Travel: 5 Memories in Paris

Paris was a highlight trip for me this year. While spending time in London, my friend Feyi and I trained to Paris (via Manchester) for about one and a half days. Though we were there for a short amount of time, we managed to see a good portion of the city.  Paris is such a beautiful place and despite some people warning us about the "French temperament", I personally found everyone that we encountered to be very friendly and helpful. Here are my top 5 memories from my trip.

P A R I S   M E M O R I E S

__________________________

1. Eiffel Tower: This is a no brainer. The Eiffel Tower is simply beautiful and can be seen from a large portion of Paris' city center. After sunset, the tower sparkles on the hour for 5 minutes and it's such a pretty sight that I'll always remember. I was freezing, jet lagged, and hungry, but seeing the tower light up was well worth any discomfort I was feeling.

3. Galeries Lafayette: All of the fashion and luxury that I imagined Paris to have were especially brought to life at Galeries Lafayette. It is a department store chain offering top end designers, fragrances, and beauty items. Though I was traveling on a budget and didn't purchase much, it was a great experience just being able to window shop and see the latest high end trends. I was also able to pick up a few duty-free beauty products.

4. Macarons from Ladurée Paris: Ladurée is one of the most notorious tea rooms in Paris and is  best known for selling macarons. It was my first experience trying a real macaron and MY GOODNESS, they were warm, delicious, and really cute. They were a little overpriced (as expected), but I don't regret eating any of them. I actually wish that I had purchased more. 

5. Food - French Breakfast & Anything with Chocolate: To my surprise, I really appreciated the classic French Breakfast. Though simple at a glance, everything tastes so good. The bread, the jam, the croissants, the juice, coffee, and tea, were all amazing. Even their Nutella seemed to taste better. One of my other favorite foods while exploring the city were the crepes. I love chocolate so I also tried a crepe with Nutella and bananas and was delicious.

While taking in the Eiffel Tower, Feyi and I stopped at a nearby cafe, Cafe du Trocadero, to warm up with hot chocolate and it was the best hot chocolate I have ever had in my life. We also ate maafe, a Senegambian dish from Lokita, a Senegalese restaurant, and had kebab for another spot near our AirBnB. Like London, the international food scene was great.

I really enjoyed my time in Paris. The architecture, history, and food definitely make it a place I would like to visit again if I had more time to spend exploring. If you are ever in Europe, it is worth the money to take a day trip to see Paris. Check out Marveling-Mind and watch her vlog on our trip. À la prochaine!