Travel :: Paris. Part 1.

So this morning Google+ and I had some issues with my photos on the blog, love when that happens, so sorry for the delay! Today I'm finishing up our Europe recap with our final stop, Paris!

Paris is magical. It's gorgeous, huge, and filled with so many shops and cafes I thought I died and went to pastry heaven.

Ugh, stupid scaffolding!

View of the Champs Elysees from the top of the Arc de Triomphe

After arriving at the airport, we took the Air France shuttle to the Arc de Triomphe which was significantly less expensive than a cab and very easy. Our hotel was a short walk from there down the Champs Elysees. I would have liked to try a boutique hotel while in Paris, but we weren't about to pass up a completely free stay at the Paris Marriott Champs Elysees by using our points! It was the perfect location and everything you would expect from a five-star hotel.

I told the staff during check-in that we were celebrating our one-year anniversary (I had to at least try to get something free, you know?!) and voila, we got a room upgrade and were surprised by a sweet congratulatory note from the concierge, champagne, and chocolate covered strawberries that evening!

After checking in, we headed to the lobby to meet with Adam from Left Bank Scooters. You can do a tour with Adam but we have experience driving a scooter (I owned one in college) so we opted to do a 24-hour rental. It was the best way to see Paris in such a short time frame and its so convenient, they are really flexible and will drop off and pick up the scooter from anywhere!

The rules of the road are a little different in Paris but Adam explained everything, gave us helmets and gloves, told us where to park, showed us how to lock up the Vespa, and finally we were ready to go!

I die every time I see these photos of us in these goofy helmets. I look ridiculous! haha

Unfortunately we look like total nerds in the helmets and I had a chronic case of bad hair the entire time we were there, but it was worth it! Traffic was a intimidating at times but it was pretty calm on Sunday. And yes, I did most of the driving with Steve on the back! :)

It was rainy but we didn't want to lose any precious time so we hoped on the scooter and got lost looking for the Musee d'Orsay. After taking a break to look the map, seeing a gorgeous rainbow over the city, and shivering our asses off, we finally made it. The Musee d'Orsay was one of my absolute favorite museums the entire trip. They had a huge exhibit on impressionism (my favorite) and an entire Van Gogh exhibit. 

For our romantic one-year anniversary dinner we happily ate burgers and quesadillas at a pub near our hotel. I know that sounds crazy but after 10 days of Italian food, it hit the spot!

The scooter allowed us to cover a lot of ground in just two short days, and we had our own private tour of the City of Lights at night! We ventured over to the Eiffel Tower to watch the illuminations from Trocadero Square.

 

The next day we were up early and managed to visit Luxemburg Gardens, Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle in the morning.

We loved Notre Dame, it was so different than all of the churches we visited in Italy. We didn't climb to the top for the sake of time, but it would have been fun to see the gargoyles up close!

So this is what happens when you find a dumb person to take your photo for you. They cut out all of the pretty background!

Sainte-Chapelle on Ile de la Cité was a small chapel but so incredibly gorgeous! There are scenes from the Bible in each of the ovals and quatrefoils. It only took them 5 years to build this versus 200 years for Notre Dame!

Next we picked up some croissants and espresso near St. Germain and were off to Luxemburg Gardens on the Vespa!

Stay tuned for more of Paris next week! Including more scooter shenanigans, the lock bridge, and climbing the Eiffel Tower!