Traveling around Paris is as magical as people make it seem. It was like walking in a fairy tale with all of the lights and Parisian architecture. Being surrounded by such a rich history gave it a different, cozy type of feeling. The buildings there told their own stories. It's definitely at the top of my list when it comes to places I've visited. Surprisingly, getting around the bustling city was easier than we thought it would be. I've included some helpful hints to navigate through Paris.

  Where we stayed: I used to book a lot of my travels through sites like Expedia or Travelocity, but being in Europe, I found it better to stay at places I found on Airbnb. Airbnb has become my companion when it comes to looking for good apartments to crash at. It was my second time using it, and so far so good! It may seem like a big jump if you're coming from the United States and you aren't used to the concept of staying in someone else's home, but Airbnb does a great job of rating hosts and doing reviews.
  We stayed in Château de Vincennes. It was a quaint apartment that was located in a quiet neighborhood accessible to restaurants, small boutiques, a market, and the train station. It was about a 15-20 minute ride to the heart of Paris, depending on what train you took. Our host had her mother greet us on our way to the apartment, and she did an amazing job of pointing out where things were in case we needed anything. They explained to us how to ride the train, and where to grab fresh food, and gave us their information in case we needed anything.



   How we got around:​  I bought the tickets to Paris at my local train station in Germany. If you're starting off in Germany, then I suggest that you go in and book your reservations. If you have a DeutschBahn 50 card, it will only work on the tickets you purchase from your local train station to the connecting station where you'll get on the train to Paris. So we took the train to Saarbrucken, and got on our train to Paris. The ICE train from there takes about 2 hours. You have a reserved seat, so there's no need to worry about getting their extremely early. The trains leave on time, so make sure you aren't late!
  When we got to Paris, we were confused on how to use the machines, because we didn't know what any of the choices were. We went up to the counter and there were prices for 1, 2, 3, or 5 day passes. We got the 3 day pass, and I believe it was about 30 Euros for each. This would allow us to travel from our Airbnb to the city (Zones 1-3). We didn't go outside of those zones. If you plan on traveling outside of those zones, then it would cost about 50 Euros for a 3-day pass. For more information, or if you want to grab tickets ahead of time, click here! It really isn't hard to grab tickets for your stay when you arrive though, so no need to rush!
  I think my biggest tip is to just carry a map of the metro with you so you have it readily available and you don't have to be at the station to look at it. Most tourist coming from the states don't have international data, so don't think you can rely on Google Maps to get you around. We found that it was similar to the NYC subway system. Many lines stop at the same stations, but if you look closely, some lines stop less frequently. So when we would want to get home faster, we would take the A line. If we didn't mind the time, and the M line came first, then we would get on that one.
  If there are big events, like NYE when we went, they will close some of the stations down because there are big crowds outside, and for security purposes. Make sure you look this up ahead of time on which stations are closed, and if you can't understand the overhead announcements, it's okay to ask someone. We rode the train back and forth on NYE because we didn't know when it would stop. Learn from our rookie mistake!
  One more thing about the metro is a lot of the stations are designed differently! One of the stations near the Louvre have artwork posted around the tracks. The Bastille station has a lot of graffiti work. It's interesting. Don't hesitate to hop out and explore the stations too.



  Where we ate: Everything in Paris is delicious, from the pastries to the entrees. Here's a small list of restaurants we stopped at.

• Paul's Bakery - Multiple Locations - We quickly realized that this was a bakery located in multiple locations. We would grab coffee and a small pastry to start our day. The sugar bread that I ate the first time was amazing. Most of their locations were very busy, so we had to make sure we knew what we want by the time we got up to the counter because we didn't want to hold the line up. Everything was priced well. We got two hot chocolates and pastries for under 5 Euro. In the states, that would get you one grande from Starbucks. Talk about price difference!
• Bistro Gueule A Vins - 4 Rue de Fontenay, Vincennes - This was the first place we ate when we got to Paris. We dropped off our luggage, and walked down the street and found this small restaurant. If you look it up on Google, the man in the photo was our server. He did an amazing job of running through the menu with us and explaining to us what everything. He made great recommendations. We had the couscous with canard and Recettes de Cotelettes d'agneau. So basically couscous, duck, and lamb chops. They served us a lot of food. We weren't able to finish it, but we definitely tried! The food was amazing, and the pricing was affordable!
• Le Castel Cafe - 5 Avenue de Suffren, Paris - We walked into this restaurant after visiting the Eiffel Tower. It was a pretty crowded restaurant, but the service was very quick, and our waiter was kind enough to realize we were not French speakers. He appreciated our efforts though, and checked on us often. Here we had Confit de canard and Cotelettes d'agneau again! We enjoyed it so much the first time that we had to have it again. 
• Ayko Sushi - 11 place Denfert-Rochereau, Paris - So we gave in and decided that we wanted to eat some good seafood. Sushi probably wasn't the way to enjoy French seafood, but what can I say? It was delicious. We both had chirashi bowls. The service was very quick. It wasn't busy, and the prices were very affordable. We ate here when we were waiting for the catacombs, and after we saw St. Pierre of Montrouge's church. It's also a short walk to the Pantheon (about 2.5 kilometers).
• Le Depart Saint Michel - 1 Place Saint-Michel, Paris - We came here after our trip to Notre Dame. It was pretty busy, but we didn't eat dinner here. We enjoyed Nutella EVERYTHING. Michael had the Nutella crepe, I had the Nutella waffle, and we both got Nutella lattes. We had NYC to compare it to, and of course, France took the win! I recommend it just to try every desert that we tried!
• Cafe La Place - 52 Rue de Montreuil, Vincennes - This spot was close to our Airbnb, and they were one of the only cafes open on New Years. We ate brunch here. I ate a sandwich, and Michael of course, had duck again. The food was delicious, but the memory that stood out at this cafe was our interaction with one of the locals. A small French family was talking to us about what to do in the area. They were very kind people, and they had the sweetest baby with them.
• Angelina - Musee du Louvre - This had to be my favorite part of Paris. The one thing that I wanted to do in Paris was to have tea with my favorite person. We were the last ones to be seated for kitchen service. I ate a salmon bagel, and Michael had a duck puree with bread and fruits. Both were delicious! The hot chocolate they served Michael and the cafe au lait I had gave me the energy I needed to get through the rest of the Louvre. The Mont-Blanc desert we had was the perfect amount of sweet, and creamy. I would go back and have lunch here again. Seriously - it's a must!