Our first stop of the day was Notre Dame Cathedral. The cathedral is currently celebrating its 850th anniversary!
I know I say this about every place every week, but get there early! We showed up just after they opened and we able to walk right in. When we left there was a huge line of people waiting to get inside.
Of course the inside is beautiful, but I loved all of the details on the outside of the cathedral. Just look at all the intricate details around the doorway!
Plus there are gargoyles around the building! America definitely needs more gargoyles!
Around the back of the cathedral is a beautiful garden. Definitely a great photo op!
Behind Notre Dame and through the garden is Pont de l'Archevêché. Both sides of the bridge are completely covered in padlocks aka love locks.
I bought a pair of locks ahead of time and packed them in my suitcase. Surprisingly, I actually remembered to bring them along with us that day. I added a lock for my boyfriend and me and my mom added a lock with our last name and year. Both of them are in the picture. We kept the keys to locks and I plan on framing them.
From there we had planned on visiting Sainte-Chapelle, but the line was massive and hardly moving. So we just walked around the area, slowly making our way back to the Metro.
Our next stop was Luxembourg Garden, so we hopped on the Metro and headed to Odeon Station. The garden is a short walk from the stop and is worth a visit. It’s full of beautiful flowers, greenery, water features, and statues.
As we walked through the garden we found a restaurant and decided to stop for lunch. I ordered a cheeseburger, but regretted my decision once my burger was served medium-rare! Don’t get me wrong, I love a good medium-rare steak, but hamburger? Not so much. Regardless, I ate it and it was good (and I didn’t get sick).
After resting in the garden, we headed towards the Eiffel Tower.
We had wanted to take the elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower the day we arrived in Paris, but the lines were crazy long…even the line to climb the stairs! Luckily, Tuesday afternoons are not as popular as Sunday afternoons - we were able to buy tickets and walk onto the elevator with very little wait. There’s another elevator that’ll take you all the way to the top (for an additional fee), but that line was pretty long and the second floor was high enough for us!
The view from the Eiffel Tower is stunning! Here you can see down the beautiful Champ de Mars.
And here’s the famous Arc de Triomphe:
After we got down from the Tower, we walked to the river front to board a Seine River cruise with Bateaux Parisiens. The weather was perfect so we sat on the outside deck of the boat.
It’s a fun way to see the city and I definitely would recommend taking the tour. I hear it’s amazing at night too.
After the boat ride, we walked down Champ de Mars towards our hotel (we were staying 5-minutes away from the Eiffel Tower) and stopped at a nearby café for dinner. We ended our day sitting at a sidewalk café whilst eating French onion soup (my favorite) and drinking wine. Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds!
Next Week: The Louvre
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