I touched down in Paris right at noon, running on absolutely zero sleep—and honestly? I was completely fine. The adrenaline of finally seeing Dania after months apart totally took over! I didn’t even bother unpacking; I dropped my bags and headed straight to her house for the sweetest reunion (and some much-needed cake, of course).

To cap off the first day, we watched the Eiffel Tower do its midnight sparkle in the dark. It was the absolute perfect start to the trip. I went to bed smiling from ear to ear.

The next morning, we hit the ground running at the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa. Yes, I absolutely took that cliché, funny photo where it looks like my finger is touching the very top of the glass pyramid—no regrets!

After marveling at Notre-Dame, we grabbed some incredible pizza at Le Grand Amalfi, soaking in the beautiful weather and people-watching. Then, in a classic plot twist, we completely changed the vibe. We grabbed burgers at Five Guys (the guy sitting across from us definitely thought we were out of our minds) and hit up a local arcade. I basically had to drag Elias and Dania into it, but it was so worth it. I tried so hard to win a giant Stitch out of the claw machine, and while I failed miserably at that, I did manage to win a tiny, cute cactus for Dania! 🌵

Day three was all about the views. We hopped on the Metro and headed to the Arc de Triomphe. Let me tell you, those stairs left us entirely out of breath, but the view from the top made every step worth it.

We strolled down the Champs-Élysées, where I treated myself to a Louis Vuitton passport holder. I even took it over to Galeries Lafayette to get it hot-stamped with a tiny Eiffel Tower as a permanent souvenir of the trip.

The next day required some serious dedication: a 3:00 AM wake-up call. We flew down to Nice and made the drive over to Monte-Carlo, Monaco.

We fueled up on amazing Italian food before diving into a Formula 1 tour. As a huge Ferrari fan, standing right on that famous track was a total bucket-list moment for me. We also stopped by the grand Monte-Carlo Casino and wandered around inside for a bit to soak up the glamour before making the trek back to Paris.

We dedicated our entire next day to the Palace of Versailles. The Hall of Mirrors is simply breathtaking in person (and yes, I couldn’t resist a quick mirror selfie). Between exploring the grand rooms and getting lost in the massive gardens, we clocked well over 20,000 steps!

The sports theme continued the following day with a visit to the Parc des Princes stadium, where we actually got to walk out onto the pitch. Later, as the sun started to set, we boarded a boat on the Seine River. Cheering as we glided under the city's famous bridges and seeing Paris light up from the water was an entirely new, magical perspective.

The latter half of our trip was a beautiful mix of history and culture:

On our final day, we picked up some sweet Ladurée macarons and took a leisurely stroll through the Luxembourg Gardens. We followed it up with drinks at the famous Café de Flore (an absolute must-do!) before wrapping up the best trip ever.

Even though I never wanted the adventure to end, I finished it off perfectly with a beautiful farewell dinner with Dania at Marco Polo (highly recommend going here).

Tears were definitely shed, but my heart is so full. Until next time, Paris! 🇫🇷🥂