To get there, we took the Metro to the closest stop. Since we had the Navigo pass (unlimited travel), it allowed us to go up the funicular. I mean if we were truly prepared, we could have hiked up. But call us lazy. HA!
 |
| It was literally a ride up the steep hill. |
The line swiftly moved through Sacré Coeur, and they were having a mass while we were there.
The thing that I noticed with all of the cathedrals that we visited is the fact that the architecture and pictures are just phenomenal. Everything is so intricately built. They were all different, but a lot of them had similarities.
We snapped some pictures outside, however, it was really hazy that day. We met two American girls who wanted us to take a picture of them, and then they did the same for us.
 |
| Somewhere behind the trees, the Eiffel Tower stands. |
After we got through taking all the pictures, we decided to venture on down the street...to the macaron store. :) There was a tour just outside the shop, and we overheard the tour guide saying that if there was a store that only sold one thing then you knew they excelled at it. [Shortly after we got back, with that phrase in my head, IHOP decided to be IHOB for a day. They should really just stick to pancakes. ;)]
Of course, eating macarons were on my list, so we got a sampler to try for later. It was so hard to choose which flavors to get. Which would you have gotten?
We had an early lunch at a place that the people in my travel community were raving about their fries. It was the cutest little place, and we ate out on their terrace. Fun fact: it costs extra to eat outside. Also fun fact: it was totally worth it!
 |
| I got the fries. They did not disappoint. |
This was one of those moments that Rick talked about in his books...sometimes you just have to take it slow and sit awhile. Take it in that you really are eating breakfast (or lunch in our case) in Paris. I think this was one of my favorite memories of the trip.
On our way back down to the metro, we stopped in another candy store and saw this amazing chocolate replica of the Notre Dame.
This was also the area with all the touristy shops. So we stopped to get a couple of souvenirs for a friend and an ornament (read: keychain turned ornament) for our tree. The shops and sidewalks and streets were all so cute.
I told Tyler that since we were so close, I wanted to go over to the Moulin Rouge to get a picture. It was seriously just a "pop out of the metro, get a pic, and leave" type of stop. I was not interested in staying long.
We made our way, via metro, over to the Arc de Triomphe. It was way bigger than we both thought. It's in the middle of this outrageous roundabout, so you have to walk underground to get over to it. We didn't go up, but you can walk up 500+ stairs to get to the top (but it cost extra).
 |
| Looking down the famous Champs-Elysées. |
We walked the 2 miles down the Champs-Elysées to the Tuileries Garden. We sat a bit in the garden. It was so peaceful. The paths are gravel. There are ponds and things to do. There were chairs all around it. But the one thing that I just don't understand, as a pasty-white human being, is why people just sit in the sun all day. HA! I guess I've just made a commitment to not getting skin cancer, so I try my best to stay out of it when I can.
 |
| Walking down the famous Champs-Elysées. |
 |
| Looking down the famous Champs-Elysées towards the Arc de Triomphe. |
 |
| Tuileries Garden |
From there, we made our way to Rue Cler. This is a famous street that has a lot of farmers market type shopping. We didn't purchase anything, and it was really just something to see. If I were cooking, I would totally purchase my food here.
Then we made our way over to the Luxembourg Gardens. This wasn't too far from our hotel, but it was something I definitely wanted to see. I knew that there was an Angelina's somewhere within the gardens, and we found it.
I had heard people in our travel community group say that the hot chocolate was amazing. Y'all, this was THE most expensive hot chocolate I have ever had. It tasted like it was pure melted chocolate. Tyler had ordered an iced coffee, but he ended up with the iced chocolate instead. I was surprised that it was good, too!
We strolled through the gardens and headed back towards our hotel. I loved how all the bushes and trees were shaped just perfectly.
Once we got back to our hotel, we kept walking towards the Catacombs. My cousin had said this was definitely an interesting thing to see, but they were on strike.
 |
| The Lion Monument that marked where the Catacombs start. |
We got on the Metro, but this is where we had our one scary episode. I mean it was bound to happen. Let me just tell you a little bit about our Tube and Metro experiences. Our first experience with public transit was in London on the Tube. Now, from reading our travel books, we knew that it was going to be packed. At least in London, everyone spoke English. People were jammed into the cars. There was no personal space at all. The same went for Paris. However, pickpocketers are more prevalent on the Metro, so I had to be more aware of things happening.
The Metro was always jam-packed and sometimes it was a little more difficult to make it on. As we were running to make it to the train, Tyler hopped on, but there were so many people that the door shut before I could get on. I was panicked.
Now, I am horrible at reading lips. But God was with me in that moment. Tyler mouthed where he was getting off, and I understood, so when I hopped on the next train, I met up with him. We immediately made a plan if that ever happened again. We decided that if it happened, whoever was on the train would get off at the next stop. I think we will carry that into our future travels.
We decided to eat a light supper since we had had a pretty heavy lunch and some chocolate drinks. We found this cute, healthy bistro to get take away. Take away basically means take out. So we brought our food back to our hotel, changed into comfy clothes, watched a Netflix movie and ate our supper and macarons. We had a long day full of sightseeing, so it was good to be in for the night.
 |
| I was legit so excited to find a salad!! My husband could eat sandwiches every meal of every day and not get tired of them. |
