This week’s #ThrowBackTravel is a special one! The first trip I ever went on – by myself – was my high school Humanities class Spring Break trip to France & Italy. It was such a memorable experience! The first leg of our trip as to Paris, France. Our stay in Paris was extremely short [Friday-Sunday] but I was able to see the highlights. Our class trip was was organized by a tour [ACIS] therefore the itinerary was pre-planned and I just went with the flow. This trip is very memorable for me because I considered it as my first trip and basically what started my travel bug.
Upon arrival to Paris we checked in to the hotel and then wasted no time with sightseeing. We first visited Notre Dame.
The second day started with an early drive by of the Eiffel Tower – jaw dropping and so surreal! I legit was skipping down the street with glee. Afterward we spent majority of the day at Palace of Versailles. I can’t even begin to describe how spectacular Versailles was. Everything was grand, luxuries, and out of control! It was nice to get a glimpse into how lavishly Marie Antoinette lived!
After Versailles we headed back to the city. Our tour guide took us to Champs-Élysées where we walked a bit and enjoyed strolling the streets of Paris. I window shopped my entire was down the Champs-Élysées – swoon! Later at night we went on a boat tour and got to see the the Eiffel Tower light up and take in Paris at night! It’s such a magical city.
Our last day in Paris – was Easter Sunday – therefore it was a split between going to Notre Dame Easter Mass or Claude Monet’s House. I opted for Monet’s House which was by far my favorite part of the trip! Monet is one of my favorite artists from studying humanities. I LOVE his paintings therefore visit his home felt as if I was walking through a Monet painting. I took so many pictures in the garden! Everything about the house & garden was just lovely! I highly recommend making the trip outside of Paris to visit Monet’s House.
After the morning sightseeing the group reconvened and headed to the Louvre Museum. Going to the Louvre was the highlight of my trip because I spent all year studying Art History in Humanities class and it was surreal to see all these paintings and sculptures in real life that I had been styling for 8 months. The Winged Victory of Samothrace [Nike of Samothrace] is one of my favorite sculptures and I was overjoyed to be up close to this majestic statue. It’s just stunning. We explored the museum for hours and it was just amazing. Afterward we hopped on an overnight train and headed to Florence, Italy. I will save my travels to Italy for another post! Have a lovely day!
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