Paris Holds the Key to Your Heart

"A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life"- Thomas Jefferson

Our next stop was the City of Lights. We took a short train from London to Paris (it is insane to me that you can travel by train that far underwater). When we started to plan this trip around Christmastime we decided that each one of us would get to select one city that we would all go to without argument. Paris was my choice. I had never been to France and I had just seen Midnight in Paris so I was enamored by the idea of the city. I have to admit that Paris was my least favorite of all the cities we went to. I'm not sure what it was but Paris didn't live up to the gorgeous ideal I had for it. To be fair, when we told Gioia's Parisian friends where we were staying they all grimaced. So our hostel location may have had a lot to do with my disillusionment of the city. With that said, I would love to go back to Paris and stay near the Seine (not the red light district where we were) and do a five star trip.

Eiffel Tower

Featured Fashion: Maxi Dress, Chambray Shirt, Infinity Scarf, Sandals

Even though Paris was not my favorite place I still had a great time there. It's hard to not enjoy being in Europe with your best friends. 

The four of us spent an afternoon having a picnic at the base of the Eiffel Tower in the rain with baguettes, cheese, and grapes. Sitting underneath a landmark of that magnitude with people I couldn't love more was one of those moments that reminds me how lucky I really am.  We did all the major tourist things we could fit in. Just for future reference, everything closes on Monday in Paris so plan accordingly if you go. We missed out on Versailles, the catacombs, and the Musee D'Orsay because we didn't realize that. 

Sacre Coeur 

The infamous Moulin Rouge 

The Arc de Triomphe

Notre Dame

As most people are aware, Paris is synonymous with romance and love. One of the Parisian traditions is known as the lock bridge. Basically, lovers usually come to Paris with a padlock that they inscribe with initials, names, the date, really whatever they want. You lock the lock on the bridge and throw the key into the Seine to symbolize your undying devotion to each other. We decided that sounded pretty good to us (especially because our friendship has lasted between 16 to 18 years depending on whom you're talking to). Together we bought a lock, wrote our initials and the date, and threw the key over the bridge.

The Lock Bridge

Our Lock

I am incredibly blessed to have three incredibly intelligent, beautiful, and overall amazing best friends. We all went to different schools for college; two of us went out of state. Despite a 3,000 mile separation  we have maintained a friendship that I am overwhelmingly proud of. We all have our issues, but we love each other.  At this point in my life, there is no one I'd rather be in a city immortalized for love with. 

Stormy Day in Paris

Au Revoir!