I know I mentioned before that last time we went to Europe, we were in Paris over Easter weekend. Here’s a helpful hint, pick another time to visit! :) No really, it wasn’t awful, but it was SUPER busy. A ton of Europeans travel over this weekend and I’m pretty sure the majority of them went to Paris! We happened to visit the Louvre on the Saturday before Easter Sunday and it was ridiculous. Picture people shoulder to shoulder in the biggest museum in the world. That’s a lot of people.
This time though, COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORY! We knew that there was a chance of rain this day so we decided to get to the Louvre early, get in line for tickets and hope to get in pretty quickly. We definitely lucked out! We took the metro to the Palais-Royal/Musee du Louvre stop and found the tabac shop inside that sold tickets. We got there about 5 minutes before they opened (8:45), bought our tickets, walked through the building to the Louvre entrance and were inside the museum by 9:04! I cannot stress how different this experience was from the last trip!! We checked out the Mona Lisa since Brent didn’t want to wait through the crowd last time to get a close up view, saw a few other exhibits we wanted to check out and left! Here the thing with the Louvre, you could spend days there and not see it all! But, if you’re not much of an art lover and only want the highlights (the Mona Lisa, for instance), that’s definitely easy to do too! The “main attractions” are easy to find in the museum!
Outside the Louvre we walked through one of our favorite areas, the Tuilleries Garden where we sat out a brief rain storm with some (expensive) coffee and water and then spent the rest of the day wandering, shopping, eating and wandering some more!
We stopped by famed boutique Collette that you definitely need to stop in if you visit! It might not be too budget-friendly (unless you have a several thousand euro to spend), but it’s worth a visit!
Another shopping stop we made this day, Le Bon Marche. Bon Marche is the oldest department store in France and quite a site! Brent found a comfy spot to sit (watching a pop-up exhibit film of a Brooklyn roller-coaster) while I roamed the store a bit. It reminds me a little of Harrods (in London) and was fun to browse.
We were greeted by another rainstorm so we opted to take a break for lunch at a cafe that opened out to a busy street (which you’ll find lots of in Paris). The rest of the day included visiting the Opera House and Moulin Rouge (which was just a few blocks from our hotel).
And now for the important, “what I wore” information! Because it was going to be damp and rainy (around the mid-upper 60s), I opted for a lightweight sweater dress and (faux) leather pants with ankle boots. I got a little warm off and on throughout the day, but overall felt pretty comfortable (and stylish) all day!
Dress // Pants (similar here and here) // Bag (not online but I just bought in store) // Boots (now on sale!)
If you want to know one of the easiest tips on what to wear in Paris? Black. And for some variation, grey. Kind of kidding, but really, Parisiennes love their black! Check back on Thursday for highlights from day 3, where I SHOP! (And have a giveaway!!)
Hi Jamie.
I’ve moved. I’m not sure if you’ve sent off the prize or not (and honesty, I don’t remember what it was), but I wanted to make sure to tell you just in case.
Thanks.
I was going to mail it this week, I’m glad you told me you moved! Message me your new address on Facebook and I’ll get it in the mail to you!!