This is the final post in a seven-part series about my trip to Paris. Read the other posts here. My last day in Paris had finally arrived, much as I willed it not to. I was still pretending like the cold I was coming down with didn’t exist, and I was determined to make the most of one last wonderful (and finally sunny!) day in the city. As I’d poked around for ideas beyond galleries and museums, I stumbled onto a post about Hemingway’s Paris and flagged it for future reference. It highlights an area of the city I hadn’t otherwise covered, and included a chance to wander through one…

This is part six of a seven-part series on my trip to Paris. Read the other parts here. When I first moved to New York, one of my early adventures was spending an entire day at the Met. I walked every nook and cranny until my legs ached, soaking up gallery after gallery. On my first trip to Paris, the Louvre was top of my Must See list, entering the palace of art and glimpsing masterpieces like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. Unfortunately, that trip was so short that really, those were the only things I saw at the Louvre then. I didn’t get to dig into the full…

This is part five of a seven-part series on my trip to Paris. Read the other parts here. For those of you paying attention at home, by this point in Paris I’ve enjoyed quite a bit of food but – somehow – not a single croissant! That was quickly remedied on Friday morning when I walked just the two blocks from our flat to Des Gateaux et du Pain, a bakery named by multiple sources as home to the best croissant in all of Paris. Folks, this is not a drill. This croissant changed my life. But wait. I’m getting ahead of myself.

This is part four in a seven-part series on my trip to Paris. Read all the parts here. By Thursday, I was feeling more comfortable than ever in the city. I had the Metro system down pat, a favorite shop to stop for necessities like instant coffee and nutella for my breakfast toast. With a lot of Paris under our belts, we’d set aside the day to knock out one more of my top priorities: drinking a sip of champagne while in Champagne. My aunt had rented a car to get us to the region just northeast of Paris where the bubbly comes from, and once we got the car (graciously…

This is part three of a seven-part series on my trip to Paris. Read the other parts here. After a packed day of experiences on Tuesday, both my aunt and I were game for a more chill day on Wednesday. More to the point, Wednesday had long been designated Macarons Day, as I’d signed up in advance for an English-language macaron baking class at La Cuisine Paris. These fluffy, colorful delights are one of my favorite things in the world, and I figured taking a stab at making them ourselves would be a fun diversion while in the culinary capital of the world. With that class slated for 3p, we had a…

This is part two of a seven-part series on my trip to Paris. Read the other parts here. Monday morning arrived with no sign of the rain or clouds subsiding. With its persistent dreariness, Monday was also the day my aunt arrived in town and I’d transfer over to the apartment she’d rented for the remainder of the week. I needed to fit in picking up my Paris Pass at some point, and as I looked out my third floor window, I decided not much else was going to happen that morning. Better to stay inside, dry and happy than head out sight-seeing for the sake of sight-seeing and end up…