The Eiffel Tower is NOT overrated
I’ve been saving up for this trip for SIX YEARS. When I graduated high school, my gads (gay dads - very close chosen family members) gifted me a round trip ticket to anywhere in the world. I decided, along with my sisters, to save it until the youngest of us graduated high school. And this year, she did! We chose Paris (an easy decision) to spend a week of eating, shopping, and exploring. And IT DELIVERED!
Honestly the whole trip was a really beautiful practice of abundance mindset, something I don’t think we got to practice much growing up. And man, it was healing… we ate out every meal, we purchased tickets to shows we’ve watched movies about for years, and we treated ourselves to designer items as keepsakes for this special moment in time before Issa goes to college this upcoming weekend.
Before going on the trip, my sister, Issa, and I compiled recommendations from friends and listicles about the top restaurants and landmarks we wanted to see, and I wanted to share them HERE on our google list! It has over 160 places marked…we definitely did not hit all of them, but was super helpful when we just wanted to wander and stop in places. You should be able to view and save this list to your Google Maps! Quick takeaways:
The Louvre was overrated…it was way too crowded. But the Napolean III apartments made it worth it. We loved seeing the pyramids lit up during one of our nightwalks though, when it was completely empty. I’m not sure if it’s the safest thing to do as two young women traveling, but we explored the Tuileries Garden at night, which seems to stay open with no security… but we felt safe walking around and it was a wonderful experience.
So many people warned us that the Eiffel Tower was overrated and that we should be ready to make TikToks with the “okay let’s go” sound, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. We saw it on our first night during one of our lengthy night walks and figured out that it shimmers and sparkles at the top of every hour for five minutes. It’s magical. Definitely better to see at night than during the day. In my list, I marked the bridge we liked to watch it sparkle from. Tip: bring a bottle of champagne and cheers when it starts to sparkle! The bridge spot is right on the bridge with the lit walkway featured in the movie Inception.
The Catacombs are terrifying. It took us a little over an hour to walk through. I was too scared to stop anywhere and actually use the audio guide. Proud of myself for surviving the trip though, and would recommend going if you’re interested in history!
Crazy Horse, the burlesque show is…iconic. Truly beautiful, wild, and the classiest strip show. Beyonce’s “Partition” music video is all taken from the Crazy Horse routine, and you can absolutely see the influencer. There’s absolutely no body diversity or positivity, as all the girls seem to have the exact same measurements and look like the sterotypical supermodel…but I would highly recommend going because they are also strong and beautiful, and watching it even with someone who absolutely does not have that body type, made me feel sexy as a woman.
Moulin Rouge was an experience. There were some problematic storylines (eg dressed up as sexy mongolians or African monkeys…) — very problematic storylines (kidnapped and stripped a woman and then threw her into a LITERAL pool of snakes so that she’d fall in love with a pirate) — but it’s an overall experience AND reminder that France is quite behind with social progress.
East Mamma and Libertino were our favorite restaurants that are also the SAME restaurant essentially. They, along with the infamous Pink Mamas, are all owned by the same restaurant group of delicious Italian food — with the same menu.
