Bonjour, Merci, Au Revoir…Or France, I Love You! || Day 2 - Paris

The drive from Metz, Lorraine to Paris is about 4 hours. The beauty of landscapes totally makes up for this time though. Half an hour before the destination, my anticipation gets to its peak! I am just an ordinary person and Paris has always been on my list of dream places to visit.

As you get closer to the city, the views start changing rapidly from rural to industrial. In a blink of an eye empty roads get packed with traffic and radio tunes to a different station – romantic French folklore changes to dynamic beats of French hip-hop. Bienvenue à Paris!

I was warned about driving in Paris but didn't take it seriously. How bad it can be, I thought. Well, it is not bad. Scary? Yes. Hell-knows-who-is-going-where? Yes. But not bad *grinning smile*. There is no such thing as waiting until somebody gives you a way – if you don’t know how to drive aggressively, cut others off, jump between lines and between cars, you’d better just take a cab. Luckily, I am a chameleon kind and get adapted quickly to almost any situation. After 10 minutes of behaving all shy and scared, intelligence gave its way to arrogance and my sister enjoyed comments like “Oh, you wanna cut Me off? We’ll see about that!”

The biggest challenge and success that day was to park the car in front of the hotel. It was without exaggeration the most sophisticated maneuver of my whole life.

At first, Paris reminded me of New York a lot. The streets resembled New York streets, traffic, rushing people dressed mostly in black and grey colors, cars beeping, everybody in each other’s way… Getting closer to the center, the scenery changes a great deal and the feel of the city is completely different. Massive medieval buildings, surprisingly light colors, idle pedestrians staring at some architectural wonder, flowerbeds, carved lanterns – just as I imagined – intriguingly romantic and, at times, leaving you short of breath.

It was chilly, cloudy and windy all day. Drizzling rain wouldn't stop. It didn't matter. I knew I loved that city by the time we returned to the hotel; I opened the window and looked out at the empty street. It was perfect. Louvre, Eiffel Tower, crowds of noisy tourists, river cruise, endless bridges and palaces. It couldn't be better.

Hotel Corona Opena – for the convenient central location, charming tiny rooms and a parking space.

Louvre. You will need several days to explore it entirely, but even if you have only several hours, please pay a visit. Choose a Masterpiece tour and do spend 15 minutes in line to see Mona Lisa.

Eiffel Tower. I didn’t expect to say that – but it turned out to be elegant, beautiful and refined. Extremely romantic at night with illuminations. Buy lift tickets beforehand and go to the top – for the view, for the wind, for the opportunity to say “I love you, Paris!”

Seine River Cruise. We chose Bateaux Parisiens River Cruise – 1 hour Sightseeing Cruise departing at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. This is a must do in my opinion. You get to see Paris from a different perspective, not to mention the beauty of endless bridges.