PARIS!: Day 3

Dad and I took an OOTD video for TikTok this day. Everyone loved him.

For coffee, Dad, Aunt Jeanie, and I went to La Parrisiene.

Once we were caffeinated, we took the metro to Île de la Cité and walked for a while enjoying the view of the Seine River. We crossed the Seine to get to Sainte Chapelle, a beautifully ornate, gothic style chapel on the island.

Dad and I split up from Aunt Jeanie and Grandpa to go inside. We walked in, and immediately, I was in awe. The gorgeous arches and the patterns on the ceilings were enough to keep my attention. But then I noticed that Dad seemed to be laughing at me. Apparently, what I was seeing was nothing compared to the main event. And, boy, was he right.

So, up the spiral staircase we went. The main room was insane. Three words: stained glass windows. So. Many. Stained glass windows. Lighting up the room. And each square represents a story from the Bible. We attempted to figure out what each one was, but we were only successful for a few.

To me, an average person with no artistic background, the beauty of this building is indescribable. But to my friend Eren Davis, an interior architecture student, it is describable, but it's also so much more. She gives you a deep dive into Sainte Chapelle's history and intricacies HERE. If you want to be entertained and get more knowledgeable at the same time, do yourself a favor and read it.

After we left that very bright room, we couldn't find Grandpa and Aunt Jeanie, so we just walked right over to Notre-Dame. It's a very special place to my dad, so we took a minute to sit down and just stare at it. It was disappointing to us both that we couldn't even get close to it because of the construction being done to repair what was lost in the fire a couple years ago.

We eventually found the rest of our group and walked to a bookstore Grandpa and I had ironically both found online on our own and decided we wanted to go to. But it was closed. Sad face. So, we split up for the rest of the day since Dad and I were about to do a LOT of walking. (Be sure to see the stats at the end of this post.)

We had sandwiches at Le Petit Cluny and people watched for a while as we prepared for the miles ahead of us. It was there that we decided that the more French you dress, the less French you probably are.

Me? Clearly not French at all... Check out these matching photos.

Then, we walked. And walked. And walked. And walked. All over the city. Miles upon miles of exploring we did. We walked through the Latin Quarter, outside of Sorbonne University, past the Pantheon, and through many gardens.

Then, this scenario played out:

*Dad and Emma walk into the Luxembourg Gardens. Emma is flabbergasted by the colorful flowers all over the place. Thus, she is distracted by the plants.*

Dad: *points to the right as Emma is taking pictures of flowers* "Yes, they're beautiful! And then there's that."

Emma: *looks to the right and sees a FREAKING PALACE*

Dad: ...

Emma: *mouth agape*

Dad: ...

Emma: Wow.

And scene.

I had no idea what was coming when I looked over, and I mean, seriously, it was one of the prettiest places I've ever seen. Actually, I'm fairly certain it takes first place. I was in utter amazement. A wedding there would be an absolute dream.

This is where we took another iconic pair of matching pictures. I looked at the result for the first time and immediately smiled so big. Killer photo. Just perfect in every way. LOOK.

Unbelievable. Dad looked at the preview on the camera, raised his eyebrows, and just said, "Well this one is gonna blow your mind."

It did. And this one, too. Lots of mind were blown this week.

After thousands of steps, we took the metro back to our apartment to take a break before heading to dinner at Le Champ de Mars.

We ate outside right on the corner of a street busy with people. We shared a flank steak, a wok, and some Chardonnay. Quite tasty. I got a little embarrassed at one point when I had my feet up on the chair next to me, and I guess that kind of casualness was not appropriate because our waiter pointed at my feet and sternly said, "Now, young lady!" Oops.

After dinner, we headed over to the Eiffel Tower since we had tickets reserved this time (see PARIS!: Day 2). We walked up what felt like a million stairs (in reality, it was 327) to get to the first level, and after exploring it, Dad determined to walk up the next million steps (another 347) to the second level with me. The stair stepper at the gym must have paid off last semester because I didn't have to stop to take any breaks on my way up! That said, my feet almost fell off and I was breathing hard enough to send a hot air balloon up into the sky.

From the second level, we had just the best view of the city. We got to look around and identify all the places we'd already been able to see up close, as well as the ones we had on the docket for the next few days. We had already hit almost all of the big things around the city in just two days, but somehow we managed to have still taken our time and really enjoy each place.

We drank champagne (which I discovered is delicious) while we waited for the tower to light up. I was not aware of what "light up" meant, yet. Of course, as I had expected, it lit up into a soft, golden glow. But then it did something else. Something spectacular.

It sparkled. It literally sparkled. Little lights all around the tower blinked on and off to make a shimmering effect. And we got to see it from up inside and from down on the lawn (getting down there before it stopped sparkling required us to speed walk like soccer moms; hello shin splints!) where tons of other people sat and stared at the giant glowing landmark.

This -- and being able to finally move through the metro stations smoothly -- got us feeling like locals, and we shut the town down. It took us over an hour to get home on the metro. That's a long hour when your legs are giving out.

Despite utter exhaustion, this day was exceptionally special to me because it made me feel like I was living 15-year-old me's dream. When I danced during high school, we had a tap dance to "Chattanooga Choo Choo" for which we created our own characters to enhance our performance.

The character I created was named Lolita Gabrielle Phillipé. Lola, for short. I created her backstory and personality -- she lived Paris, but was pursing her Broadway dreams in New York City. I embraced her character so much that my instructor just started calling me "Lola."

So, on day 3, I dressed like Lola would have --- the houndstooth hat my best friend got for me from an antique store being the star of the show --- and lived her life. It was incredible.

Daily Stats:

- steps: 24,706

- miles: 10.36

- flights: 55

- pastries: 2

PARIS! photo album