Paris and Orvieto
Paris has been my favorite weekend trip thus far- I can’t even put to words how much I enjoyed it! We woke up the first morning bright and early to walk to Notre Dame Cathedral- only 5 minutes from our hotel! We walked up the 400+ steps to the top and saw some amazing views of Parisian landscape. We then passed by the Louvre, and walked to the Champs Elysees. One of the highlights of my trip was Lauduree- the world famous Macaron store on Champs Elysees. I’ve been dreaming about visiting Lauduree for years, and never thought I would be able to go there myself! We finished the day by walking to the Arc de Triomphe and seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. Even though it was a bit rainy, what better city is there to be rained on than Paris?
On our second morning, we visited Le Sacre-Coeur and Moulin Rouge. Unfortunately, tickets to see a show at Moulin Rouge cost upwards of 100 euros! We later walked to a small town center with lots of artists painting cityscapes. They were gorgeous pieces of art, but expensive! We stopped by a crepe stand for a nutella and banana crepe (amazing) and headed back to our hotel before going out for a nice dinner.
On the last morning of our short trip, I decided it would be fun to explore a less touristy part of Paris. Le Marais is a historic district and Jewish neighborhood full of adorable boutiques and unique pastry shops. It was a delightful experience, but too short, as we had to catch our flight back to Rome in the afternoon.
I missed Paris the second we got on our plane, and wish I could have spent more than a couple days there! The architecture is incredible- every street looked like it could be photographed and framed. Just the experience of seeing the Eiffel Tower and Champs Elysees up close, and truly believing that I was in Paris, of all places, was magnificent.
This past weekend I decided Thursday night to venture with a friend on Friday to the town of Orvieto, which is about an hour and a half train ride outside of Rome. The town is basically up a small mountain, and you have to take a ride similar to a ski lift up to the top! Orvieto is renowned for its wine and the only gothic cathedral in all of Italy. It was well worth the three euros to view the inside of the duomo- the main part of the building is horizontally striped! Every inch of the interior had exquisite murals on it. My friend and I also went into a small shop to sample some Orvietan wine and cheese. The town was full of gorgeous signs of fall- something I miss dearly from home. Beautiful multicolored leaves were drifting down the quaint streets- and I caught my first fall leaf (a huge tradition in my family)!
I travel to Madrid and Barcelona in two days, and I cannot wait to finally speak a language I feel comfortable with!
Until next time…