* So sorry for the short hiatus! I’ve been running around like a headless chicken these days as I’m so busy with some freelance work, family visits, and travels. If you ever miss me for not being on the blog, you can always find out what I’m up to on Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat (carolific) though I do suck in making snaps on the go too. 🙂
We started Day 2 with a quick trip to the Pantheon which is located in the city’s Latin quarter.
Before entering, a photo of the husband outside the Universite de Paris’ Faculté de Droit (Law). Yep, I married a lawyer. A geeky one at that. 😉
Okay, back to the Pantheon. Originally built as a church for St. Genevieve, it was turned into mausoleum after the French Revolution and is now a place to bury remarkable French people.
Its crypt is the final resting place of writer/philosopher extraordinaire Voltaire, philosopher/writer/composer Jean-Jacques Rousseau, poet/dramatist/writer Victor Hugo, and chemist-physcist Marie Curie to name a few.
A lot of visitors to this place – particularly foreigners – often forget the nature of this building. Most visitors make so much noise, blowing the solemnity of the Pantheon into smithereens. That’s why I suggest to visit this place early in the morning. Less people – like parents laughing and shouting at their kids as they run after them across the vast hallways.
Behind the Pantheon is the St. Etienne du Mont that contains the shrine of St Genevieve – the patron saint of Paris.
It’s a quaint and peaceful church that not a lot of people go to on a weekday morning so it was a great place to stop and say a prayer.
A lot of you know by now that I’m not really that religious yet I still am Catholic and there are times when I do feel like being thankful to the one up there. 🙂
Also, I’m fond of pretty Churches. It would be nice to have a wedding ceremony here, don’t you think?
From there we proceeded to the Louvre, the Tuileries Garden, and the Place de la Concorde which I wrote about in detail here.
From Place de la Concorde, we took a long but leisurely walk to Champs Élysées.
I love walking along Champs Élysées and even people watching in that area. Granted that it’s crowded and filled with tourists, it’s still a beautiful avenue lined with beautifully decorated shops and lots of interesting people.
When it comes to shopping, I can be a creature of habit and my usual haunts are the Disney Store, MAC (surprise!), Sephora (surprise!), a couple of French clothing brands that I can afford to spend on, and of course – Ladurée.
The pâtisserie has been around since 1862 and has captured the hearts of millions. They actually sell 15,000 of their famous double-decker macarons daily.
Granted they’re a bit on the pricier side but I have to say the macarons are worth it just by the texture and flavours – you’re really getting value for your money. Fads aside.
My favourite remains to be the Marie Antoinette macaron. It’s a light blue coloured macaron that tastes of black tea and honey. It goes perfectly with tea, coffee, or even hot chocolate as it isn’t too sweet.
How to save inside Ladurée? Skip the boxes.
They’re pretty and all but the total price tends to be a bit steeper compared to just buying the macarons without them. I must say that they do make pretty souvenirs and would look so pretty on any girl’s vanity table. However, I don’t think they are the kinds of souvenirs that will last you for years.
If you want something more durable, then they also have keychains…
https://www.instagram.com/p/6SsvmnCqWs/
… for 40 Euros. Really steep for a keychain but a lot of girls do buy it!
The souvenirs I got for myself in Paris for this trip? Marseille soaps. (I still have my metal Eiffel Towers from my last trip there) I got them for 4 for 10 euros and I’m now down to my last two. They should really bring those to KL.
More later!
Love,
Carol
*Trip is not sponsored by any country’s tourism department, company, or brand but by my side of the family living in Europe. 😊
