5 Days in Paris – Day 2

I call Day 2 of Paris the “look at pretty things” or “boy, that’s a lot of stairs” day.  In the morning, we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower.  We bought the stair access tickets that took you to the 2nd floor.  Part of the reason why I decided to forego the elevator access was that 1) to conquer my fear of heights, and 2) get the full experience and soak in the views from the Eiffel Tower.  I have to say, the stair access is not for the faint of heart.  The stairs had a total of 674 steps, and by the end of it, my legs were so incredibly sore.  The view from the Eiffel Tower was good, but in my opinion, there are much better views from other parts of the city.  I’m glad I did it, but it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and should I return to Paris in the future, I’d probably skip this.

We walked over to the Jardin du Trocadéro and the adjacent Palais de Chaillot afterward.  You truly get a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower from here where it’s an unobstructed view and you still get the grandeur and sheer size of it in mind.  We saw a lot of tourists and brides taking pictures around here, so it’s definitely a great photo op spot.

We visited Le Village Royal because I saw all these gorgeous photos of the colorful umbrellas covering the open-air passageway.  Unfortunately, the umbrellas were a temporary art exhibit, so we circled the place over and over again thinking we were just at the wrong spot.

Next, we stopped by a few famous covered passages.  Covered passages are a charming part of Parisian history, dating back to the 19th century.  The covered passages remind you of a time of sheer opulence – mosaic floors, glass ceilings, and boutique shops along the passageway.  In particular, we visited the Galerie Véro-Dodat and Passage du Bourg l’Abbé.  There are actually several covered passages walking tours that explore the handful of covered passages that still exist and are functional today.

Ian and I don’t take a lot of photos together, since we both prefer to be behind the camera.  So I thought it would be a good opportunity for us to get a professional photoshoot on our vacation.  We booked our photoshoot through Airbnb Experiences.  Our photographer, Rachelle, has a whole routine for the photoshoot clients.  She took us to Palais Royale, the Louvre, and around the Eiffel Tower for our shoot.  The whole thing took about 1 1/2 hours and I’m happy to have a memento from our trip.

We originally had planned on spending the rest of the afternoon and evening exploring Montparnasse, but we had to forego that plan because there was a 2-day metro strike that was slated to start that evening, and we needed a way to get back to our Airbnb safely.  Next time we’re in Paris, Montparnasse is bumped up to the top of my list!

More Paris blog posts:
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Paris Travel Tips