Last year I found myself incredibly blessed and thankful for having the opportunity to go on two international trips. The first to Uganda (you can read about here), and the second to Western Europe!
I had been trying to get the hubby to go on a trip with me to France and Germany while we were still dating. Things didn't quite work out so we made it our goal to plan a European trip as a postponed extended honeymoon, which we made happen last year!
This trip was pretty jam-packed so I'll not only try to make it brief and as always loaded with pictures, but it will also be split into a couple of different posts. We started our trip in France, explored Germany in the middle and then ended back in France, so that's kind of the approach I took with these posts.
First up: France (phase I).
If you've been following along on my journey you may recall I mentioned trying to get to France once before. Actually, I've tried to get there just about every year since I went to Ukraine. The same friend from high school now lives in France with her husband and I've been eager to see her again and meet her man. (Hi Lena & Alan!)
Let me just say, all of those preconceived notions that you may have formed or heard about Parisians and France, let them go! France was absolutely lovely. The people were great to us, the food was delicious-their reputation for this is well earned, the country is clean and beautiful. Yes, we had our own personal tour guides to show us around, share with us their culture and get from their point-of-view why things are the way they are. Maybe our experience was skewed, but if you find yourself traveling to France in the near future, embrace the possibilities!
Inside Notre Dame. Absolutely stunning!
Inside the Louvre museum. For those who don't know, this used to be where the president resided before they moved it to Versailles. The Louvre is also completely stunning and massive. We only had time to explore a tiny bit. It would probably take days to walk the entire museum and be able to appreciate the art it holds. The museum is 14km if you walked the whole thing. That's A LOT of art people! As a caution: be prepared for long lines! We found out too late that you can actually buy tickets online and that gets you access to a shorter line. Had we known ahead of time, we definitely would've taken advantage of that!
We mostly stuck to the sculpture area. Everyone must experience for themselves the enormity of this museum. As we entered into each area of the sculptures, it literally took my breath away. I was in pure amazement Impressive is an understatement! The only other thing I'll add here is that yes we did make a point to see the Mona Lisa. My opinion? Let me put it this way, I didn't deem it important enough to take a picture of it. That sounds awful, so let me explain: the artwork in the room that it is in is absolutely amazing, stunning even, and houses some of the largest art pieces and canvases I have ever seen in my life. The Mona Lisa is dwarfed by said art and really shines a dull light on the piece after walking around. Plus it's very difficult to even get near it because of it's popularity. Still see it so you can say you did, however, we moved on pretty quickly.
Mussee d'Orsay
Arc de triomphe
The sculpture on the bridge was a gift from Russia. We learned France has received many gifts over the years.
Rumor has it Napoleon is buried here.
This is not the famous lock bridge, but tourists seem to use any bridge as an excuse to put a lock on it in France. It actually compromises the structure of the bridge. So much so that the famous bridge no longer has the locks on it anymore. They had to cut the railings off and replace them.
Another look at Notre Dame de Paris
Did you know that the Eiffel Tower was never supposed to be permanent? It became so much of an icon, however, they were basically forced to keep it.
That pretty much sums up our first part of touring France. We'll be back in a couple of weeks! In the meantime you can look forward to fast cars, Disney movies, quaint cities and Spanish in a German restaurant. Yes, you read that right!
Have a great weekend, friends!
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