Exploring Paris' Louvre Museum

No trip to Paris is complete without a visit to the world-famous Louvre Museum.  (At least, not your first trip to Paris. It's okay if you don't want to attend the Louvre every single time you hit up Paris!)  The Louvre offers many great things for history buffs, architecture nuts, and art lovers.  Even if you are none of those, you will still probably appreciate at least one visit to the museum.

A Visit to Versailles: Paris' Golden Palace

There are literally hundreds of amazing things to see and do in the vibrant city of Paris, France - the Eiffel Tower, cruising the Seine River, wine tastings, explore the Louvre, and so much more.  But visitors to Paris must also remember to take at least one day and get OUT of the city to stroll the grounds and palace of historical Versailles.  This beautiful feat of architecture is dripping with gold and sprinkled with opulence.

Travelers vs Tourists: Why I am SO SICK of this Debate

I do not rant on my blog.  I try to always keep things upbeat, positive, and hopefully, inspirational.  But I feel the desperate need to weigh on in this subject - the silly debate between what makes a tourist and what makes a traveler.

I have read about it on several blogs, seen people comment on Twitter, and even heard about it on television via travel shows and channels. So many backpackers and 'new nomads' bragging about selling their home, staying in hostels and cheap hotels, 'getting down' with the culture, making fun of people who do quick trips, stay in resorts, and visit the standard sights a location has to offer.

People who claim to be 'travelers' and not 'tourists', as if being a tourist was a disgraceful occupation. People who believe that because they do things differently, they are a superior breed of explorers.  Usually I just ignore these people.

How NOT to Get Mugged on the Paris Metro (By an 8-Year-Old)

In any encounter with a die-hard traveler, amidst a plethora of hearty descriptions of nature hikes, temples, and monuments, you will inevitably hear a tale of theft or disaster. It is a rare occasion indeed when a traveler worth their salt lacks a story about themselves or a member of their group being mugged or burglarized. It can happen anywhere, in any country, at any time. And me telling you to 'be aware' of it doesn't mean it will happen any less either.

Paris Street Food: Decadent Crepes

One of the biggest "musts" while traveling is to sample the wide variety of tasty street foods a culture has to offer. Every nation has a specific palette of spices, smells, textures, and presentations - as a visitor, it is your obligation to try to experience at least some of these. At least, this is my opinion as a person who loves both travel and eating.

Stereotypically, street food comes on sticks or on paper plates. But the city of Paris does street food with more class and pizzazz, or so it seems!

Euro Disneyland Paris: A Surprise Trip to France

My parents, who are in their fifties and are just now starting to become world-travelers, recently returned from a trip to Disneyland. They went with my sister, who is 24-years-old, and had a total blast! I was inspired as I flipped through their photo album, viewing pictures of them hugging Eeyore, dancing with Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas, and jumping the line of 500 small children to get first dibs in a picture with Mickey Mouse. Close to retirement, new to travel, my parents are excellent examples that it is never too late to start crossing items off your bucket lists!

View the Amazing Sights of Romantic and Historical Paris

"Sous le ciel de Paris s'envole une chanson!"

This famous song, written by Maurice Chevalier and recently used in the movie "An Education", epitomizes the carefree yet classy feeling one gets from walking along the streets of Paris. The line, roughly translated, means "Under the skies of Paris, a song flies". Or something like that. My French is pretty rusty. But I understand the emotion Chevalier was trying to convey - Paris puts a song in your heart! The blue-roofed buildings, the gold-gilded railings and roofs, the flowered balconies - it all meshes together to create the classic vision of Paris.

Go to Paris and ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is symbol of romance and beauty to most who picture it, perched proudly in the middle of Paris' urban sprawl. Sunset proposals, glorified by Hollywood pictures, are always made better by being presented at the tippy-top of the Eiffel Tower.

In reality, getting up to the top of the tower is a bit of a process, and once you are there, it isn't really all that romantic. Granted, I visited on a day when the wind threatened to push everyone right off the edge, so that kind of took away any romanticism that may have been present. Also, I was with approximately 20 junior high students, and that also tends to dampen any whimsical architectural romance for a person! Ha ha!

Explore the Catacombs Beneath the City of Paris

In April of 2010, I took my school kids on a field trip that no sane teacher in her right mind would take kids on - but since I'm not exactly the most sane person, this was a field trip perfect for me!

For a year and a half, since early 2009, I had been planning an international field trip for my students with a company called Explorica, hoping to be one of the first junior high groups in our school district to be allowed to travel under school sanction to another country. Many high schools had done this before, but not a group with the age range of my students. I wrote an eleven-page proposal, sent many (annoying) emails, and finally got my way! Our school's first "Travel Club" was headed to London, Paris, Italy, and Rome on a 10-day whirlwind trip!