I’m back! And super excited to share all of the details from my trip to Paris! I was lucky enough to be accepted into a study abroad program at my school that took us to Paris over my spring break, and I can’t even express how grateful I am for the experience and the people that I’ve met. There is just something about Paris, and anyone who has had the opportunity to go there knows exactly what I mean.
It’s magical.
As much as I wish that I could write one massive blog post about my entire trip, that’s just not possible because I have way too many things to say! Instead, I am going to break up my blog posts by week, focusing on different aspects of my trip so that you guys can read all about it.
This week’s blog post is 4 outfits at 4 iconic Paris landmarks!
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Arc de Triomphe
Outfit Details:
Coat (Anthropologie), Suede Cardigan (Figleaf), Tunic (Free People), Green Jeans (Gap), Cut-out booties (Musse & Cloud), Bag (Michael Kors)
This had to be one of my all-time favorite places that we went! After running around Paris all day, it was nice to spend the night in one central area. We took the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe and the second that we walked up the stairs onto land, my reaction was, “Holy moly!” It was absolutely breathtaking!
What a lot of people don’t know is that the Arc de Triomphe is actually an island. In order to get to where it is, you have to take this staircase and walk down this hallway that essentially takes you underneath that massive traffic circle surrounding the Arc.
Once we got to the island, you could walk around the entire exterior of the Arc and even walk underneath the arches, which was so cool! By this time, the sun was starting to set, so a couple of us were literally sitting on a ledge of the Arc de Triomphe watching the sun set. Seriously so magical!
In regards to this particular outfit, the multiple layers are key for this time of year in Paris. It generally ranges from 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit during the month of March, so it’s wiser to dress in layers than to be optimistic that it will get warmer!
2. The Louvre
Outfit Details:
Coat (Anthropologie), Off-the-shoulder blouse (Free People), Jeans (Articles of Society), Cut-out booties (Musse & Cloud)
Of course we had to pay a visit to the Louvre to see the iconic pyramid! A couple of friends and I decided that we were going to have an afternoon adventure and walk all the way to the Louvre from where we had lunch. Well, it only took us about 3 hours to get there, but it was so worth it!
Initially, I was trying to navigate our way there, but apparently I was reading the map upside down (my days as a Girl Scout clearly failing me), so one of my friends ended up asking someone how we could get there. Once we got going in the right direction, we were just aimlessly walking up and down these Parisian streets, which I thought was so much fun! We stopped and shopped at a few places, and even got macarons at a place called Senoble, which I highly recommend for any macaron lover.
Anyways, when we finally got to the Louvre, it was incredible! You basically walk through these huge carved entryways to get into the area where the Louvre actually is. What I didn’t realize was that the iconic pyramid that everyone always takes pictures with isn’t actually a part of the museum — it’s the Museum Visitor’s Center. The Louvre Museum is the absolutely massive building surrounding the pyramid.
Piece of Advice: The most important thing to take into consideration when planning your outfits for a trip to Paris is that you need to understand that it’s going to rain, and probably a lot. It was actually misting while all of these pictures were taken, but you would never know that! Biggest tip for traveling to Paris: Always, always, always have an umbrella on you!
We didn’t actually go into the Louvre because I had already been to the Musee d’Orsay, which if you’re a fan of Van Gogh or Claude Monet, I suggest that you go there instead.
Fun fact: The Musee d’Orsay is 9 euros on Thursday nights after 6 p.m., so you should consider going on that day!
3.) Tour Eiffel
Outfit Details:
Coat (Anthropologie), Suede Cardigan (Figleaf), Tulipa Dress (Anthropologie), Pink Velvet Sneakers (Steve Madden), Bag (Michael Kors)
Oh, the Eiffel Tower! The symbol of the City of Lights! What’s funny is that I actually didn’t make my way to the Eiffel Tower until about the fourth day of my trip. The first time that I saw the Eiffel Tower was on a double-decker bus tour that we went on at night. Total tourist move, but seriously if you go to Paris and want to see a bunch of landmarks and learn about them, take this bus tour! It was honestly one of my favorite parts of the trip.
Anyways, I actually ended up going to see the Eiffel Tower up close on my last night in Paris. What better place to spend your final night in this incredible city than at the Eiffel Tower!? One of the coolest things about going to see it is by far the lights and how bright they are. You should plan your trip accordingly, though, because the twinkly lights only go off the first five minutes of every hour!
Going to see the Eiffel Tower at night should seriously be on everyone’s bucket list because it is absolutely breathtaking. I can’t even explain how amazing it was. Just standing underneath the Eiffel Tower and looking up at how massive it is, is a feeling I can’t explain. This city is magical and every place that I went to had magic in it. Plain and simple.
After we went and saw it up close, we walked directly across the street and rode a carousel. I will literally remember this forever because it’s just such a fun thing to have said you’ve done! As soon as the carousel ride ended, we got off and the twinkly lights of the Tower immediately turned on.
PURE MAGIC, PEOPLE!
4. Château de Versailles
Outfit Details:
Suede Cardigan (Figleaf), Floral Top (Anthropologie), Red Skirt (Anthropologie), Cut-out booties (Musse & Cloud), Bag (Michael Kors)
The final destination on this mini tour of Parisian landmarks is Versailles! Talk about extravagant, this place is hands down a must-see landmark if you are going to Paris. It’s hard to imagine or even comprehend how immaculate this place is until you see it in person.
To get to Versailles, you take a train into the countryside just outside of Paris, so it was around a 25-minute train ride. As you approach Versailles, you see this massive landscape of gold and find yourself immediately in awe. Once you walk through the gates and approach the actual palace, you will see that Louis XIV clearly spared absolutely no expensive with this place. I felt like royalty just being in the presence of Versailles!
As you walk into the actual palace, you’re surrounded with these incredible paintings of historical events. Like, I’m not even exaggerating when I say that these paintings were everywhere. If you thought that the gold accents at the Palace ended once you got inside … yeah, they don’t! There is gold on just about every door, trim, and ceiling in this place.
Every single room that we walked into, from the King’s Apartment to the Hall of Mirrors, my mouth instantly dropped to the ground. I seriously felt like a kid in a candy shop. This place, although super extravagant for my personal taste, is absolutely incredible!
You know that annoying tourist who walks into every exhibit and just screams, “WOW!!!”
Yeah, that was me.
My most worthwhile piece of advice when visiting Versailles is to take the tour throughout the entire Palace first before going out to the gardens. What we didn’t realize was that once you go outside to the gardens, you cannot get back into the Palace — apparently reentry isn’t allowed. Some of my friends actually got locked out of the Palace for probably an hour and a half, which sucked! But, I mean, to be able to say that you got locked out of a Palace is actually really funny when you think about it!
In regards to this particular outfit, I thought that this red skirt was the perfect statement piece for visiting a palace. I mean, I’m not royalty nor do I know anything about being royal, but I really liked this outfit and thought it was great for Versailles!
Well, there you have it! 4 outfits at 4 iconic Paris landmarks! I hope that you enjoyed reading about a few of my adventures in Paris! Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more blog posts about this incredible city!
To see more photos from my trip, follow me on Instagram at @stylishlygoodvibes
