“I love you, France, always and forever”

This past summer, as a gift for several occasions that happened this year, 2018, my family decided to take on a part of Europe.  All the photos you see in this post is the second country we went to: France! We also visited London, England prior to this location but the details of that trip are in a separate post. Scroll down for all the photos I took as well as the details on certain locations that stood out to me!

Disneyland Paris

This place was everything that I hoped and dreamed for. I am a huge Disney fan and one of my life goals is to visit every single Disney theme park around the world. The OG Disneyland and California Adventure have been my staple for the past twenty something years of my life, so the next stop HAD TO BE somewhere international! If you plan to go to Disneyland Paris, allocate two days at least if you want to go to both parts of the area: Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios Park. Walt Disney Studios Park is a parallel to California Adventure while Disneyland Paris was basically a mirror of Disneyland in California. The only way to get to Disneyland is also by a one way train, with the ride being about 40-45 minutes. Walt Disney Studio Park had more studio based attractions, such as shows, tours, and interactive exhibits versus rides and meeting the characters. Therefore, my grandparents and parents went over to see WDSP while my brother and I explored Disneyland Paris. Everything was just so darn cute!!! Disneyland Paris definitely had the vibe that I was hoping: romantic and dream-like. This feeling was definitely more enhanced due to the fact that it was the 25th Anniversary of Disneyland Paris’ opening. The architecture alone (and I will try to dig up more photos in my phone) made me feel like I was in old Paris: twinkly lights, beignets all around, music, and DISNEY PRINCESSES. This place was essentially a playground for Disney princesses. They even have a SHOW just for DISNEY PRINCESSES. There is a lot to see, but if I had to compare California and Paris, I would say DP is more aesthetically appealing and Disneyland in California has more attractions and rides. DP even has different attractions based on the location, such as an Alice in Wonderland. I plan to compile all my Instagram videos so that I could create an overall vlog of each place that I went to.

Palace of Versailles

I honestly wish we had more time to explore this place, but it was BEAUTIFUL. This huge palace is open to the public and has so many rooms to explore. I’m a huge sucker for gardens too, so once I found out almost 75% of the property was garden, I almost had a heart attack. You have to take a tram just to explore the whole thing. However, IT WAS SUPER HOT. We were all dying from the heat, but I personally thought it was worth it because I wore a cute flowing dress. My favorite portion of the whole place was definitely the banquet hall. Just walking through and imagining people in gowns dancing in the space was so amazing, I wanted to travel back in time just to experience it. Versailles also had a lot of windows, so a lot of natural light was coming in and highlighting all the paintings and engraved details that adorned the walls in the palace.

Eiffel Tower

So a note with this location: they will not notify you ahead of time if they closed the lift going to the top for (insert reason here). We were supposed to go up to the top to see the view of Paris at night. However by the time we got there, they had closed all the lines and no one was allowed to go up. It was a good thing though because it was a bit windy and cold that evening. So we just settled for going to the park that was in front of the Eiffel Tower. At night, it’s gorgeous. Every hour, the Tower sparkles for a good five minutes and boy, it is a sight to see. The park is so romantic, too. Ignoring the fact it’s swarming with people selling trinkets and pick-pocketers, children were running around, families were sitting and eating their packed dinner, and couples were gazing into each other’s eyes over a glass of wine.

Louvre Museum

Alright, I had another heart attack here because 1. I studied this in my architecture classes and I was in love 2. This was the setting for The Carters (Beyonce and Jay-Z) APESH*T video. This place was so surreal to be at. I studied a bit of fine art in my younger days, so walking around this space filled my heart with wonder and awe. I wish we had more time to walk around, but my parents primarily wanted to see the Mona Lisa…well actually my mom wanted to see her. My dad and I were the ones really geeking out and looking at all the art work and history. The cool thing with the Louvre is that the lobby is underground. Yes, it is underground. The pyramid that it is known for? Yeah, that’s the entrance. You take the escalator/stairs or the lift to go down below the ground surface and it’s HUGE. All the tunnels that go to the different exhibits meet in that common space. The buildings surrounding the pyramid are connected to that lower lobby. There is even an underground MALL!!! Don’t waste your time there unless you’re rich because a lot of the stores there are high end brands.

We visited three more locations: Biarritz, France; Lourdes, France; and a little town on the border of Spain (I honestly forgot the place’s name). I’ll write more about Lourdes later because there’s another story with that oOOOoOOOooOOOoOo.

Overall, I really loved France. Aesthetically, I loved France more. There was definitely a lot more life here, especially in Paris. Artists, museums on museums, ruins and modernism mixed together, this place emanates love.

100000/10 would come back again. Who knows? Maybe in the next year 😉