Our second day in Paris began bright and early as we set out for the Louvre - specifically to see the Mona Lisa. En route we stopped in a little café for a quick breakfast of cafê au lait, chocolat chaud and croissants. My ideal breakfast! From there, we made our way to the Louvre - getting slightly lost but being set back on the right track by a friendly French man who Jackie's mom thought was giving us directions to his apartment rather than the Louvre.. ALAS we made it to the museum.
I want to live in this apartment with the red canopy. It's been decided.
Necessary reinforcements for Jackie and I..
Nails - Barry M 'Lychee'
Luckily we had a very useful item called a Paris Pass which allowed us to skip the kilometre long queue into the museum (it also allowed us to skip the queue to get to the top of the Arc de Triomphe). We strolled through the museum for a while, admiring the beautiful artwork, sculptures and architecture before finally arriving at our destination - the Mona Lisa.
This arch that can be seen below has an interesting story behind it. When Napoleon was getting married, he originally wanted to have the ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, however it was not going to be completed on time for his wedding. Thus, an alternate Arc was erected specifically for the wedding of Napoleon and his wife, and it stands today on the grounds of the Louvre, overlooking the Tullerie gardens.
Here she is! The one and only Mona Lisa...
The view from INSIDE the Louvre pyramid, pretty cool hmm?
From the Louvre, we went in search of even further artistic education, crossed the bridge and found ourselves in the Musée d'Orsay. We perched ourselves in the restaurant for a quick bite to eat as we were hitting that midday un-caffeinated slump, before making our way around the museum. The artwork was beautiful (no photographs allowed inside) as well as the architecture of the museum itself. Definitely not boring and well worth a visit if that's what you're into!
Next up - Le Tour Eiffel. This is a must-see in Paris - even if you don't take the trip up to the top. Some thing it is an eyesore but I personally think it is beautiful and holds the essence of Paris in the way that it rises above the city like a protector.
We all invested in matching Berets for the occasion and posed, like the ultimate tourists in front of the Eiffel Tower, sporting said Berets.
Top (turtle neck) - Primark
Skirt - Topshop
Jacket - Topshop
Tights - Don't know, probably Primark
Boots - Primark
Mom, looking effortlessly Parisian chic once again. *Sigh* I don't know how she does it.
We then decided to make a pitstop in some Tea-rooms (Salon du Thé) that were the oldest tea-rooms in Paris. They had over 600 different types of tea you could choose from, in every single flavour you could possibly imagine. I went for a French tea, with various kinds of flowers in it to taste and fragrance it. As you can see, it was a very pretty colour - the taste though? Not so great.
Upon arrival back at the hotel, we freshened up, napped and got ready for dinner. We went to a famous restaurant called Le Procope in the centre of Paris. Napoleon Bonaparte used to frequent this restaurant regularly in his time, often going there to sit and drink coffee. However, he did not always have the money to pay for his coffee so he would leave his hat there as collateral until he could afford to come back and pay for the coffee. In the foyer of the restaurant, Napoleon's hat can be seen in a glass case. It was really cool to be there knowing that story!
Jackie was brave and got Escargot - which she said weren't even that bad, they just tasted like pesto (they were drowned in it, assumedly to cancel out the garden snail taste). I didn't try one, but I think it's the texture that would put me off. SO SLIMEY. Our waiter also found out it was Jackie's birthday so brought her out some ice-cream with sparklers - the excitement was real! Dinner was lovely and we sat and chatted for ours over great wine and great food, in even greater company.
Mom had to leave early the next morning (my flight wasn't until the evening) so when we arrived home from the restaurant late that night she quickly packed and we hopped into bed for some shuteye.
I hope you are enjoying these Paris installments - there is one more to come!
Thank you for reading,
Síofra
♡
P.s. Follow me on Instagram (@siofiee150112) for more travel photos and life updates!
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