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Welcome to another edition of Traveling Lately! Last week, I went to Paris for four days and in this newsletter I will be sharing where I ate (especially relevant to anyone planning a Paris trip this summer), what the international Eras Tour experience was like, and some travel essentials. Feel free to scroll to the part that appeals most to you.
Now, I have been incredibly unlucky when it comes to getting pre-sale codes for The Eras Tour. Each time I’ve tried on my own, I’ve been waitlisted and unable to purchase tickets. But I have been immeasurably lucky when it comes to friends inviting me to see The Eras Tour with them. And I had such luck two months ago when my friend Katie texted me saying her friend — who had purchased VIP floor seats to Taylor Swift’s final night in Paris — could no longer go and was reselling them at face value (under $200!!) and would I be interested. Obviously, my answer was yes.
The yes was made easier by the use of miles for my flight and a generous offer from a friend to stay at their apartment on Ile Saint Louis. Needless to say, it was the trip of a lifetime, and if you’re torn about seeing The Eras Tour in Europe this summer and you have the means to do so, DO IT!
Katie and I had both been to Paris before and done most of the museums and touristy things, so this trip was filled mostly with 20-30k steps per day as we walked from one meal to the next.
We landed in Paris Thursday midday, saw The Eras Tour Sunday night, and flew out Monday morning. Below I’ll outline some favorite dining spots as well as The Eras Tour international experience.
Where We Ate
Chez Janou — get the chocolate mousse
Cafe de Flore — as seen on Gossip Girl, the line moves very quickly
Chez Fernand — get the boeuf bourguignon
Le Flore en l'Île — one of my favorite breakfasts of the weekend
Les Philosophes — get the French onion soup
Laurent — a stunning spot for a garden luncheon
Le Saint Regis Paris — some of my favorite espresso of the weekend
La Brasserie de l'Isle Saint-Louis — another favorite espresso spot
La Chaumière — go to the takeout window, they have great ice cream and jambon beurre which you can get to go
Breizh Cafe — no trip to Paris is complete without crepes
Patrick Roger — the most incredible chocolate
Bambini — food was meh but all you need is a drink here to enjoy the incredible view of the Eiffel Tower
The Eras Tour Experience
You can watch videos from the show I attended on my Instagram here.
As I mentioned, the tickets we purchased from Katie’s friend were VIP floor seats, which included VIP merch boxes as well as early entry to the venue. We picked up the merch on Friday morning so we could scope out the venue and also not have to hold the boxes at the show. The floor in Paris didn’t have actual seats, it was more of a mosh pit vibe, but if a mosh pit was filled with mothers and daughters having the night of their lives.
We got the venue day off at 3pm for our 3:45pm early entry time. We know some people had been in line for hours, some even over night. So based on what we’d heard, we figured it wasn’t even worth getting there TOO much earlier than entry time since we wouldn’t be able to get too close to the stage. Jokes on us because even with the time we got there, I teared up as soon as we stepped into the arena and I realized just how close we’d be to Taylor (lol, I know.)
As an aside, I had been avoiding any TTPD set list additions / additional change spoilers ahead of Sunday night because I wanted to experience it FRESH. I did receive an impressive amount of texts from friends after the Thursday night show, all of whom wanted me to know I was going to lose it when I saw the new show. One friend went as far as to book a flight to Paris to join me based solely off a grainy live stream performance — which was the best decision she could have made. And with her by my side, I did in fact lose it.
I know in a previous newsletter I wrote that TTPD — while a great piece of art — wasn’t my fave album and it probably wouldn’t have much re-listen value for me. Well…when I tell you I have not listened to anything else since April 19… and seeing it live just took it to another level.
Another highlight of the Sunday Paris show was that Travis Kelce was in the audience, and it was immediately evident that the 40000 of us in the stadium were actually just there with them on a date. In addition to her adding So High School to The Eras Tour set list, on May 12th, she changed the lyric in Karma to the now iconic “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs” after wearing Chiefs colors in her 1989 set. AND Taylor performed surprise songs The Alchemy mashed up with Treacherous on guitar and Begin again mashed up with Paris on the piano. The way our girl could not stop smiling.
And neither could we. Just such a magical night with friends, one I will never forget for the rest of my life. To quote miss Taylor Allison Swift, WE WERE IN PARIS!
I’ll be doing a lot more traveling this summer (Italy and Switzerland are up next for international trips) so if you have any recs (for food, must see things, travel essentials) please let me know!
My European Travel Essentials
Carry-on bag that the employees at CDG Airport won’t scream at you over
Cross Body Bag (code SAMANTHA for 20% off)
Sharing some of my affiliate discount codes below
Tavi Active — code SAMANTHA for 20% off site-wide from Vooray, TAVI, and ToeSox, and code SAMANTHA30 for an additional 30% off sale items
Birthdate Candles — code Samantha10 at checkout
Our Place — discount applied through this link
Kush Queen — code Samantha at checkout
Rihoas — code Dockser for 20% off their site (pictured below)
Karma & Luck — code SAM30 for 25% off their site
Quick reminder I (try to) link all my outfits and products on my LTK shop, so if you follow me on other social pages and ever want to know where something is from, you can check that out HERE!