Paris was on the list for this year, and I’m so glad I was able to check it off. I’d been to Paris before back in 2018 but it was really for about 2 days. We really weren’t well prepared, and didn’t even saw much besides The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and the Seine.

Disclaimer: While it may seem as though these are all super expensive vacations, etc. I can assure you that’s not how I travel. I am super efficient at finding a window of travel that works out cheaper, and I’ve travelled a bit to understand what works out the best economically overall. I am just grateful for unlimited PTO, and also the time and resources to make this happen. But ofcourse I do shop 😉.

This time, I really wanted to go back and stay in one place (versus hopping around to different countries), and experience the culture a bit more. This was actually supposed to be a solo trip, but my sister ended up joining me last minute! Naturally, I am the planner in the family and end up being a mini tour guide for her.

I booked an airbnb since we were there for about a week, and hotel rooms tend to be a bit on the smaller end in Europe. This way, we can have a kitchen, and make chai/coffee, and assemble breakfast (yes, I know, we travel with all of the essentials, lol). We stayed in the 7th arrondissement, which really was the perfect location (here’s a link to the exact airbnb : https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1175163155465036024?source_impression_id=p3_1745018377_P3nBwGBiLNS0DKBo). It was about a mile away from the Eiffel Tower by foot, close to Le Bon Marche, the Invalides, and about a 30 min walk from the Louvre, etc. The area felt extremely safe and there were a couple of train stations nearby as well. Uber was quite accessible as well, so that worked out when we needed it.

One of the best parts about traveling to Europe is really how accessible public transportation is (we end up using the trains a lot), and while we did use the trains in Paris, a lot of exploration was done on foot. It’s not uncommon to be walking everywhere. I love doing this, and I can walk for hours just exploring and taking in the sites, culture, people, etc. Don’t get me wrong, after walking over 20,000 steps per day, there were some days my feet were definitely gone, but it was worth it.

After we got there on the first day, we immediately checked in, and decided to just go explore. We got a chance to go to the La Grand Epicerie which is a HUGE gourmet supermarket that’s right next to Le Bonne Marche and it has everything you can imagine. It’s definitely an expensive supermarket, but quite an experience. We had some crepes, picked up a coffee and lunch, and went over to Le Bonne Marche to do some damage. This is a huge department store that’s kind of like Bergdorf. I really did like the selection, and ended up picking up a trench coat that I was after and stocked up on some Sisley (French skincare). We went back to the apartment and ended up ordering in some Burger King. When I tell you the Veggie Burgers in BK are good, I am being serious. They have so many plant based options that even we don’t have here in the States.

The next day was a day at Versailles. We booked in to take a tour of the Palace, and had pleasant train journey over. The palace itself was super grand, but to be honest, I didn’t understand a single bit of the art ( in general, I don’t think art and I get along lol). We wrapped this up, and spent the day seeing the Arc, doing some shopping on Champs-Elysees, went near St.Germain to go to Angelina’s (the famous hot chocolate place) and then met up with a friend from the States for dinner at a cute little bistro. I am pretty sure my feet were literally gone on this day with all of the walking!

So, in between our trip, I wanted to go somewhere else in France. I’ve heard great things about Nice, Champagne, Cannes, etc. but we don’t drink, so wine tasting seemed a little unnecessary, and some of the other towns are apparently good during summer and if people want to go to the beach. Hence, we picked Annecy. It’s a town near the Alps, and Geneva is only about 25 min away. The train ride from Paris was about 4 hours long, but the town was super quaint, cute, and was good to go to for a night. I think this would be good to stay at if you wanted to go skiing, or go over to Geneva. But there’s not a whole lot to do, besides just relax, and have a little bit of leisure time.

We came back to Paris the next day, and then mooched around for a bit (found what I was looking for in terms of shopping), picked up some Macaroons, and called it a day, by finding a cute place to have some Penne Arrabbiata at (this is honestly my favorite pasta). We went to the Eiffel to see the lights, and came back to the apartment to relax.

The next day was really one of the best. We wandered around the Louvre, explored Saint Germain, went to one of the original Chanel Boutiques, walked across the Seine, visited the falafel place we went to 7 years ago, and came back to order in some Indian Food (it honestly was not the best, which I am quite surprised by since Europe really does have some of the best Indian food).

Our last day, was spent roaming the Luxembourg Gardens, picking up last minute gifts, seeing the Eiffel in the day, and exploring other parts of the city that we didn’t get to see. I really couldn’t believe the trip flew by so fast. I knew I’d miss Paris, but I was also looking forward to going back home to all of the good things to come!

Honestly Paris is up there next to Italy now, for me. What I really loved about Paris, is that you find something beautiful to look at every corner. It’s not as though we stayed at a super fancy place, or spent a ton of money on expensive food, but we still had a great time. Maybe they cleaned up the city due to the Olympics last year, but it was really beautiful. This time, most everyone I encountered was really nice and friendly. The language was a bit of a barrier in some smaller cafes and stores, etc. but overall it wasn’t hard to get around. I wouldn’t say the food is one of the best, but it’s definitely better than Spain or Milan.

I am super grateful that we’ve been getting the chance to travel more, and I know it’s really a privilege to be able to do so, and see the world. There’s so much you just learn and experience, and that’s something I constantly look forward to.

I can’t wait to go back!

-K