Going to Europe has always been on my list, but which country that however, wasn’t on my list. As you know by now I am not planner, so I didn’t know where to begin. That was until my roommate told me that she was going to Europe for her sister’s birthday. They planned to visit London and Paris and all accommodations were made, so naturally when she told me about the trip, I invited myself :).
Our stay in Europe would only last for eight days, and because we were only in London for three of those days our itinerary was pretty full. We decided to do the ‘hop-on hop-off’ bus tour because that would allow us to see as much of London as possible. The bus took us all throughout London, from the West End to Westminster to the London Eye.
Of course as you all know England is known for tea and tea time is a big thing, so we decided to do as the British and have tea. I grew up drinking tea and still drink it daily, so this was definitely a highlight of my trip. There were also pastries and finger sandwiches, or as the English say ‘Crumpets’ that paired with the tea.
The Buckingham Palace was one of the main places on our list to see, so you know it was only right to see the Changing the Guard ceremony take place. This is where the old guard hands over responsibility for protecting Buckingham Palace to the new guard, the Changing of the Guard ceremony has been happening since the 1600’s, and last about 45 minutes. The ceremony takes place daily during the hotter months and during the colder months they’re on alternate days and sometimes is can be cancelled due to bad weather conditions
This was amazing to see because I feel like here in America we don’t always keep up with tradition, we are always modernizing things and trying to keep up with the times. So seeing something that began in the 1600s and is still being done to this day was seeing history happen before my eyes. Later that evening I was able to meet up with my cousin for the first time. We met up for drinks on Oxford street in the West End and did a lot of catching up.
As the night came to an end it was time to say good bye to London, but in just a few short hours I’d say hello to Paris. Just when I thought I was in love with London, Paris came and took my breath away. 
As soon as we landed in Paris we checked into our hotel, dropped our things off and began exploring. Paris truly is a magical place with so much history and so many hidden gems.
The Notre-Dame which is also known as Notre-Dame Cathedral was constructed in 1163. 1163, that’s a long time ago and is still standing today! Unfortunately, we didn’t go inside because the lines were super long, and our schedule was packed, but it was beautiful on the outside, and very detailed.
The Arc de Triomphe is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, it is also the second largest arch in the world standing at 164ft tall. The Arc honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, their are also names of the major French victories engraved in it. Once we got to the top the view of Paris was breath taking, you could see the entire skyline of the city.
Of course we had to visit the largest art museum in the world, The Louvre. The Louvre is home to Mona Lisa, the Wedding at Cana, and so many other paintings, I think we spent about three hours and only saw like three exhibits. Our first stop when we entered was to see the Mona Lisa; I had high expectations to see this piece of art work and when I did, let’s just say it did not meet those expectations. I was looking for something big, but instead it was like a 5×7 picture.
Macaroons, whos doesn’t love a good Macaroon. There were big ones, small ones, pink ones, brown ones and every color and flavor in between and I just couldn’t leave Paris without tasting every flavor, they also only cost me a couple euros so I wasn’t breaking the bank to buy them all. If you have not had the opportunity to travel to Europe I challenge you to do it. There is just so much history there that we, Americans living in the States, cannot imagine. And I cannot wait to go back and visit!!
Takiyah Travels 