#HurnEuroVacay -- Day 3 - Paris

The third night in Paris, I woke up at 2am and could NOT sleep. So, I watched three Netlfix movies in the middle of the night. Needless to say, we slept in late on Day 3 for some much needed rest.

We started the day by walking to Notre Dame and having lunch at a nearby café. In Europe, you sometimes end up sitting very very close to the people at the next table. At this café, we heard all about the couple’s internet relationship, and how they had both flew across the country to meet each other for the first time in Paris. Quite the interesting lunch conversation.

Lunch near Notre Dame

Every time we walked passed Notre Dame, Jeff talked about how much he loved it and stared at the gargoyles for way too long. I knew that he would enjoy climbing the bell tower and getting a closer look. So, we waited in line for close to an hour to climb to the top. And Jeff loved it!

Waiting in line selfie with the gargoyles

We made it to the first level!

Jeff loves gargoyles.

Posing like the gargoyle (Le Stryge)

Roll Tide from the elephant gargoyle.

Took this picture with a banned selfie stick - can't stop, won't stop.

Apostles on the spire

Things Jeff says while in the Notre Dame bell tower, “This wood is so old. Ron Swanson would go crazy for it.” (That’s a Parks & Recreation reference for those of you not as obsessed with Ron Swanson as Jeffrey.) He also talked about Quasimodo a lot, but that's a given.

After Notre Dame, we went to the Louvre. Don’t shoot me, but the Louvre is not my favorite. There are way too many people, and way too much going on. The place is way too big, and I get lost and can’t find the important stuff. I know that the museum is like an international wonder or something, but it is just not my favorite. Sorry.

Winged Victory

THE Mona Lisa

Liberty Leading the People

Venus de Milo - Jeff said, "Don't show this one to my mom." So silly.

Maybe my favorite part of Paris was the little pedestrian area near our house - Place Saint-Michel. Street after street of cafes, restaurants, crepe stands, ice cream shops, etc. I loved it. We went there for dinner and for more desserts. 

Place Saint-Michel

Jeff's mussels appetizer

Nutella beignets part deux - just so delicious!

Later that night, we went back to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up. After dark, the tower sparkles every hour on the hour, but for only five minutes. We rushed out of the metro and hurried toward the tower to make sure that we got to see it sparkle. We did get to see it, but we didn’t make it in time to get a good picture. Oh well.

We went back to Place Saint-Michel for one more Parisian Nutella crepe from our favorite Turkish crepe stand.

You just can't beat a 2.50 euro Nutella crepe.

#HurnEuroVacay -- Day 2 - Paris & Versailles

When planning our trip, we couldn't decide if we wanted to visit Versailles or not. I had already been to Versailles the summer that I studied abroad, and Jeff was not dying to see a palace. Also,the chateau is a little ways out of the city and kind of an all-day thing. Because we knocked so much out on our first day, we decided to take the train out to Versailles and visit the chateau. And we were so glad that we did!

I had read horror stories about the lines to get into the chateau, so we made a plan. Jeff waited in the super long entrance/security line, while I got in the short line to buy the actual tickets. I waited in the ticket line for about 30 minutes, and then found Jeff in the entrance line where we waited another 30 minutes. One hour in line really didn’t seem that bad to me, as I thought we would be there for 2-3 hours.

Waiting in line

Lines, lines, and more lines.

Made it through the gates! We're in!

Jeff loves audio guides!

The chapel inside the chateau.

The Hall of Mirrors - sorry, don't know why I am not looking at the camera.

We walked through the palace semi-quickly, and got to everyone’s favorite part – the gardens!

I love the Queen’s Hamlet and all the irony that it entails. [Marie Antoinette had it built to escape palace life and to live more like a commoner in the country.] We decided to rent a tandem bike to get out to the hamlet. Once Jeff realized he could adjust the seat height, we were cruising around Versailles.

We hurried back to the gardens for the afternoon fountain show, wandering around all the gardens to find the tucked away fountains and statues.

Apollo Fountain

Enceladus Fountain

Flora Fountain

The Latona Fountain 

Statue of Louis XIV - can't talk about a trip to Versailles without mentioning the Sun King.

After making our way back to the city, we decided to eat at Le Relais L’Entrecote for dinner. I had eaten at a similar restaurant on my last visit to France and really wanted Jeff to experience it. This restaurant has a set menu – steak and fries. You just tell the server how you want your steak cooked, and they bring a platter to your table. The steak was phenomenal with a great sauce. It was definitely one of our favorite meals on our whole trip.

After dinner, I really wanted some ice cream. We made our way back to our part of the city and finally found some ice cream, after two days of wandering around Paris. And they made it look like a cute little flower for me.

#HurnEuroVacay -- Day 1 - Paris

Jeff and I just returned from our dream vacation to Europe. I am hoping to post about all the fun things we did, for others to read and for our own memories. Hope you enjoy!

After almost two full days of traveling, we arrived at the Paris airport around 9pm on Friday night. We decided to take a taxi to our VRBO apartment instead of taking the train and metro late at night and risk getting lost on our very first night. Therefore, we got to our apartment about an hour earlier than we had arranged to meet our host. So, we walked down the street to a little café and had croque monsieur and Nutella crepes for dinner.

 

Later, we met our host, Christophe, at our studio apartment. Christophe was very polite and generous. My math skills had failed me, and we did not have enough cash to cover the rent and security deposit. Oops. Christophe agreed to lower the security deposit, and all was well. The studio was clean, modern, and so very TINY! But it was perfect for just the two of us and in a fantastic location.

We went straight to bed, so that we could wake up early for…..

The Eiffel Tower! I read that lines get really long later in the day, so we decided to get there early. The tower opens at 9 am, so we intended to get there around 8:30. Well surprise, surprise, but we were late. We got there around 9:30am, and there were people everywhere! Oh well. We only ended up waiting in line for about an hour, so it wasn’t really that bad.

Look! There is Sacre Couer way in the distance.

L'Arc de Triomphe is right over Jeff's head.

We took the metro over to the Champs Elysees, had a quick lunch, and visited the Arc de Triomphe.

Later, we took the metro to Montmarte and then used the funiculaire to climb the hill to La Sacre Couer. [There are a ton of steps up to Sacre Couer. The Hurns are not a fan of steps. Also, the funiculaire is free with your metro card.]

After visiting the church, Jeff decided that he couldn’t wait any longer to use the restroom. There was a public restroom at the bottom of the funiculaire, but there was also a really long line of people. But really how long could the line take? One whole hour – that’s how long the line could take. See, the fancy hi-tech restroom cleaned itself in between each use. And that cleaning cycle took over two minutes in between every person. So the line too FOREVER!

  

waiting, waiting, waiting some more

After the restroom fiasco, we took the metro over to Notre Dame. The line to go in the cathedral was way too long, so we decided to come back on a different day. We walked along the Seine admiring the sights and taking pictures along the way.

The famous lock bridge.

There was absolutely no room to add a lock. People were just locking their locks on other people's locks.

Beignets filled with Nutella are the best thing ever.

#HurnEuroVacay Itinerary

Jeff and I just returned from our dream trip to Europe - 14 days in France, UK, and Italy. Here is a quick list of our itinerary and links to the daily posts.

Day 1 – Paris

Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Couer

Day 2 – Paris

Versailles

Day 3 – Paris

Notre Dame, Louvre

Day 4 – London

Train to London, Buckingham Palace, Les Miserables

Day 5 – London

Kensington Palace, Westminster Abbey, Notting Hill

Day 6 – London and plane to Rome

Camden Market, flight to Rome

Day 7 – Rome

Colosseum and Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon

Day 8 – Rome/Vatican City

Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica

Day 9 – Vernazza

Train/taxi to Vernazza, relaxed in our little city

Day 10 – Cinque Terre

Visited the five towns

Day 11 – Florence

Explored city, Rick Steve’s walking tour

Day 12 – Florence

Visited market, took a rest day

Day 13 – Venice

Train to Venice, got super lost

Day 14 – Barcelona

Flight to Barcelona, explored Les Ramblas