We will reach our final destination this afternoon, the beautiful City of Lights. After a comfort stop, we arrived in Paris around lunchtime. This was where we would have to say goodbye to Peter as we wouldn't need the bus in the city - the first of many hard goodbyes that we would share as a group in the coming days. Peter always felt like part of our group and we would miss him and his dry sense of humor quite a bit!
We walked a little bit to our hotel which was off of the charming Rue Cler. I was so excited to visit this street and explore its shops after hearing about it on the Rick Steves app. After dropping all of our bags (man, I accumulated some stuff in 22 days!) I joined Barbie, Andie, and Kaysie for a quick bite to eat and some exploring.
After our little jaunt around the neighborhood, we met up with the rest of the group and with Paul to hop on the Metro. Once we had our public transit lesson we were off to the races to meet our guide for our walking tour. We popped out of the Metro very close to Hotel de Ville which was still all decked out from the 2024 Summer Olympics. There were reminders of the Olympics all over the city and it was cool to feel a little bit a part of the celebration even if we didn't attend the games.
Our guide, Susie, led us around the Ile de la Cite and provided a thorough overview of what we were seeing. We got to get up close and personal with the Notre Dame Cathedral restoration efforts, explore the back streets, and soak in some Parisian ambience before heading to the Latin Quarter. There, we popped by the iconic Shakespeare and Company, wandered through a park, and visited the Saint Severin church.
The final stop on our tour was Sainte Chapelle. I had visited when I was in high school and didn't think I would ever get to go back. I was so excited to return here and revel in the splendor of the upstairs chapel. The pictures simply do not do the stained glass justice. Being there in the late afternoon gave everything a gorgeous golden glow. I truly believe this is one of those places everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime.
At the conclusion of our tour, we were free for the rest of the evening. I grabbed dinner with a few tour mates on our way back to the Metro. I had possibly the best quiche ever and that was the perfect amount of fuel to get me through the rest of the day.
I capped a fabulous first day in Paris with a drink at a local cafe with Kelsey and Ava. They happened to be walking by so I invited them to join. That was my favorite part of the cafe culture in Paris. I could meet with friends and sit on the street and watch the whole scene without a care in the world. It was great!