Jour 7 Paris: Coulée Vert & Tour Eiffel

Before heading back to Paris for the fourth time, I looked up "under the radar" types of activities and came up with a decent list. Unfortunately, a few of these were weather-dependent (like hopping in a giant tethered hot air balloon to get cool views of the city) so I had to cross a bunch off as infeasible. But, we did manage to hit up Coulée Vert, also known as Promenade Plantée, which was described by a few people as Paris' version of The Highline.

The park is all the way in the 12th, but it's easily accessible by Metro.


You can certainly tell that yes, this was once a railroad. However, it's a little bit opposite of The Highline in that you walk downstairs instead of upstairs to access it.

There's tons of greenery and I really liked the tunnels.

If you're an exercise fiend, you'll like it here. There were several people on their daily runs, we were passed by a cyclist, and we saw a few of these exercise stations.

We didn't end up spending too much time here. Our feet were tired as it was, having already spent six and a half days walking several miles in several cities. But, we did sit down and enjoy a bit of nature for a few minutes.

After that, we hopped on the Metro and headed back to our hotel to relax a bit.

Okay, so here's my pro tip for those of you who want to see the Eiffel Tower but don't necessarily want to deal with the crowds. Take Metro line 6 (the light green one), preferably from Sèvres-Lecourbe station heading in the direction of L'Étoile. Sit on the right side of the train next to a window - hopefully one that's relatively free of scratches. You'll see glimpses of the tower in between buildings as you're traveling along. When you're in between the Bir-Hakeim and Passy stations, you'll get a really good view of it with the Seine in the foreground.

We passed by the Tower on the Metro all the time because we took that green line almost everywhere. But, we also went and saw it up close and personal too.

People wait in line for hours to climb to the top - the north corner seems to be the most popular. Honestly, I don't see the hype. I mean, I've never climbed it but I'm not going to waste a bunch of time waiting in line when I could be exploring the city. Most Parisians think the tower is an eyesore anyway, so I don't know. However, here's another pro tip. If you're looking to pay some money to climb a tower and get some views, I'd recommend the Montparnasse Tower. You'll see some awesome views with the Eiffel Tower in your photos which I think will be prettier to show off to your friends, right?

I die of laughter every time I look at this photo because obviously the perspective is so off. By the way, baby sis isn't hunchbacked; she was just wearing her backpack under her jacket to thwart thieves.

It is a really cool structure though, I've got to admit. And it's iconic. Most people think of Paris and this is what they'll picture in their minds. I particularly like this shot because you can't see that stupid tennis ball hanging in the middle.

Here's a sh*tty shot of it at night time from the Metro. I might have tried harder to get a shot except I was kind of "over it" at that point because I was so tired from a long day of exploration. Honestly, it is quite pretty when it's lit up at night and the sparkling light show is fun too but if you're looking to get photos of yourself standing in front of it, I recommend going in the day time. No one looks good with flash lighting up their face, you know?

xoxo.