Travel Diary // Paris - Part I


A dream came true! I went to Paris with my Duke and had the time of my life!! We celebrated our 10th year anniversary being married and the 20th as a couple. It was definitely a trip to remember and I want to share our best moments with you, but I am going to split it into 2 or 3 parts so I can fit everything in and not bore you. Enjoy!





Top,Shoes,Backpack / Stradivarius
Skirt / Chicwish, buy it here

We stayed in a 3-star hotel between the 8th and the 9th arrondissement (district), near the Palais Garnier (the Opera). It was a lovely neighborhood with cute brasseries and bistros, small local theaters, the metro station of Madeleine very near and many shops and shopping centers like Printemps and Galleries Lafayette. I didn't go to either, since we decided to spend our time visiting monuments and landmarks instead.

A photo posted by Barefoot Duchess (@barefoot_duchess) on

I personally recommend:
*Les Caprices de Charlotte (boulangerie) for breakfast - ask for the butter croissants
*Le Grefullhe (brasserie) for small dinner - ask for the croque monsieur

A photo posted by Barefoot Duchess (@barefoot_duchess) on

The Tour Eiffel and the Champ de Mars were the first places we visited, both in the 7th arrondissement. I can confirm what you might already suspect: the tower is literally breathtaking. The magnitude and height of the monument left us in awe! It's nothing like we have seen before. And this was built in 1889! The Champ de Mars is a large public greenspace, perfect for long walks, on the feet of the Eiffel Tower. We have one in Athens (I don't know which one came first, sorry) so it felt a bit like "home", haha.




Top / ZARA
Shoes, Backpack / Stradivarius
Skirt / Chicwish, buy it here

Monmartre is a large hill in the 18th arrondissement and a place that you must visit, not only for its artistic history (Dali, Picasso, Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec and many other artists from the Belle Epoque had their studios there), but also for the great view of Paris from the cathedral of Sacre Coeur, the small shops selling souvenirs, the cafes and the boulangeries at the Place du Tertre, and, of course, the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret.

A photo posted by Barefoot Duchess (@barefoot_duchess) on




Last but not least (for Part 1), the Château de Versailles is the palace where the royal family (including Marie-Antoinette) used to live, is cited 20km outside Paris and covers 67,000 square meters! We took the train (15') from the Montparnasse Station and then walked to the main gate (another 15') to enter the Palace and the famous Gardens. If haven't already heards, the most famous room of the palace is the Hall of Mirrors, which now I can finally say that it is ticked off my bucket list!



After walking around the main palace for almost 2 hours, we decided to rent a golf car to navigate around the gardens. They are huge! We only had time to visit the Petit Trianon, the Temple of Love and the Queen's Hamlet (Marie-Antoinette's estate) and that was another 2 hours. I am definitely going again sometime in the future because I want to see EVERYTHING!




Dress / Chicwish, buy it here
Shoes, Backpack / Stradivarius

This is the end of Part I. There are at least two more to come, so stay tuned! More photos from the Louvre, the Tuileries and Luxembourg gardens, Notre Dame, the Seine and the streets of magical Paris! À bientôt

xoxo
|barefoot duchess|

Photos by me and the Duke via my Instagram

*I would also like to send a big "THANK YOU" to my friends and fellow bloggers who helped me prepare for this amazing trip, with so much patience (haha, unbelievable patience):

- Anna from Aspects of Style
- Maria from Travelstories From My World
- Eleanna from El's Escapes 
- Loukia from The Fashion Reporter