Paris chronicles 🥐 | good food, thrifting & museums

There are many things we tend to lay awake at night thinking about. Love interests, dreams of success, and chance encounters. But for me, traveling takes the cake above all else. Treading unknown territory, discovering the nooks and crannies of the most beautiful areas in the world, tasting culinary specialties in the very places they were first concocted, meeting people whose life experiences can only be shared in foreign languages. That is the recurring dream for me. So naturally, when summer came around this year, I promptly left Montreal for Europe with my friends to fulfill those very visions. Thus began this very special trip, after two years when such an endeavor could not leave the dreamland. Taking in the wise words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Fais de ta vie un rêve, et d'un rêve une réalité. I packed my bags and left for seven weeks. Our adventure began in Paris, dans la ville de l'amour, dont nous sommes toutes tombées sous le plus profond des charmes. Elle porte bien son nom, car c'est pour elle que j'ai eu le plus puissant coup de foutre du voyage en entier. Je m'apprête à vous montrer pourquoi. I did it. Bags packed, our travel day went smoothly, with me flying to Toronto to meet up with the girls before heading to Paris on a red-eye. 4.8 dollars. What do I get? Made it! We landed in Paris at 8.30 and took the metro to our hostel. Because we got there too early to check in, we locked up our things and went on the hunt for food. Are you happy to be in Paris? Oui. No, you just have to close it. And then it's going to be a comedy video. We stayed at the Generator Hostel in the 19th arrondissement, which was relatively inexpensive but a bit far from everything, which meant lots of metro trips to discover other parts of the city. Wait, I've got pinkles. What is happening? We're in Paris. Oh. That was good. Or as Pippa calls it, the CN. The CN. We were lured in by the sweet smell of butter and sugar into this bakery where we picked up our first pain au chocolat. Anything else? Uh, no, thank you. That means never, right? That's never, yeah. Oh my god, I don't know what I would have done without you. All these things are good. I mean, I like all chocolate. All things chocolate, Brie likes. Satiated, we wandered around the 10th and 3rd arrondissements where Pippa picked up a tuna sandwich, her favorite and go-to drug snack, which is really questionable, honestly. On our way back to the hostel, we stopped at Kilo Shop, a by the pound curated thrift store. They have a few locations in the 3rd arrondissement, and I bought this pretty pink lingerie top at one of them. The thrifting scene in Paris is phenomenal, and I ended up coming back when I visited with Mila to get more things. Hostel, check. My bed, Christina's bed, not made. Christina's bed. This is from Aritzia. Sweater, I thrifted. My jeans are Aritzia denim forum. Oscar Converse. Etsy? No, Anthropologie, and then the cross is my grandma's. These are from Buffalo Exchange in New York, $5. And my sparkly bag. Love it. Free. My coat is TNA, same as Christina's. My bag is thrifted. My pants are IMGia. My shoes are Superstars. Cute. Okay, Pippa. My phone is thrifted. Necklace is from Suitable. My pants are thrifted. My shoes are Converse. Hostage situation. Love it. Melody. Skirt is thrifted. Shirt's from Aritzia. Jacket's thrifted. Love it. What about you? Pants? Love it. Thrifted. Not thrifted. Oh wait, I have the same ones in blue. And your top is amazing. I had to lock my suitcase in my bed because it doesn't fit. After a much needed rest, we headed back out with Melody and Bianca, taking the metro for the first time, which was cool because it isn't exclusively underground like the one in Montreal. Coming out of the metro, Pippa saw the Arc de Triomphe for the first time. Imitation. It's really bright. Oh, this is it. This is the Arc de Triomphe. And then we headed down the Champs-Élysées to dinner. While the girls went to Le Relais d'Entrecôte for steak frites, I met up with Moya for some ramen at Yatai Ramen, which was to die for. Such a lovely meal with the best company. A strong memory I hold from my stay in Sengalia with my family a couple years ago is that of my dad becoming friends with the staff of this family-run hotel and getting beers with all of them. Ever since then, I've always wanted to integrate that into my travel experience and get to know people from all over. So meeting Moya was really awesome and showed me how rewarding leaving my comfort zone can be because I tend to prioritize reliable comfort over the unfamiliar. It's very old too. It is amazing. That's the other. Later that night, we walked to the Eiffel Tower for the light show. It was Pippa's first time in Paris, so every monument we went to was a big reveal to her, which was so fun to witness and made things more exciting. And the Eiffel Tower topped everything she saw. We picked up some crepes before heading to a spot to sit. I just want to see if there's anyone on here right now. No, no one. Okay. She got embarrassed. As she should. Okay, I'm going to try a bite. It's a very floppy bite. Oh yeah. Now you get it? It is. You guys want to be in the picture? Yeah. This whole evening really set the tone for the rest of the trip. One of unprecedented experiences, simple fun, exciting discoveries, and new encounters surrounded by lovely people. The fact that there's creepers. Guests, skirt. Oh, cute. Thanks. Where are these from? Motel Rocks, Bianca, Thrifted, and then I made this necklace. Oh, that's the one you sent me a photo of. I really like it. Brie always looks so good. The next morning, we picked up some pastries and fruit before metroing to the Musée d'Orsay. This was our morning routine in Paris. There was this lovely bakery with the best croissant and a fruit vendor with fresh strawberries and apples. My favorite morning fruit. Right alongside each other, about a five minute walk from our hostel. For Robin! Thank you so much. Let's dig in it. So good. I got an apple. It's like freshly picked. Wait, that was good, Christina. It's French. No. It was good. Where's your dress from? Very pretty. I don't know. Rebecca Minkoff from The Real Real for 40 bucks. And New Balance. Ketchup. Eating fruit. And we're walking. Where are we going? Because we're ditched. Bye-bye. I'm going to go take the metro. Well, like after you swallow. It's two, just two. It's like just two. We also stopped for coffee and Christina got really confused while ordering, which is funny. Wait, is this not what you expected? Oh, really? I thought she was saying, like, do you want an espresso shot? Yeah. I was like, this isn't espresso. I swear. This isn't espresso. This is what coffee is in Europe. I swear, right? I hadn't been in a museum in almost a year and wandering through this one was so enjoyable. Something about museum air just soothes my soul and makes me feel so calm. I told Brie when we left the museum how our visit made me feel kind of rejuvenated. Having spent a few hours walking around, taking in all this art, I felt a sense of excitement for all the things I still have yet to see and learn about. I don't know the most about art history and apart from my very limited ability to recognize what pieces are the work of which artists, I'm absolutely clueless about art. However, I could walk around a museum for hours just staring at grandiose paintings and awing at the proof of life and skill left behind by brushed strokes. My favorite piece was this landscape painting of the desert at sunset. There are a few sites I enjoy more than the ending of a sunset when the sky is pink and the moon comes out. Oh, sorry! After a couple of hours discovering the many levels to the museum, we began our search for food. Little did we know this quest would take us hours. So many spots were closed and Christina and I wanted a sandwich so badly that when we found this small Italian bistro, we immediately settled for pizza. We freaking made it! Oh, cut the tape! Okay, actually going to another one that looked better. It looks closed. Finally! We finally got our sandwiches. You guys don't understand. This was a mission. This will do. Which I like. Tomatoes are fresh. What are we doing after this? Yeah, we're gonna go surfing and we're just people watching right now. I love it. Me too. I want more people to pass. I want Corbs to pass. Corbs. Corbs is our code word for beauty. So many Corbs. I saw literally the love of my life at our hostel. Oh, white shirt. New German. If we pre-order at the bar, we will. To satisfy our collective sweet tooth, we then headed to La Dury and got some macarons. I always get the bitter almond flavor. I have an obsession with almond flavored things and it is so good. What's the flavor of the blueberry? Oh my god, get that. Okay, I'm gonna try that. Oh, she's pretty. Thoughts? Be honest. What does it taste like? Lemon-y. Okay. Is yours good, Christina? Mine's coffee and it has like a very faint coffee taste. Really? I'd give it like a 4.5. Melody, chocolate. Okay. I think I'm gonna like mine. I'm not difficult with sweets. Melts in your mouth. Yeah. Oh my god. I love almond. Good call. I need like a sweetness after. Oh my god, milk right now would be so good right now. I can't do caramel. Oh no, I love a glass of like 2%. Yeah. Everyone heard that. Everyone knows I love a glass of 2% milk. I love it. It doesn't really taste like much. It's like nipples. I just like it. It's just white water. Whiter water. No, I'm sorry. So it's a caramel. Mine is tea. Hi. Oh my god. We then walked through the third Ahon Zis mall on our way back to the hostel and stopped in some thrift stores where the girls tried on some things and Brie bought a yellow top. At the hostel. My little bunk. We made the mistake of taking a nap in the afternoon because we were exhausted and therefore only made it out for dinner around 9 30. It's worth navigating. Bianca's our navigator. Melody, Bianca, Christina and I picked up some noodles from La Taverne de Chao and sat down by the Canal Saint-Martin to eat. The noodles were by far the best noodles I have ever tasted. Super creamy, rich sauce with Chinese flavors to die for. I also got this algae salad which was so tasty and fresh. It was such a nice vibe by the water too. So many young people sharing drinks and playing music. That smells so good. The look says it all. It's so good. Later we met up with Brie and Pippa and went back to the hostel to pass out.