By Kate Castello
When my mom called me during my fifteen-minute break at Joann Fabrics last summer and ask if I wanted to visit Paris over spring break, I thought she was joking. My family has never been big travelers, and I’d never been out of the country: never even been farther than Florida. But tickets were less expensive than usual and the pandemic was (gradually) slowing down, so we booked a flight for March 5th, 2022, and patiently waited.
Before I get into my tale, let me introduce you to the characters in this story:
Great, let's get started.
Day One and Two:
I’ve chosen to combine these two days because they were really just one day that bled into the next as we traveled from PA to Washington D.C., then to Paris. By the time we got to France, we had all been awake for 30+ hours straight and were running on fumes. We didn’t do anything notable these days, nevertheless, I still have a collection of eccentric photos:
Day Three:
This was our first full day in Paris, and the day we had scheduled a bike tour around the city. They taught us the history of Paris, and also took us to some of the most famous spots ( we got to stand in the spot where Marie Antoinette was beheaded). We were also given an hour break for lunch where my cousin and I ordered the best caesar salad we had ever had.
We spent the rest of the day walking around, exploring even more of Paris. We also headed to a small grocery store near our apartment where my cousin and I proceeded to break the machine that makes orange juice.
We ended the night in a crowded Mediterranean restaurant and then headed to a cute dive bar.
Day Four:
Besides the Louvre, the museum I wanted to visit the most was the Museé Rodin, a huge collection of sculptures by Auguste Rodin: my favorite artist:) And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. The gardens were beautiful, even though they weren’t blooming yet, and every piece of sculpture we saw became my new favorite. Not to mention, the Dark Academia vibes were immaculate inside the museum.
This was also the day we ascended the Eiffel Tower and I was reminded of my fear of elevators.
Day Five:
This day was our first of two trips to the Louvre. Even as someone who isn’t obsessed with art museums (mostly cause I’m uncultured; we can blame the Pennsylvania public school system for that), the Louvre was probably my favorite part of the entire trip. If I can give you one piece of advice about going to Paris it’s this: if you plan on going to the Louvre, GET A GUIDED TOUR. Did you hear me? GET A GUIDED TOUR. Not only do you get to skip the massive line, but there is also a 100% chance you will get lost inside if you don’t have someone who knows the way. Our tour guide was named Nancy and she was absolutely fantastic.
For dinner this night we made homemade charcuterie boards and went to bed early.
Day Six:
We started off this day with classic French pastries (perhaps the most heavenly way to begin any morning).
We had no concrete plans, so it ended up being a bit of a hodge-podge of a day. We saw Notre Dame, which was beautiful, but still under construction. My family was also nice enough to let me drag them to a bookstore I had been dying to go to called Shakespeare and Company. SaC was the best type of bookstore in my opinion—small, cozy, and filled to the brim with books! Unfortunately, room in my suitcase was extremely scarce, so I was unable to bring any books back, however, I did get a tote bag☺
I’d like to take this moment to shout out my cousin for getting us around Paris on the metro system without getting us lost once (she may have accidentally thrown away her ticket one time, illegally left the metro station, and set off some alarms…but we don’t have to talk about that…) Thanks Mary, what would we do without you? xoxo
For dinner that night, we had booked a three-course meal and a boat tour on the Seine River. For an appetizer, I had this lovely crab meat/avocado/pepper dish (still not 1000% sure what it was but it was tasty), my main course was pasta with fresh ricotta, olives, tomatoes, and more peppers, and for dessert, we all ordered chocolate lava souffle.
We also got to watch someone propose in front of the Eiffel Tower <3
Day Seven:
By our last day, the only essential tourist destination we hadn’t hit was the Arc de Triomphe, so naturally, we had to go see it. Aaand climb up it…all 284 steps…At one point I stopped to take a break and was greeted by some graffiti that felt ~quintessentially French~. Robespierre would be proud to see his ideas are still flourishing in Paris. Although the steps were a bit rough, the view from the top was spectacular.
We then embarked on our second trip to the Louvre and saw completely different art than the first time. Louvre fact! To see all 35,000 pieces of art that the Louve has on display (not to mention all the art in the basement) you would only be able to look at each piece for 10 seconds and wouldn’t be able to stop to eat, go to the bathroom or sleep, for 2 weeks straight.
This time we went to an indoor sculpture garden and Napoleon’s apartments. Which were both breathtaking.
This piece is called “Distressed Genius” which made me laugh so much I had to recreate it.
And with that our Paris trip came to a close. (I’ll spare you the messy details of the turbulent flight home and the hour-long line we waited in to get through U.S. Customs).
I can’t say how grateful I am that I was able to take a trip like this and I’m so glad that I got to write about it for all of you! Thank you for taking the time to read this and don’t forget to follow Studio FourOneTwo on all our socials!
Au revoir,
Kate