It was 6am in October and I woke up to a text message from my sister, Sara. Sara and her husband, Jeff are pretty much the best people ever and they travel the world. They are the reason why my wife and I have a huge love of traveling and we traditionally have always been looking forward to “the next trip” with them… then we had kids and the game changed. Don’t get me wrong, we still travel, but we hadn’t both been out of the country together since our first child was born in August of 2014. So when I leaned over and read the message from Sara asking if we wanted $400 round trip tickets to Paris, a rush of excitement was then followed the harsh reality that it probably wasn’t going to happen. Especially since Sara told us it was a limited offer and we would need to decide within the next 8 hours.
Alysen and I got up and made breakfast and she proceeded to say, “screw it… let’s make it happen.” So we did just that. Fast forward a few months and I was getting on a plane headed to Paris with Alysen, Sara, Jeff and two of my amazing friends Alyssa and Tamsen who felt the same way we did and jumped at the opportunity to go to freaking PARIS!
The flights over seas and layovers always sucks but then we arrive at our flat in Paris (yes, I said flat cuz i’m cultured AF now… obviously) and all of the sleepless flights seems to just go away and we headed out on the town within an hour of setting our bags down in the airbnb.
After a night of drinks and good late night food, the next day was jam packed with stuff to do. Every day would pretty much start of the same and that’d be with a very good, very strong cup of coffee and of course a delicious pastry. After that, we headed to the Louvre Museum!
The Louvre is insane. People told us that you could spend 3 days in just the Louvre and they aren’t kidding. The whole museum used to be the royal palace and they jam packed that place with some of the worlds most notable and incredible art. Of course we stopped by the Mona Lisa because if you don’t, what are you even doing there. Honestly though I don’t quite understand the craze by people that literally have no clue why it is the most valuable painting in the world (literally doesn’t have a price tag it’s so valuable). You HAVE to see it but it’s not something that is going to make your trip unless you are an art student and study the history of art at a high level.
That night we headed to the Eiffel Tower and it absolutely poured rain. You know when you’re traveling and in the moment you think something really sucks and then you look back at the end of your travels and you find that shitty moment was actually something really beautiful and memorable? That’s what this stop to the Eiffel tower. We were soaked, we spent WAY too much money at a shitty (for Paris standards) cafe and then went to the entrance of the tower to realize everything was closed. Then when we went to walk back to the subway… the entrance to it was closed so we had to walk another 1/2 mile in the pouring rain. Looking back though, we could have literally been doing anything and it would have been incredible simply because of the people I was with. We ended up heading back to the Eiffel Tower on another day to get some photos and spend a little more quality time there.
My personal favorite part of the trip was a walking tour in a part of Paris called Montmarte. When I envisioned Paris before I was there, this is what I imagined. The famous Moulin Rouge is located in this part of town and a history lesson of Moulin Rouge is where our tour started. This part of Paris is the highest point in elevation and the history of the area is incredible. We learned so much, it’s hard to remember it all but some of my favorites were the military battles won and lost from this area, the knowledge that Pablo Picasso and other famous artists lived in this area and my personal favorite, “Les Apaches” street gang, also known as “The Wolves of Montmarte” . These dudes were the most ruthless gang members you can imagine and the stories told by our guide really painted a vivid and gruesome picture. I just found the culture and history fascinating. I had never been in a city with as much history as Paris and there are even other cities in the world like Rome and Istanbul that were massive metropolises when Paris was nothing but farm land and cottages. Maybe Rome is next?
Street art is EVERYWHERE in Paris. Unlike Denver (which has an AWESOME street art scene), their art isn’t just murals and paintings. Their art has depth and texture to it. A lot of their art is tangible and has a 3rd dimension to make the art pop and stand out. There are different “signatures” all around Paris but specifically Montmarte. One that was rather interesting was a cast of a boob, colored and decorated differently and hidden in multiple places around the area. Artists are rad.
We did go to Moulin Rouge which was definitely quite the experience. Pretty touristy and not exactly what we all thought but definitely still an absolute BLAST to see. The costumes and pageantry alone was a site to be seen!
One place I wanted to go just for some photography and fun was a spot called Rue Cremiex. Check the link out to see more info about the actual spot but I took some of my favorite portraits ever… it helps that I have total babes as friends and of course my babe of a wife!
I’ve never seen so much grandeur in a city. Even the most “average” part of town has immaculate sculptures, statues and architecture along with a lengthy history to back it. Everywhere you look there is another statue, arc or historical point. I found Paris to be absolutely fascinating and I can’t wait to go back. I just only wish we had more than 4 days!
The trek back home was tough! We had a 12 hour layover in Copenhagen so, rather than spending 12 hours in the airport, we went out and grabbed a hotel to crash for a few hours. Since we all love the adventure of traveling… we decided seeing Copenhagen from a hotel room isn’t really “seeing” anything so we decided to head out. Unfortunately for us, it was in the middle of the night. nothing seemed to be open except one restaurant and it genuinely was one of the best meals from the trip. After dinner we headed down to the iconic Copenhagen pier called Nyhavn. The colorful buildings and boats right on the water are an amazing site no doubt but shooting at 1am was difficult for sure! I can only imagine what it looks like during a warm summer day with the area buzzing with bicycles and the smell of fresh seafood for lunch! We lost several hours of sleep because of the trip out in Copenhagen but it was totally worth it!
A lengthy read I know but damn, what a city Paris is (and Copenhagen!). The food, the fashion, the history and sites. Life “post Pairs” is kind of a drag, not going to lie.
