Rainy Easter in Paris

I had always dreamt of visiting Paris: drinking coffee on Champs Elysees, walking through gardens and exploring historic monuments and palaces. I even studied French with the hope of someday visiting the city of love.

And there I was, sitting on the aisle seat, peeking through the plane window with the hope of catching a glimpse of Paris as we landed just before midnight. And there it was, a lit up Eiffel tower, a dream come true.

On our first full day, we woke up to heavy rain without an umbrella. Attempting to stay positive, we walked through the rain and visited a cafe where we split crepes and drank much needed coffee. We then were guided by a sweet man towards the nearest, and cheapest, shop that sold umbrellas. There, we spent three euros on an umbrella that barely lasted the short walk to our first monument, Sacre Couer. Not that it mattered for we continued to use the broken umbrella not only that day but through the weekend.

After lunch, we tried to go into the Notre Dame only to be told that we needed to register for entrance online. Frustrated, we found a place to eat a Croque Monsieur and eventually made it to the Louvre where I got to take a basic girl picture by the Mona Lisa.

The next day we had an excursion to the Palace of Versailles. The palace was breath taking, and I wanted nothing more than to relax as we walked through its gardens, but we had more amazing things to see. After a crepe lunch, we got on a bus heading toward the city. When two public transit staff got on, we met the consequences of traveling out of zone and were fined. To top off the day, when we got back to the Notre Dame, we were able to go into the church through a different line that did not require a reservation. With too much confidence, we ignored the reservation line only to find out that it was the only way to climb to the top of the towers.

On our last full day in Paris, we made it a priority to see the Eiffel tower. Although it was worthwhile, I have an irrational but extreme fear of heights so climbing up the 900 steps to the second floor with a clear view of the distant ground was terrifying to say the least. But once at the top, I relaxed a little until we had to take an elevator ride down. I will probably not be climbing up such tall structures any time soon.

Finally, we walked down Champs Elysees, an avenue that I had only seen in French class movies and songs. And while it was a little underwhelming, I am happy to have included it in our activities

The next day, we took a bus to explore Mount St. Michel, another breath taking monument rich in history.

Because it was the cheapest option, we were to fly back to Copenhagen from an airport three hours south of Brussels. There, we stayed at an AirB&B where I freaked out because I left my charger in Paris and my phone was out of battery. Usually, this would not be a big deal except for the fact that my plane ticket was on an app and it would cost more than the flight itself to print it at the airport. By some sort of miracle, our AirB&B host had an old printer and a single piece of paper so I was able to print my ticket.

Early that Monday morning, we were on a flight back to Copenhagen where we were greeted by even more rain.