A long weekend in Paris: Getting there
Bonjour! I’m back again for another adventure and this time we are off to Paris for the long weekend: 5 days and 4 nights to be exact. It’ll be my 2nd trip to Paris & Stelios’s first. My first time traveling to Paris was a girls trip in 2020 which I didn’t blog about, but regretted not doing so after as it was truly incredible and one that we constantly still talk about. Personally I think it’s harder to blog during a city trip which is typically more fast paced when you’re out and about all day, but I will do my best!
Questions I got before this trip:
Why am I going back to Paris so soon? Why not?! I absolutely LOVED it the first time and I would say it is my favorite city that I’ve been to (for those who don’t know, I am not a typical city girl). There’s also something about going to Paris with the person you love that feels magical, and we had the chance to sneak this trip in before our wedding so we went for it!Lastly, if the flight price is right, book the trip! We were able to snag a nonstop flight from Newark to Paris for only $500.
Why go to Paris or Europe for such a short amount of time? Personally I think 4 full days, 4 nights, and leaving on the last day is the perfect amount of time to experience Paris. I went for the same amount of time on my first trip and it felt just right. I also think the overnight flight going to Paris feels quick since I usually sleep on the plane.
Packing for Paris
Being that it was my second time to Paris I had a MUCH better idea of what to pack which was nice. For reference, last time my large checked suitcase was absolutely stuffed, there was plenty of items that I didn’t wear, and I barely had any room to bring gifts home. This time I was much more realistic and have room to spare in my large checked bag.
The weather forecast is 43-55 degrees for the days we’ll be there with some days partly cloudy, sunny, and a mix of rain (fingers crossed it’s just a drizzle if at all). So here’s what I packed:
- 3 boots (1 I wore on the plane)
- 2 heavier jackets (I really just needed 1 but packed the other since I had room)
- 1 leather jacket, 1 rain jacket
- 4 pants (1 leather, 2 jeans, 1 dressy, 1 legging)
- 3 sweaters, 1 sweater dress
- 4-5 long sleeve tops/bodysuits
- 2-3 tank sweaters/bodysuits
- 2 skirts
- 2 tights
- Accessories: 2 crossbody bags, my Lululemon belt bag (thanks Janna!❤️), 2 belts, 2 fuzzy headbands, 1 pair of gloves, & 2 scarfs (not sure the gloves & scaves are necessary for a fall trip but when I went in February they were my saving grace so I packed them just in case)
In terms of an agenda you’ll have to stay up to date on the blog to find out! 😉 But if this trip had a theme it would be Steph & Steli’s Food & Wine Tour of Paris.
A bit of our airport journey below:
We left at 3pm to go to the airport early so we could enjoy our routine glass of airport wine and a quick meal before boarding. We were set to board in Terminal C (again😓). They just redid Terminal A at Newark and it is SO much nicer compared to Terminal C which is where I’ve been for all of my flights except 1 so far. Maybe we’ll get lucky next time!
We stopped at Saisson for our pre-flight meal and glass of Côtes du Rhône wine to set the tone for the trip. By 5:30pm we were off to board our flight. Let me tell you…this was the most chaotic boarding experience I have ever been a part of. I’m unsure if we just had a lot of first time travelers onboard or if the overhead bins on this United plane were just smaller than others, but several people were having EXTREME difficulty getting their luggage to fit in the overhead bins. Two people near us in the aisle seats got hit by bags that fell out while someone was trying to close the bin. Also very confused why people were trying to close the bins themselves when some of them still had space for smaller bags. I didn’t understand why they didn’t just store the bag and sit in their seat rather than continuously attempt to close the bin and hold up the entire boarding line behind them. Also why not let the flight attendants handle closing the bins if it was so difficult? The girl in front of me turned around and was like “what is going on?” And I just shrugged and we both laughed. Anyway, I was just relieved that both Stelios & I checked our bags so we could just slide our backpacks under the seats. For the 7 hour flight I planned on watching a movie until takeoff, snacking on my favorite airplane snack (Lesser Evil Popcorn) and hopefully getting a few hours of sleep in before morning. Bonsoir!
