Yesterday was our last morning in London, so, after packing up all of our bags, we left the hostel and wandered around some of the nearby neighborhoods. I finally found fish and chips at a pub called Munchkins whose back room/bathrooms were painted in the theme of Wizard of Oz. The food was delicious and the servers were very kind. After eating, we made our way back to Kings Cross so that we could see platform 9 3/4. Our last stop before the train station was a market where we got a smoothie and a cannoli from local vendors. It was a fun day end to our first city before boarding our 3 hour train to Paris. 

Our first day in Paris has been the perfect start to our time in France! We are currently writing from the top of the Eiffel Tower where we are awaiting sunset! When we arrived last night, we were a little worried that our hostel was much farther from city center than we had realized, but the morning helped us see it in a better light. The hostel provided our breakfast before we set out to the metro station. We rode into the city and got off a little before Arc de Triomphe, so that we could take in more of the city before we were surrounded by tourists. 

We sat across the street from the Arc de Triomphe and watched the cars before crossing under the road and getting in line for tickets. Eventually, we made it to the front of all of the lines and climbed the spiral staircase up one side of the arch. Once we reached the top, we were greeted with a gorgeous view overlooking the city and the Eiffel Tower. Eventually, we decided it was time to head down, so we climbed down the spiral staircase  in the other side of the arch. Again, we crossed back through the tunnel, but, this time, we went the opposite direction to see Champs-Élysées. 

After wandering past (and through) shops that we aren’t close to being able to afford, we made our way toward the Seine and crossed a bridge to enjoy lunch in l’Esplanade des Invalides with some friends. To our luck, there was a crêpe stand right where we were meeting, so we enjoyed our first street crêpes of the trip!  They were delicious (of course) and it was the perfect first lunch in Paris. 

After finishing lunch, we made our way back across the Seine to le Jardin des Tuileries and the pyramids outside of the Louvre. The weather was still gorgeous, so we took a short break and sat by a fountain to enjoyed our view until we decided it was time to head over toward the Eiffel Tower. 

After walking part of the way, we realized that the train was the fastest way to get there, so we headed into a train station in hopes that we would get to go up earlier. The walk from the train to the tower gave us some different, fun views of the tower that we hadn’t seen yet and we took our time taking in the scenery. 

We got to the base of the tower and through the first round of security about half an hour before our time slot. And, of course, they told us we had to wait. That was no bother, we were the third group in line in our time slot which meant we would be on the first possible elevator. After what felt like forever (but in reality was closer to 30min), they let us in and we made it past the second security checkpoint and onto the elevator. The elevator went directly to the second level where we took in the view and found some snacks. 

The next step was, obviously, the third floor so we got in yet another line. A little while later, we finally reached the top and, with it, a gorgeous view of the entire city!! It was definitely worth the wait and we are both in love with the view. 

Then came the real wait. From the first time we talked about what we wanted to do in Paris, we agreed that we wanted to be at the top of the Eiffel Tower at sunset, and we were! Three and a half hours after we reached the top, we witnessed a gorgeous sunset over Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Once it set, we rushed to the bottom (even took the stairs from the last floor) to watch it light up for the first time of the night. At that point we were starving, so we got crepes from the first vendor we saw and then rushed to catch a bus back to the hostel.

Bonsoir, Paris!! 

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