15th anniversary trip to Europe! Paris: Day 1

Ever since going to Ireland five years ago shortly after our 10th anniversary, Sean and I have said we'd take another big European trip for our 15th. This was the year! We've been talking about taking this trip for so long and I can't believe it has now come and gone. I have thought of our trip every single day since being home. It was incredible and I still feel like pinching myself. Truly, it was an amazing experience and I am so grateful we were able to go. 

It took us awhile to decide where exactly we wanted to go on our trip. Switzerland has always been at the top of both of our lists so we knew it was a top contender. I have always wanted to visit the French countryside, and had learned more about a particular region (the Alsace region) and really loved the idea of visiting there. I have always been enamored with the idea of visiting quaint little villages that feel like a step back in time. Since the Alsace region of France is very near the Switzerland border, we thought why not combine both places into one trip? Our trip expanded to include Paris because we knew we'd be flying in there and neither of us had visited Paris before. It seemed like a no brainer to spend a few days there as well. Overall our trip was 12 days. We spent the first 2 1/2 days in Paris before heading to Colmar. We spent about 2 days in Colmar before spending another day traveling to Switzerland. We made a stop in Bern for the afternoon before continuing on to Murren, where we made our home base for four days. From there we moved to Lucerne, where we spent a day before flying home from Zurich. 

I am not going to lie-- this trip was not easy to plan. It was difficult trying to figure out how much time to spend in each location and where to stay, what to do for transportation, etc etc etc. I spent so many hours planning and trying to figure it all out. I nearly memorized the Rick Steves' travel books and I spent a lot of time researching online. Thankfully my mom and sister stepped in to take care of our kids for all but one night (which was covered by my friend's cute niece). Trying to write out all of the kids' schedules and set up carpools, etc for nearly two weeks during peak sports season was a big job! I am happy to say it was worth all of the effort though-- we had an amazing trip!

We left on a direct flight in the evening from Salt Lake City to Paris. We lucked out big time and had one of the only empty seats on the flight next to us. It helped a lot with being able to sleep and stretch our legs out. 

When we went to Ireland, I remember that first day in Dublin being pretty brutal from the jet lag and time change. Thankfully this time around I didn't feel that way at all. It was awesome driving in to Paris in the taxi and driving around the Arc de Triomphe on the way to our hotel. It's so striking and huge in person and it was such a fun way to start our time in Paris.

Our hotel: the Luxembourg Parc

We loved this hotel. It was beautiful inside and we had the only room with a walk-out balcony (middle left of the hotel in the picture above). It was highly recommended by my sister and brother in law who stayed there the year before. The staff was so helpful and we loved the location.

Loved the view from our balcony! Luxembourg Gardens was right across the street.

After dropping off our bags and checking out the room, we walked over to Luxembourg Gardens. It was a beautiful day and the gardens were gorgeous. I also loved seeing the old men playing chess!

After walking around the gardens, it was time to head to our bike tour we had scheduled for the afternoon. As we were walking down the street next to our hotel, we heard an organ playing and realized there was a big church in front of us. The door was propped open, so we went inside and looked around. It was beautiful! We learned it was the Church of Saint-Sulpice, built in 1631 (At least this structure-- there was an earlier structure there before). The organ we heard playing is one of the largest in the world. I loved walking around and seeing who was buried there. I guess this was the church in the DaVinci Code movie as well. So cool to just stumble upon while walking around.

We walked about half of the way to the meeting spot for our bike tour before hopping in a taxi to save time. We made it in time and got ready to ride! We have some friends who recommended this bike tour and we thought it would be a good way to fight off jet lag and get our bearings in Paris. We both really loved it and thought it was such a fun and unique way to see the city. Our guide was a lot of fun and it was cool to think we were riding bikes in the middle of Paris by some of the most famous places in the world. Sean and I are also still laughing about a girl from Australia who was in our group that didn't seem to know how to ride a bike. 

Napoleon's tomb

Alexander III Bridge

Loved this view of the bridge and the Eiffel Tower in background!

The Louvre: It is truly ENORMOUS. I could not believe just how big it really is!

The Iron Lady herself. So spectacular to see the Eiffel Tower in person. It was bigger than I thought!

After the bike tour we headed to dinner to a steak and frites restaurant (Le Relais de L'Entrecòte) we'd read about online. The food was delicious and reminded us of a memorable dinner we'd had in D.C. several years ago. It was the same concept where they bring out your steak and fries in two portions. Our table was the one with the green tablecloth on the left.

Views of the Eiffel Tower at dusk on our way to get on our Seine river cruise.

The river cruise was a great way to end our first day in Paris. We were both starting to feel the lack of sleep, but Paris was beautiful at night by boat. I loved crossing under so many bridges and by so many iconic buildings, including Notre Dame. When Notre Dame came into view, many people grew quiet, almost as in reverence (a response, I'm assuming, to the devastating fire earlier this year). I am so glad there is something left of Notre Dame to see. I remember getting emotional at home as it was burning and feeling such a sense of loss.

Cool to see the boats people live in on the water. This one even had a car on its deck!

Similar view I loved from the bike tour, but at night!

After the river cruise, we hopped in a taxi back to the hotel. Totally exhausted, but such an incredible first day. I had to take pictures of this street adjacent to our hotel (the church we went in earlier is just at the end of this street). I adore this little street. It is beautiful and I just love it and took pictures of it on many different occasions!