriously several blocks long!!! We spent about 5 hours looking at the different exhibits, breaking it up with lunch & getting hot chocolate at Angelina's. The African Hot Chocolate was amazing!!!! Sooo rich and delicious and worth the splurge! On Sunday, we found a LDS church to walk to. We went to sacrament & could barely understand a word, but you could still feel the Spirit & it was nice to be there. I love going to church in different countries & noticing the similarities & differences. It was Mother's Day there, so they gave everyone a daisy & the little children came up and sang a little song. It was so sweet! Our last night in Paris, we found a local place to go to dinner. It ended up being our favorite place that we ate in Paris! It was very crowded & full of locals. The waiter had us squeeze at a table with some Parisians! It was a really fun environment! I got basque chicken and Nate got potatoes with blue cheese and prosciutto. Then we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower and hiked to the 2nd level of it to see the beautiful view & to watch the tower sparkle!!! After we got down, we got to see it sparkle from below too! Then we got the most delicious creme brûlée from a cute little cafe. I loved how you cracked the shell to eat it, it was perfectly caramelized! It was such a fun night!!! Overall, I loved Paris way more than I even thought I would. I was really excited to go to Paris & know that it is a place that everyone loves, but I didn't quite know what it would be like. I loved walking through neighborhoods & seeing all of the cute houses and building. I loved all of the cute cafes with tables outside where you could sit and people watch while you ate. I loved the laid-back feeling and how we never felt rushed. I LOVED all of the crepes, chocolate croissants, macarons, & baguettes. I loved walking along the Seine at sunset. I loved all of the beautiful architecture & history. I really loved everything about Paris! It is a place that you could visit over and over again & still see new things! Visit my travel website for tips on what to do in Paris!!! http://www.sunshineandseafoam.com/france.html Tips on Traveling in Europe on a Budget: http://www.sunshineandseafoam.com/europe.html
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