Here She Goes Again

Last year my daughter turned 16. As a gift for her 16th birthday I planned a mommy daughter trip to Paris. Now you may ask: why Paris? Because Paris is extremely safe for women to travel alone and my daughter had taken French as her secondary language. What could a better place than Paris to practice her French? So here we were, taking our one of the most memorable trips to this coveted French city!

We visited Paris in the month of December and fully expected it to be cold and chilly.You may want to know the most painful part of the holiday travel. And the prize goes to: Flight to Paris! Dear God, there were delays after delays! After all this was Christmas time, and we fully expected it to be bad. But we were also determined to go there and have fun!

After all I was making a memorable trip with girl! It had to be special. So my girl and I created a simple plan that worked perfectly ! 😀

We decided we would try to live as local as possible for our 5 days in Paris.

Living and commuting

We stayed at an apartment via Airbnb 5 mins from Arc de Triomphe’ which was perfectly sized to my surprise. After all it was Paris, and every space is Expensive!

We took trains everywhere (it is super easy in Paris), since we were staying 5 mins walk from the train station. We ate at the local small places and one of the meals was always cooked at home. We even went to local grocery stores and found everything we needed. We are vegetarians and it was never a problem to find food for us.

Eiffel Tower and nearby

We decided that we will skip all the touristy spots (museum included). The only one made the cut was Eiffel Tower! We visited and found perfect places to take pics during the day and the night.

It was quite fun to explore because we had no set plan.We just strolled around and stopped by the shops that caught our fancy! Do visit small vendors making live churros! It was cooked fresh in front of us and was quite fun to watch. 🙂

We went to local fairs near Eiffel Tower. The food was super delicious, fresh and cheap! We ate too many Croissants. By far my favorite was chocolate filled ones. 😛

People were very nice especially if you carry loads of patience and respect with you! Never once faced the so called Parisian attitude issue.

One day, we decided to go eat crepes. After walking thru many a streets in the middle of Paris, we found a small eatery that claimed “Best Crepe in all of Paris!- Beyonce”. Now we had to try some! Needless to say, our Queen Bey was not wrong! 😉

Disneyland and Versailles

We went to Disneyland in Paris! (One of my girl’s wishes. Had to do it!). It was freezing!!! And sold out (can you believe it! ) I have never seen so many people at one place in Europe. The lines for food everywhere were a mile long. While kids did the rides we lined up so we could feed them after( gotta do the parently doodies!) It was a fun experience overall, but I would skip it if you are based in USA.

The next day we went to Versailles to see the palace (turned out quite Meh!) If you are a history fan this is for you. Honestly for us we would been better off roaming on the streets of Paris!

We went to the largest Vintage market in Paris as well. The sights were interesting! Initially it looked a little intimidating but it ended up being a really nice experience. People in general were busy minding their own business. We scouted a few shops for “original” brand handbags. Here Cash is the King!

Art District in Montmartre

By far this was the place we really enjoyed the most! The unassuming place was filled with up and coming artists doing portraits for people. We were told that the most famous artists started here. Very warm faces all around! We found the best Tiramisu in one of the eateries there. Lots of murals to hunt for, if you are into one of those. Me and my son went and found quite a few.

Skincare Shopping at Local Pharmacies

We made a few trips to the pharmacies here! (also a rage among all who do Insta to shop for french skin care products! who would have thunk!) My daughter did a lot of research and I just piggybacked on her info. I bought one of everything she bought. 😀 . It was very crowded. There were many crazy shoppers like us there!

The flight back was not delayed but 10 hr flight is a mess in itself. But we made it back home to our own usual comforts!

Overall, it was a fun trip. I will remember this one forever for many reasons.