I’m so excited to share about our adventures in Europe last April. Following up on my post about it last year I booked this trip as a surprise to hubby and while being pregnant with our third baby. The trip was indeed approved by my OB and hubby did not make me cancel everything (thank goodness) after finding out about it.
We landed in Paris during the late morning after an overnight flight. I had booked the shuttle transportation service a night or two before departure and although they made us walk to the other side of the airport to the pickup location and were almost an hour late in picking us up we did have a smooth ride to our hotel. We booked our room at the First Hotel Paris in the 15th arrondissements. Honestly deciding on which arrondissement to stay and picking a hotel was the most overwhelming part of booking this trip. There were so many things to take into consideration and so many options. It literally took me weeks to make a decision. Yet after it was all set and done I’m happy with the location I chose. There was a metro station that was literally across the street and another one a block away. All the tourist attractions that we wanted to see were easily accessible from both station. We had a nice view of the Eiffel Tower not to mention that it was only a fifteen minutes walk to get there. There was a super cute baguette place around the corner that we stopped at every day for morning snacks to take with us on our adventures and in the evenings to take back to our rooms. Because you know how us pregnant ladies can be with those late night cravings. We had several restaurants and supermarkets near by and the staff was very welcoming and helpful. The room was small, as that seems to be the theme in Europe, yet comfortable. I would definitely stay here again. But I would like to try other locations as well although I don't know if I am up for the challenge of researching hotels in Paris.
Places we visited included:
The Eiffel Tower
We visited the Eiffel area several times during our stay in Paris. On the first day we walked there from our hotel to get acquainted with the area. We did not book tickets to the of the Tower as I was unsure if it was something I really wanted to do being pregnant (I’m terrified of heights) and then when I had decided on it there was no tickets available for any of the days we were there. There was the option to try getting tickets at the booth but every time we went the line was ridiculous so we ended up not doing it. I would definitely recommend buying tickets online and early if that is something you’re interested in doing.
Trocadero Gardens
We ended up here several times after walking around the Eiffel Tower and each time they had entertainment crews that were putting on a show by either dancing or performing tricks. It was pretty cool to watch and of course entertainment while we snacked on what became our favorite dessert of the trip, crepes.
I loved this museum! For starters it is huge! So much walking and lots of people but it it didn’t feel crowded. Plan to be there several hours, we did three and we didn’t even see everything. After the three hours I my feet were hurting, I was starving, and we were jet lagged of course. I always carried snacks in my bag because of being pregnant and that always turned out to be a lifesaver.
Arc de Triomphe
We walked here from the Musee de Louvre and oh my gosh what a walk. It felt never ending! Again I was 25 weeks pregnant so I might be exaggerating a bit. We stopped for lunch and dessert twice before getting there and we also purchased tickets to climb to the top the night before. I would normally buy our tickets for the sightseeing locations the night before and it worked out with the exception of the Eiffel Tower. And yes I climbed all 200+ steps after walking the entire Champs-Elysees Avenue to get there. The view from the top was beautiful. Another must do for sure. After getting back down we decided to ride the metro back to the hotel.
Musee d’Orsay
I really wanted to come here because I wanted a picture in front of the big clock but hubby and I enjoyed the paintings in this museum. Again lots of walking involved but we were better prepared this time.
Notre Dame
We didn’t get tickets for this as it was free admission unless you wanted to book a tour. The line to get in seem to be long but honestly it took us less then 10 minutes to get in since starting the line. From here we walked to the Ponte de Art (the lock bridge) but unfortunately there were no locks. Rumor has it that the locks were weighting down the bridge.
Sacre-Coeur Basilica
On our last day in Paris we made our way to Montmartre. This was the farthest we ventured out from our hotel location and I am bummed I put it last on the itinerary as we didn’t have much time to really enjoy the area. There were lots of places to eat and shop here and seemed like it could have been a whole day type of trip. It was definitely a walk to get to the basilica itself but the views were pretty awesome. When we return to Paris in the future this will be first on the list for sure. While here we also stopped at the love wall which was literally a couple minutes walk after getting out of the metro station. This wall was the reason why I really wanted to go there to begin with. It is said to have the word love written 311 times in 250 languages. Pretty awesome right! And as the cherry on top we found the lock covered fenced right in front of the basilica. We ended up buying a lock for 7 euros but we just had to right!
Many people told us that Paris wasn’t all that it was hyped to be. Some even said they would never go back. I don’t understand why because we loved it. I was worried I wasn’t going to enjoy it but I was glad I kept an open mind because I loved the places we were able to visit, I loved the feel of it all. The ease of riding the train and getting around. The helpfulness of the people. All the baguettes and espressos. I can't speak much on the food because I didn't dare to try anything out of the ordinary. I basically ate pizza, burgers, baguettes and croissants, crepes, and macarons. Hubby did eat escargot but he had eaten them before in the states.
Can you even count a trip to Paris if you didn't lock it in ;)
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