A day in Paris

Hi all - hope you had a great week!  I have been struggling a little bit.  My body doesn't seem too happy that I've been literally all over the place during the past couple of weeks, so I've been feeling not so great these days.  I've been aiming for lots of rest and lots of liquids.  Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery!

I had forgotten how gross condensed soup is.  Desperate times.

Anyway - back to my recap of my recent travels!  I took the red-eye flight from Beijing back to Singapore on a Thursday.  We landed around 6:30 am on Friday, and I went home, had a quick shower, and then went straight into the office.  The trip to China was a really productive one, but only being semi-present on emails for a few days can really put you behind!!  After a frantic day of work, I went to Stephanie's good-bye dinner, and then headed right back to the airport.  One red-eye flight later (two nights in a row of sleeping on an airplane.. ugh), I woke up in Paris!!

I had a long layover in the City of Lights, so I actually got the chance to explore the city for a day!  I took French for all four years of high school, so France, and obviously Paris, has always been very high on my list of places that I've longed to visit.  

I took the RER-B from the airport into the city, first stopping at the Notre Dame cathedral.  As soon as I climbed the stairs up from the train station out into the street - I was in love.  The sun was shining, the air was crisp and cool, and it was just all so beautiful.

The view coming out of the station

I love seeing old churches, and morning at Notre Dame was really peaceful and beautiful.  As I was leaving, I started to notice some larger groups of tourists coming in, so I was happy that I was able to spend some time here before tons of people rolled in.

I made my way from the Ile de la Cite to the Ile Saint-Louis and stopped into a cafe for a little petit dejeuner and free wi-fi.  I hadn't really had a ton of time to do a lot of research and planning before I got to Paris, so I took some time to consult Google Maps before heading back out.

Cafe au lait, chocolate croissant, and jus d'orange

I wandered through Ile de la Cite until I reached Pont Neuf.  There, I crossed the Seine and went towards the famed Louvre.

So beautiful

Oh hello!

Backside of the pyramid entrance

Lovely

Once through the Louvre, I wandered through the Tuileries Gardens, passing lots of statutes, flowers, and fountains.  I sat on a park bench for a while and just did some people-watching in the sunshine.  It was bliss.

Continuing on, I reached the Place de la Concorde.

Big ole obelisk

And in the distance, the Eiffel Tower!

I kept on walking and made it to the Champs-Elysees, where I wandered through some shops, used a luxury toilet for 2 Euros, and went to the famed Laduree for some macaroons!

I had three - chocolate, pistachio, and salted caramel!

Apparently, the Arc de Triomphe is getting some work done.  Womp.

Eventually, I made my way to the Eiffel Tower!!  I couldn't be bothered to wait in line to go up to the top (I had a plane to catch, after all), but it was still such a great sight to finally see in person!

I grabbed a ham and cheese crepe on the go, and I wandered back to find a train station back to Charles de Gaulle.  I felt pretty proud of myself that I managed to see so much stuff over just a layover, and all without really getting lost!!  Paris is such an incredibly walk-able city, and I absolutely loved it.  Of course, one day is definitely not enough time to see and eat everything there, so I definitely hope to be back again!