A Quick Trip to Paris

by Jose · Published December 23, 2025 · Updated December 23, 2025

We switched our flight home to an earlier flight but still got to see the “Big 3” (Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre Dame) and do a walking tour. My mom hung out in our Airbnb but she had been to Paris multiple times so it was OK. Paris is surprisingly one of our favorite places to visit despite being large and busy.

We timed our tickets so we could be at the top during sunset to get some day time views and night views

Our Airbnb was near Pont de l’Alma close to the tower so we got to see the full size replica of the Statue of Liberty Flame called Flamme de la Liberte. This site became a spontaneous memorial site for Princess Diana when she died in a car accident in the tunnel below it in 1997.

The flame is 11 feet tall and was gifted to France in 1989 to commemorate the restoration of the Statue of Liberty

We were able to visit the Louvre but of course only saw a small portion of it since it is as the french say “Gynormous”. During our walking tour, we found out that the Mona Lisa only became super famous after it was stolen and recovered by an Italian (who only served 7 months for his crime). I like La Belle Ferroniere, also by DaVinci and also at the Louver much better. What do you think?

La Belle Ferroniere at the Louvre (my favorite)

The Louvre has so much more than paintings, it has famous greek statues like winged victory, egyptian carvings, the code of Hammurabi, and colums from the palace of Darius, the Persion emperor. Like the British museum, many of these items were forcefully taken from their original countries. I am just glad they still exist and we can see them.

The highlight of our Paris stay was being able to visit Notre Dame after the restoration from the devastating fire of 2019. We were fortunate to get tickets so we did not have to wait in the long lines that typicially form. It is not the biggest cathedral in the world but the restoration was beautiful and interesting