A Chance Encounter with.. Free Macarons!!

May 17, 2018

4 min read

At last! We made it to the city of lights! My trip to Paris was certainly my favorite of the semester and we were sure to fill it with all the crepes, macarons, and croissants we possibly could.

We took the Eurostar through the Channel Tunnel to get there, and the trip was delightful. The French countryside was beautiful.

Once we arrived, we grabbed a quick dinner outside of the train station, hopped on the bus, and went to the Eiffel Tower. It was nearly 11pm, but we knew we were doing the trip wrong if we didn't make that our first stop. We arrived on the hour as the lights started to twinkle, and immediately I fell in love with the city.

The next morning we started out the day with pastries at a little patisserie just a block away from where we were staying. Having a croissant is the only way to start a day in Paris! We walked past a charming flower market to hop on the metro towards Sacre Coeur. This Basilica is on a beautiful hill where crowds gather to sit and picnic.

From there, we walked towards Notre Dame. On the way, we saw Centre Pompidou. This inside out building is something unlike anything I've ever seen. The colorful pipes and outdoor escalator are so fun!

After looking at the inside out building, we continued towards Notre Dame. Katie and I were able to meet up with Gretchen and Moriah, two other Samford students who were studying in Paris! It was so great to meet up to hear all about their experiences and get a taste of home!

They took us to get a taste of Paris at a delicious creperie! At Les Galandines, I had the most delicious ham and cheese crepe and topped off the meal with a dessert crepe and jam! I'd already fallen in love with Paris, but this meal had me hooked.

From there, Katie and I went back towards Notre Dame to go inside the grand cathedral. The stained glass was incredible, and we were able to watch the ceremonial veneration of the crown of thorns. The cathedral was just as beautiful as I imagined it would be, but there were no sightings of Quasimodo or Esmerelda.

We walked along the River Seine towards Luxembourg Palace and Gardens. The beautifully manicured gardens were full of people, and our favorite part was the fountain. A booth was set up where they sold little sail boats with various flags that kids could push around in the water. We saw boats with American, British, Finnish, French, and even a pirate flag!

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Our next stop was to get macarons. When we passed Maison Georges Larnicol, I promptly dragged Katie in to grab a few macarons. Upon asking the boy behind the counter for his recommendations, I bought three but got three more for free!! Since these are one of my favorite things, this chance encounter had me hooked! We enjoyed our tasty treats on our next walk throughout Paris as we went to see the Mona Lisa!

After seeing the world famous piece of art, we wandered the streets of Paris once more. Ending up back at the Eiffel Tower, we loved our time looking at the beautiful well known monument. It was incredible to see it in real life each time.

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Our next day started out back at our pastry shop Lecorvaisier. We took our pastries over to the Trocadero where we could see Eiffel Tower once again. We ate and took tons of pictures in this beautiful spot.

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Afterwards, we finally went up into the Eiffel tower. This is when we were able to really see how remarkable the iconic Paris sight really was.

Lunchtime came after our time in the tower, so we picked up ham and cheese baguettes and walked to the Musee D’Orsay! We saw some of the most beautiful art, and I must say this is my favorite of the museums I went to on our trip.

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The next stops on our walk through Paris led us to Moulin Rouge and then the Arch de Triumph. Our weather this weekend could not have been better, so our walks were lovely.

After hearing such high praise for a certain ice cream shop, we thought it was time for a bit of dessert. Berthillon is a highly regarded ice cream shop on a little “island” in Paris and it did not disappoint. I chose sweet and tart peach flavors and after one taste, I knew I would want more. Many of the restaurants on the island sell the ice cream as well, so once I finished that one, I decided I would most certainly need another.

My next cone was strawberry and raspberry, and it was just as good as the first!

Once I finished the second, Katie and I decided it was probably time to eat an actual dinner so we found a crepe stand. While we were there, one of the employees walked out to tell us that we were young and beautiful girls and that it was a shame we were eating ice cream and crepes when we could have boyfriends. We laughed to each other saying that we didn’t know the two were mutually exclusive, but after we finished our food we knew we had made the right choice!

We took our crepes to eat on the Seine before walking back to the metro to head home for the night. The next morning came quickly and we picked up one last set of pastries before boarding the train to return to London.