We all saw the news in April 2019 — one of the world’s most famous churches, Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, caught on fire. And if you somehow missed that, then your Instagram feed was certainly full of every person you knew who’d ever been to Paris posting grainy photos from the early 2000s of themselves at Notre Dame, captioned simply with a #brokenheartemoji. 💔

But six years later, Notre Dame lives again! In fact, it just re-opened to the public in December 2024. So when Matt and I visited Paris at the end of March, we couldn’t miss our chance to check it out. And when I was planning our visit, I was shocked to find out that tickets to visit Notre Dame are free! However, only a limited number of reservations are available per day — and they don’t make it easy to claim those tickets. So here’s exactly how you can get free Notre Dame cathedral tickets. [Read more…]

After spending a few days in Toulouse, we were back on the road for our next stop on our European road trip: Bordeaux, France. While researching and planning our trip, I had Googled: “Toulouse or Bordeaux?” The internet didn’t provide a consensus (it would be weird if it did), and since the two cities are less than three hours apart, we decided to visit both.

So here’s what it was like to visit Bordeaux, France. [Read more…]

Toulouse may not get as much attention as other cities in France, like Paris or Marseille. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth a visit! We spent a few days in Toulouse during our European road trip in January, and we found that there were lots of things to do — and eat — in Toulouse. Plus, the city itself is gorgeous. Did you know its nickname is “La Ville Rose,” or the pink city?

From art and architecture, to greenspace, to feats of engineering, here are 7 things to do in Toulouse. [Read more…]

Andorra la Vella: check. Carcassonne: check. Next on the agenda was Toulouse, France. Matt had never been to France before, and I’d only been to Paris and Lyon, so Toulouse was totally new for both of us.

As with many of the places we went on our European road trip, we didn’t know what to expect because we don’t typically research places too much before we arrive. But we loved Toulouse, and Matt even said it was his favorite city we visited on the whole trip! So… keep reading to learn what it’s like to visit Toulouse, France. [Read more…]

After leaving Andorra on our European road trip last month, our next stop was a quick little day trip to visit Carcassonne, France. Only a 3-hour drive from Andorra la Vella and one hour from where we’d be staying that night in Toulouse, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to visit. All the time we spent playing the board game Carcassonne with our roommates over the years meant that we had to at least check it out. [Read more…]

Back in December 2019, my friend Hanna and I visited Lyon, France, for its famous Festival of Lights. (I’m excited to say that I’m planning to attend again later this year!)

Besides that, Lyon is a beautiful city with plenty else going on — even if you aren’t there for the festival! So check out the best things you should do during your visit. [Read more…]