Paris Holds the Key to Her Heart

Paris is an enchanting city. Coming from me, this statement is an immense compliment. You see, I do not like big cities AT ALL. Ok, let me rephrase that, I like all that big cities are able to offer (cuisine, education, jobs) but I do no like the fact that they are big, crowded, far from nature, and dirty.  However, somehow Paris managed to win me over and here are the reasons why I fell in love with it.

• Public Transportation- The public transportation is Paris is amazing, comprehensible and reliable. Just watch out for pick pockets especially during the morning or evening when people go/ get off from work. Those trains are packed! While I was traveling on a subway, I saw a guy who had a pet rat. Her name was Juliet and it was the cutest thing.
  
  
  Part of the Paris Metro Map
  
  There's Juliet!


• Food- The way the French love their food is unlike anything I have ever seen before. Such attention is made to the quality of the food and the taste in every bite. I had a delicious lemon crepe at a place called Creperie Plougastel and delicious rice pudding at the Hardware Society (An Australian breakfast food restaurant in Paris but believe me when I say this place is a must go!).
  
  
  Best Rice Pudding
  I also had yummy macarons at another shop that were delicious!! I got passion fruit, pistachio, and lemon. Literally, every bite was just perfect! Take me back!!
  
  Yumm!!


• Museums-I love museums and ,well, Paris has the Louvre!
  
  The Mona Lisa
• Parks- I adore flower gardens and trees and Paris has a particularly beautiful park called Luxembourg. The flowers were blooming as children sailed boats in the giant fountains and runners ran through the shade of bright green leaves. I absolutely loved it! The Luxembourg gardens is by far my favorite location to visit in Paris!
  
  
  Flowers
  
  The center of the gardens.


• Buildings- The buildings , especially the French Catholic churches, are beautiful. My favorite church was Saint -Etienne-du-Mont.
  It was a bright sunny day and the sun streamed through the windows into the church.  The walls are  a light sandy gray stone and the atmosphere is light and airy. The screen that separates the sanctuary is exquisite yet uniform in its building material. Simple yet intricate. I absolutely loved it. It was no wonder that it withstood the destruction of a revolution while so many other screens were destroyed. It is truly a work of art. As you exit you see a rich dark brown organ seated above the door. As I left knew this was, would be, and is ,without a doubt, my favorite church interior in Europe.
  
  
  The Interior.
  
  The gorgeous Screen that survived the French Revolution


• The Views




• Eiffel Tower

When talking to my sister (an architecture student), I discovered that the Eiffel tower was designed and built by an engineer (engineers for the win). We did not go to the top level of the Eiffel tower because it closed before we went up, however, the views on the second level were incredible! I looked out through the telescopes on the level and looked at sights we had seen earlier that day like Notre Dame.

• The Arc of Triumph

Best views of downtown Paris. You can see clearly in every direction since buildings in this particular part of Paris are only allowed to be so tall. The more modern side of Paris with skyscrapers has an arched building that looks like a portal out of a superhero movie. Fun Fact: Parisians take their drivers test around this arc. Apparently it is common to fail on your first try.

The Acre de Triumph

• Sacre Cure

Best overall views of Paris. Sid, Ryan, and I went on a clear day and huffed and puffed our way up the tower. However, all those steps were totally worth it! The views were absolutely beautiful! 

Views! Can you see the Eiffel Tower

The steps before the tower steps

There's so much more to Paris but these are all my favorites! Hope you all enjoyed reading! What is your favorite city in the world?

P.S. To all my fellow Anastasia fans, yes, the title is a reference to "Paris Holds the Key."