"I would gladly live out of a suitcase if it meant I could see the world"

No matter how small that suitcase is I might add... haha and mine was very small! I recently got the amazing opportunity to join my dad and sister in Paris after her semester study abroad it London. I packed extremely light so I could fit in a carry on bag but still have room to bring stuff home! We spent 5 days there and man it wasn't enough! I already want to go back! I just got such a thrill from exploring new places and experiencing new things, especially in a city I've always only dreamed I'd go!  This was my first trip out of the county other than a small weekend in Canada for Brian and Jenn's reception. But now that I've been I just can't stop thinking about it and going back as well as to all the other places I want to see. Anywho, I am spoiled and can't thank my dad enough for such an amazing opportunity!

I left my apartment in Driggs (oh yeah we moved btw...) around 3:45 in the morning on Saturday April 12th and got to Paris around 8:30 am their time, Sunday April 13th (which would have been 12:30 pm here).  I met my Dad and Denise at their hotel in Paris and ate a delicious breakfast before they checked out and brought our bags to the new hotel, a Marriot on the Champs Elysee (the main metropolitan/shopping street in the city). It was amazing, we were right in the middle of the Champs with the Arc de Triomphe on one end and the Place de la Concorde/Jardin des Tuileries/Louvre on the other. Not to mention it used to be Louis Vuitton's house haha my dad loved that. Anywho, Tiff's train didn't get in until later that afternoon so Dad, Denise and I took off for the Hotel des Invalides. It's a huge military museum with a church around the back where Napoleon is buried.

There was just TOO much to see at this place and the audio tours we bought were a bit scattered/confusing to follow but we did the best we could until it was time to go meet Tiffany. Which we did back at the hotel where we caught up and then headed out to dinner at a restaurant called Hippopotamus! haha Dad and Denise had gone to another one the night before and loved it. It was yummy :D After dinner it was off to the Arc de Triomphe! We climbed up to the top and enjoyed a spectacular view of Paris.

Panorama of the top, the arc is one huge round about with just streets and streets branching off in all directions.

Champs Elysees

View of the tower from up top

view from the street

We went up a little to early to wait for sunset but it was great nonetheless! We headed back to the hotel after that and hung out there until bed! Monday was one of our mueseum days. We hit up the Louvre first so that it could potentially be less crowded. First stop was the mona lisa and other paintings and things. Then we wandered around several other wings of the mueseum, seeing way too much to describe! One of which being Napoleon's chambers where he met with government officials and stuff. It was pretty awesome. We were there for several hours and definitely didn't see close to as much as we could.  I loved seeing the iconic glass pyramid part as nerdy as that is but it was tough to get good pictures of it

just to prove we went in :D

After the Louvre we walked through the Jardin des Tuileries which I found out later were bigger than I had thought walking through haha definitely pretty though!

 After our little walk through the Jardin we went to the Musee de l'orangerie where we got to see Monet's water lilies. It was very peaceful in the rooms where they were on display. I'm glad we got to go! After the museum it was time to head to our Effiel tower appointment. Unfortunately we thought we had to be there earlier than we did and missed out on a little crepe stand (I was DYING for crepes and every time there was an opportunity something else was in the way). However, the view from the top of the effiel tower was awesome! Afterward we walked home and kind of got suckered in to this little cafe that wasn't exactly what we would have chosen but good enough. We even hit up a little market on the way home to find some snacks and candy :D

Tuesday we woke up early and took the train out to the Palace of Versailles. It was a bit of chilly morning and pretty long lines but worth it to see all the neat rooms and things inside. The gardens were definitely cooler from an far away viewpoint because you really got to see the lay outs and designs the trees were sculpted into (they aren't typical flower gardens). I also liked that this tour was one where we kept the pace up a bit and got to see quite a bit because we kept moving. Our day hit a bit of a snag when we tried yet again to get crepes (we had been seeing them more) all the places we tried to go were closed so we ended up taking the train home to get some dinner instead.

Hall of Mirrors love

it had been a long day... haha

view from the gardens back to the palace

 On the train ride home this little girl and her mom were next to us and she asked "Why am I not eating?" haha best question ever! We went to a pizza pasta place when we got back, after stopping in at La Duree that is! Haha it's a famous macaroon place that Jennica adores and was practically across the street from our hotel. We all got a couple macaroons and another tasty treat to eat back at the hotel after dinner. It was delicious!