Exploring the city

Today was an absolutely amazing day. I woke up in a really good mood and my allergies were not bothering me too much. I was feeling very inspired, so I got ready really quickly and headed outside on this beautiful day. Across the street, there was a marathon called "La Parisienne" It was baracaded off, so I had to look through the gate.

I then decided to start walking, without thinking of a destination. It was by far one of the best days I've had yet. I was by myself, so I got some much needed "Simone Time" while also getting to explore the absolutely beautiful city I live in. The first building that I ran into was Les Invalides.

There were a ton of exhibitions going on, so I decided to check out what was happening inside.

I really loved the garden out front.

I wandered through all of the corridors of the building, while avoiding the exhibits that involved tickets. It was a really neat place.

 

After exploring Les Invalides for quite some time, I continued walking on the Parisian streets and passed by a very pretty park.

Everything here is so beautiful.

I ended up on the other side of Les Invalides (it's quite a large compound).

After, I found myself walking across one of the most ornate bridges in Paris.....

Even the lampposts are works of art.

I crossed the bridge and ran right into the Grand Palace and the Petit Palace.

I came upon a street that seemed to be very important. Turns out it was the Champs-Elysses....Duh.

I really enjoyed this little park that I found off the Champs-Elysses.

So, I was super stoked to find myself on the Champs-Elysses. Prime shopping area? Yes, please. Even though all of the shops are horrendously pricey, it was still fun looking through them and dreaming of buying a necklace for 550 euros. I ended up finding an H&M, which was more in my price range, and bought two shirts. I continued down the Champs-Elysses until I got to L'Arc de Triomphe, which is one of my favorite monuments in Paris.

By this time, my stomach was empty and my feet were tired, so I decided to take the metro back to my apartment to make myself some lunch. I had a huge lunch and took a glorious nap.
In the evening, Mikayla, Amanda, and I decided to go to sushi. So we all met at Mikayla's apartment and went to a sushi place that is right down the street. It was DELICIOUS! I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was an absolutely beautiful night, so we decided to walk to the Amorino that is right by Notre Dame to get some gelato. On our walk over there, we passed the Hotel de Ville. It looked stunning at night.

We enjoyed our nighttime walk, and of course we enjoyed our gelato, and proceeded on to Notre Dame to watch the fire dancers.

By that time, it was almost 10 o'clock. After being on my feet for practically all day, I was ready to go home. This has seriously been one of the greatest days since I arrived. I finally forgot all of the stresses in my life and enjoyed Paris!! It is truly a gorgeous city with so much to offer!!