After my senior year of college, my friend and our mothers traveled through Europe. The first stop on our trip was Paris. It goes without saying, but Paris is a busy city. I'll be honest, I had a hard time relaxing here. There is so much to see and do, I didn't want to miss out on anything. I think I would enjoy Paris more if I went a second time, because I could slow down and enjoy the city, rather than rush to check off things on my Bucket List.

We saw most of the famous Parisian landmarks in our four days, starting with the Eiffel Tower. In my opinion, the express tickets were worth purchasing. Look into tickets a few weeks before arriving because reservations fill up quickly. The stairs are also an option, but I did not want to do that.

There are several different elevators to get to the top. At each stop, you have the opportunity to walk around that floor. If you're feeling boujee like our group, you can buy champagne from The Champagne Bar at the top of the tower.

Even if you aren't able to go up the tower, I still recommend stopping by, especially when it's lit up at night.

We also walked by the Notre Dame, Arc de Triumph and through the Tuileries Gardens.

The Montmarte Area is located in the 18th arrondissement. In addition to shops and cafes, there is a church, Sacre-Coeur Basilica, overlooking the city. We enjoyed walking in this area, browsing the shops and trying out different cafes.

Paris is home to many famous museums. The most well known, the Louvre, was a bit intimidating to me. Tickets should be purchased several days in advance. Before entering, pick out a few pieces of art you'd like to see because once inside, it is very overwhelming. If you're like me and have no art history background, google "Must See's in the Louvre" and make a list. My list was the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and Winged Statue of Samothrace.

Another museum we visited was Musée d'Orsay. We arrived an hour before closing (the staff actually let us in for free) and it was nearly empty. I recognized more artists in this museum (Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh) compared to the Louvre. Unfortunately, the Van Gogh painting I wanted to see, A Starry Night, was taking a vacation in London.

We were able to take a day trip to The Palace of Versailles, which is a 35 minute train ride. We should have bought express tickets here - we ended up waiting in line for over 2 hours. There is an app you can download as a Tour Guide, but I just read the informational signs. Access to the garden is free unless there is a Fountain Show, which happened to fall on the day we went. But we were still able to see the gardens from the palace.

There is a cute town down the road from the palace with a ton of cafes and restaurants.

Aside from seeing the famous sites in Paris, I really enjoyed the desserts - the pastries, macarons (Laudrée), gelato (Amorino) and crepes. La Droguerie is a walk-up window cafe, that serves amazing crepes.