The City of Lights- Paris, France

Last week I turned the monumental 21! I was lucky enough to have my family come to Milan to visit me for my birthday. We spend my birthday in Milan and then took off to Paris together. Before I say anything I will say this, yes, Paris lives up to all of the hype. Initially I was worried about how our trip would turn out because I knew how large and overwhelming the city is. I had planned for weeks all of the places we would see and the restaurants we had to go to even down to the geographic locations that were best for family photos. Driving from the airport into the city we were all shocked by how simple and beautiful the city was. We started our weekend by walking through the gardens that are in front of the Louvre. We probably could have spent a whole week in the Louvre and still not see all of the artwork inside. Dad and I were able to push our way to the front of the mob of people and sneak a selfie with The Mona Lisa herself (surprisingly small painting). The estate its self is so large that it took us around 20 minutes to navigate the exit. Throughout our time we went to many other beautiful places like Notre Dame, Museum D’Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, the Eiffel Tower and Palais Garnier. Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower is definitely something that I will never forget but the Palais Garnier was really what took my breath away. The Palais Garnier is an opera house that was build in the 1860’s. It was built to be extravagant enough to impress an emperor. It had a Napoleon III style and is covered in outrageous decorations. The ceilings of the rooms are completely covered in gold and frescos. If you know my dad you know that he was snapping 100 pictures a minute. He really was like a kid in a candy the entire weekend. Another reason I will forever love Pairs is because I had the best steak of my entire life there. We went to a famous restaurant called Le Relais de l’Entrecote that Kristin and I have been talking about for years. The restaurant does not take reservations so we got there before opening and there was already a line wrapped around the corner. My Dad was skeptical of course because the man does not like waiting for his food but it was all worth it. I think the most surprising part of this vacation was watching my 16-year-old brother casually drinking at dinner. In the beginning he would barely touch his glass and by the end of the vacation he was running with all the big dogs. It was a short trip but definitely one that I will never forget. I am so blessed that I was able to experience such a magical place with the people I love the most.

Eiffel Tower

Palais Garnier

Palais Garnier

L’Relais de Entrecote

Streets of Paris