Posts in Western Europe
Paris: Visiting Sainte-Chapelle
Paris: Visiting Sainte-Chapelle

You will find yourself dwarfed by over 1100 stained glass windows at Sainte-Chapelle. With windows depicting religious scenes and rising to epic heights in astonishing proportions, this 13th century chapel was built by King Louis IX to house religious relics and enhance his political stature. Of all the churches we have visited in our travels, this one definitely stands out among the most beautiful.

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Europe, Cultural History, France, Western Europe, Adventures in TravelLindseyparis church, Sainte-Chapelle, visiting Sainte-Chapelle, what to expect at Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, best churches to visit in Paris, To Make Much of Time, To Make Much of Time travel blog, stained glass windows in Paris, famous churches in Paris, the history of Sainte-Chapelle in ParisComment
Paris: Visiting Notre-Dame de Paris
Paris: Visiting Notre-Dame de Paris

We had the good fortune to visit Notre-Dame de Paris about a week before the April 15, 2019 fire engulfed its roof. During our week-long trip in Paris, our apartment was basically right across the Seine from the cathedral and just a few minutes’ walk. We could hear the tolling of the bells that rang out at what appeared to be random intervals, and we walked by the cathedral multiple times a day.

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Europe, France, Western Europe, Cultural History, Adventures in TravelLindseyParis in a week, 7 day Paris itinerary, first trip to paris ideas, itinerary for Paris in a day, visiting Notre Dame in Paris, Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, Notre Dame tower tour, highlights of Paris, To Make Much of Time travel blog, To Make Much of Time, travel blog couple, blog about visiting paris, travel photography, Travel Blog, travel blog photography, travel blog parisComment
My Journey to Learn Some French Before a Trip to Paris
My Journey to Learn Some French Before a Trip to Paris

We both took French in school - Dustin took it in high school, and I took it in middle school - and neither of us were particularly good or successful at it. I have always said foreign language was my weakest subject in school and so I hopped from French in middle school to Latin for the four years of high school to two years of Italian in college (my political science degree required foreign language or else I would never have voluntarily taken more language courses!). That’s right, I hopped from language to language hoping to find one that would click with me, but not a one! It was not all for naught, as I came away with a love of etymology and Roman history from my Latin classes and just enough comprehension to be able to halfheartedly translate the occasional foray into any Romance language in a novel. I also walked away with some basics of other languages that are foreign to English-only speakers like the idea of gendered nouns.

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Europe, France, Western Europe, Adventures in TravelLindseyTo Make Much of Time travel blog, To Make Much of Time, tips for learning basic French, learning French before trip to Paris, learning French before first trip to France, how much French do you need to know for Paris, travel blog coupleComment
Paris: Visiting Père Lachaise Cemetery
Paris: Visiting Père Lachaise Cemetery

This 110-acre, cobblestone- and tree-lined homage to many of Paris’ important historic figures is a change of pace from the rest of the city of Paris. Spend your time exploring interesting mausoleums and tombs and searching for specific graves.

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Europe, France, Cultural History, Western Europe, Adventures in TravelLindseyVisiting Père Lachaise Cemetery, Père Lachaise Cemetery, who is buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery, off the beaten path Paris, cool old cemeteries in Paris, famous Parisian cemeteries, To Make Much of Time, To Make Much of Time travel blog, best places to see in ParisComment
Paris: Food + Drink
Paris: Food + Drink

Paris is known as a food lover’s paradise for a reason. Here are our top tips from a week spent dining in this food mecca.

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Europe, Food + Drink, France, Western Europe, Adventures in TravelLindseydining tips for Paris, what to tip in paris, how much to tip in paris, what to order in french restaurants, what to expect for French meals, what to expect when dining in France, what time is dinner in france, To Make Much of Time travel blog, To Make Much of TimeComment
Paris: Travel Tips
Paris: Travel Tips

These tips from our week in Paris will hopefully help you know what to expect and how to plan for your best Paris experience! Included in this blog are tips for getting around the city, money tips, some basic French language guidance, apps you may want to download, safety awareness tips, and some clothing recommendations.

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Europe, Food + Drink, France, Western Europe, Adventures in TravelLindseytips for traveling to Paris, To Make Much of Time travel blog, To Make Much of Time, tips for getting around Paris, money tips for trip to Paris, is the Paris museum pass worth it, best apps to download for Paris, apps to use in Paris, French language tips for visiting Paris, what to wear to Paris, top tips for visiting Paris, top tips for first visit to Paris, is Paris safe, what scams to avoid in ParisComment
Paris: Visiting Musée de Cluny (Museum of the Middle Ages)
Paris: Visiting Musée de Cluny (Museum of the Middle Ages)

We decided to visit Musée de Cluny, the National Museum of the Middle Ages, because I have always been particularly fascinated by that time period and wanted to see the famous tapestry housed at this museum, the Lady and the Unicorn, that I had studied and fallen in love with in an art history class in college. The museum is located in the vicinity of the Latin Quarter of Paris nearby the Pantheon, so if you plan on visiting both, you should do so back-to-back.

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Europe, Cultural History, France, Western Europe, Adventures in TravelLindseyVisiting Middle Ages Museum in Paris, Visiting Musee de Cluny in Paris, where is the Lady and the Unicorn tapestry, Visiting the Lady and the Unicorn tapestry in Paris, series of Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, Roman baths in Paris, ancient Roman ruins in Paris, Paris museum off the beaten path, non touristy museums in Paris, Paris in a week, 7 day Paris itinerary, itinerary for Paris in a day, first trip to paris ideasComment
Visiting the Pantheon in Paris
Visiting the Pantheon in Paris

First, when most people hear Pantheon, they are generally thinking about the famous Pantheon in Rome. (Not to be confused with the Parthenon in Athens.) But still, we were curious about the Pantheon in Paris and thought it would be worth checking out. A ‘pantheon’ by definition is a group of important people or gods. Paris’ Pantheon is currently a secular, state-run mausoleum that began life as a cathedral and houses the remains of some of the city’s most important historical residents.

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Western Europe, Europe, France, Adventures in TravelLindseyvisiting the Pantheon in Paris, To Make Much of Time, To Make Much of Time travel blog, tips for visiting the Pantheon in Paris, what to expect at the Pantheon in Paris, crypt in the Pantheon in Paris, where to visit Parisian cryptsComment
Street Art of Paris
Street Art of Paris

The creativity and unexpectedly universal themes and elements that show up in street art always make for an interesting lens through which to view a city. Paris did not disappoint. The majority of these images were captured in the 3rd, 4th, and 11th arrondissements during a day where we spent a lot of time walking through the city.

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Europe, France, Western Europe, Adventures in TravelLindseyTo Make Much of Time travel blog, To Make Much of Time, street art in Paris, Paris' street art, Paris in a week, 7 day Paris itinerary, first trip to paris ideas, itinerary for Paris in a dayComment
Three Irish Female Writers To Pay Attention To
Three Irish Female Writers To Pay Attention To

Ireland has a long-standing literary tradition and is a country that values its writers and poets. Over the years, I have read many inspiring novels by the likes of Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, and others. But recently, I have found myself on a kick of reading contemporary Irish novelists without even realizing it! These newer-on-the-scene Irish female writers are making their mark in the literary world.

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Europe, Ireland, Read Before You Go, Western Europe, Book List, Book Review - FictionLindseynovels that take place in Ireland written by women, modern Irish women writers, modern Irish writers, contemporary Irish fiction, short review of The Milkman by Anna Burns, Short review of Himself by Jess Kidd, Short review of Normal People by Sally RooneyComment
Paris: A Week in the City of Love: Day 7 - Notre-Dame de Paris, Crypte archéologique de l'île de la Cité
Paris: A Week in the City of Love: Day 7 - Notre-Dame de Paris, Crypte archéologique de l'île de la Cité

The final day of a trip is always bittersweet: bitter that it is coming to an end and for the upcoming return flight home and sweet for the new memories and experiences.  I often get to the end of a trip having not done things I thought I would do but having done other things that led to unexpected surprises. 

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Europe, France, Western Europe, Adventures in TravelLindseyNotre-Dame de Paris, Crypte archéologique de l'île de la Cité, visiting Notre-Dame de Paris, ancient ruins of Paris, Paris in a week, Parisian cypts, 7 day Paris itinerary, first trip to paris ideas, itinerary for Paris in a day, tour the tower at Notre Dame Paris, To Make Much of Time, To Make Much of Time travel blogComment
Paris: A Week in the City of Love: Day 6 - Musée de Cluny, Pantheon, Jardin de Luxembourg, Musée Rodin
Paris: A Week in the City of Love: Day 6 - Musée de Cluny, Pantheon, Jardin de Luxembourg, Musée Rodin

With different itineraries, we parted ways with our traveling companions for the day. The first stop on the list for us was Musée de Cluny, the National Museum of the Middle Ages. I have always been particularly fascinated by that time period and wanted to see the famous tapestry housed at this museum, the Lady and the Unicorn, that I had studied and fallen in love with in an art history class in college.

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Europe, France, Western Europe, Adventures in TravelLindseyRoman baths in Paris, Musee de Cluny, unicorn tapestry in Paris, Unicorn and lady tapestry in Paris, where is the Lady and the Unicorn tapestry, Middle Ages museum in Paris, visiting Pantheon in Paris, Pantheon library in Paris, Jardin de Luxembourg in Paris, Paris in a week, 7 day Paris itinerary, Le Coupe Chou Paris restaurant, Parisian restaurants with great atmosphere, How to spend a week in Paris, first trip to paris ideas, visiting Rodin museum in Paris, Musee Rodin in Paris, crypt in the Pantheon in Paris, Parisian cypts, where to visit Parisian crypts, Voltaire's grave, Zola's graveComment
Paris: A Week in the City of Love: Day 5 - Picasso Museum, L'Atelier des Lumières, Jardin des Plantes
Paris: A Week in the City of Love: Day 5 - Picasso Museum, L'Atelier des Lumières, Jardin des Plantes

Our day started with what had become our Paris norm: flaky goodness of croissants. Adding some excitement to the mix, Dustin added a ham and cheese croissant, whereas I stuck with my you-can’t-go-wrong choices of croissant au beurre and pain au chocolat. Hey, if you can’t have chocolate for breakfast on vacation, when can you? (Never is not an option!).

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Europe, France, Western Europe, Adventures in TravelLindseyParis in a week, 7 day Paris itinerary, How to spend a week in Paris, first trip to paris ideas, travel blog paris, itinerary for Paris in a day, itinerary for Paris, what to do in Paris, visit to Musee Picasso in Paris, Picasso Museum in Paris, L'Atelier des Lumieres in Paris, is it worth visiting L'Atelier des Lumieres in Paris, Jardin des Plantes in Paris, Le Procope in Paris, best dinner in Paris, Napoleon hat restaurant in ParisComment
Paris: A Week in the City of Love: Day 4 - Bike Tour of Versailles
Paris: A Week in the City of Love: Day 4 - Bike Tour of Versailles

After long days of walking around Paris, our feet were sore and some blisters were starting to rear their ugly heads. So, we planned our fourth day perfectly: a bike tour of Versailles to give our feet a rest and use some other muscles for the day!

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Europe, France, Western Europe, Adventures in TravelLindseyFat Tire Bike Tour Review, Fat Tire Bike Tour Versailles tour, Fat Tire Bike Tour Versailles experience, 7 day Paris itinerary, Paris in a week, day trip from Paris, How to spend a week in Paris, first trip to paris ideas, travel blog paris, Versailles travel blog, what to expect at Versailles, Marie Antoinette's village at Versailles, pictures of Marie Antoinette's village at Versailles, St Regis Cafe in ParisComment
Paris: A Week in the City of Love: Day 3 - Sainte-Chapelle, Louvre, Tuileries Garden, Musee l'Orangerie
Paris: A Week in the City of Love: Day 3 - Sainte-Chapelle, Louvre, Tuileries Garden, Musee l'Orangerie

While we are pretty active travelers, we are not over-active travelers; we know when to go-go-go and when to go slow! With a full week in Paris staying at one place, it was a perfect excuse to explore the city at just the right pace. What that meant is we whiled away some mornings over croissants, coffee, and conversation. Bonus: the day was able to warm up a little before we ventured out. Our April in Paris was a tad on the nippy side!

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Europe, France, Western Europe, Adventures in TravelLindseyParis in a week, 7 day Paris itinerary, How to spend a week in Paris, first trip to paris ideas, what to do in Paris, travel blog paris, itinerary for Paris, visiting the Louvre Museum, visiting Tuilieries Garden, history of Tuileries garden, Tuilieries Palace history, visiting musee l'orangerie in paris, monet museum in parris, monet museum in paris, le boulanger de la tour paris, rotiserrie d'argent paris, where it the louvre entrance, where is the louvre exit, sainte-chappelle, sainte-chappelle paris, visiting sainte-chappelleComment
Paris: A Week in the City of Love: Day 2 - Père Lachaise Cemetery, Place des Vosges, and Other Wanderings
Paris: A Week in the City of Love: Day 2 - Père Lachaise Cemetery, Place des Vosges, and Other Wanderings

If you like wandering without a goal in mind, Paris is a great city for absentminded discoveries. Our first full day in the city can be summed up in that sentence. Along the way we explored a huge section of the city on foot, wandered much of the famous Père Lachaise Cemetery, lunched in the oldest planned square in the city at Place des Vosges, which dates to the 17th century, and dined casually along the Seine.

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Western Europe, France, Europe, Adventures in TravelLindseyParis in a week, How to spend a week in Paris, first trip to paris ideas, itinerary for Paris in a day, what to do in Paris, where to stay in paris, 7 day Paris itinerary, itinerary for Paris, To Make Much of Time travel blog, To Make Much of Time, visiting Place des Vosges in Paris, Visiting Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, who is buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery, street art in Paris, street art in Europe, haussmannien architecture, blog about visiting paris, travel blog for paris, travel blog paris, travel blog, travel blog photography, Cafe Hugo in Paris, Cafe Hugo in Place des Vosges, dining along the Seine, picnic along the SeineComment
Paris: A Week in the City of Love: Day 1 - Getting Settled
Paris: A Week in the City of Love: Day 1 - Getting Settled

We arrived in Paris by way of Reykjavik after departing from Washington-Dulles airport late in the evening. It was an odd feeling to land in familiar Reykjavik, having just been on our Iceland Ring Road trip last June/July (check that trip out here), and wished we could stay in Iceland but also still go to Paris. The more we travel, the more frequent the feeling of familiarity in different airports, cities, or countries occurs, making the world feel very small.

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Western Europe, France, Adventures in TravelLindseyTo Make Much of Time travel blog, To Make Much of Time, How to spend a week in Paris, Paris in a week, 7 day Paris itinerary, first trip to paris ideas, what to do in Paris, itinerary for Paris in a day, itinerary for Paris, where to stay in parisComment
Paris Overview: A Week in the City of Love
Paris Overview: A Week in the City of Love

We talked about going to France for several years before we actually took this trip. When we finally booked it, we weighed whether to spend a handful of days in Paris and then head out to the French countryside or to just stick with Paris. I can’t think of another trip we have taken where we stayed in one city the entire week but we knew Paris had so much to offer and didn’t want to feel like we were rushing to jet off to the next spot. We easily filled our 7 days in Paris and didn’t even get to every spot on our list! Don’t worry, we feel other regions of France deserve the same dedicated focus, so we will be back to France at some point!

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Europe, France, Western Europe, Country Overview, Adventures in TravelLindseyHow to spend a week in Paris, Paris in a week, itinerary for Paris, itinerary for Paris in a day, 7 day Paris itinerary, what to do in Paris, first trip to paris ideas, To Make Much of Time travel blog, To Make Much of Time Comments