Paris

I thought i’d write a post about my ~kind of~ recent (if you can call October recent) visit to Paris.

So, I was lucky enough to get the chance to spend my eighteenth birthday in Paris. It was a part of France that I had never visited before, and I have always been beyond fascinated with capital cities (although dont get me wrong, I absolutely love the loire valley, where I have spent most of my time in France, but paris is completely different.)

I arrived in Paris late on the day before my birthday after a unnecessarily long journey (can I just say ferries are such a waste of time, planes are the best invention ever). We stayed in a hotel in the business district of Paris- La Defence- and the hotel was fabulous. My room overlooked the River Seine, I could see the Eiffel Tower lit up in the distance and I had wifi in my room- an obvious necessity 😉

Lets just say i could of quite happily lived in that room forever.

On the morning of my birthday I woke up to this fantastic view. I couldn’t of been any happier- I’m pretty sure I just spent half an hour just drinking tea and staring out of the window.

After a perfect breakfast of croissants and pain au chocolat (aka the best inventions ever), we left to have the cheesiest touristy day ever- sightseeing. I usually hate anything touristy and prefer to discover places on my own, but my parents had booked a guided tour of Paris and this was actually totally fun- we went to the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and ended with a cruise down the River Seine.

The river cruise was great, because it meant we got to see a lot of the beautiful architecture that makes Paris so special. And it gave me a chance to take a lot of photos.

After the tour was over, it was time to explore some of Paris’s famous shops and cafe’s. Basically my favourite hobby haha!

First of all we visited a famous department store called Galeries Lafayette. It was huuuuge, there were 7 floors and to look at everything would probably take you all day, at least. But inside it was beautiful. In the cosmetics department, there was a dome ceiling which was decorated and surrounded by colourful balconies looking out from the other levels of the store.

It was pretty I think all shops should look like that to be honest. If you went to the roof of this store, there was a balconied area that gave an amazing view of the Paris skyline. People were sitting up there on armchairs, drinking champagne and socialising, the perfect life haha!

A nice part about Paris is that you can see the eiffel tower from almost anywhere in the city. It just made me really happy hah 🙂

The rest of the day was just wandering around Paris. We went for coffee in a cute little cafe, which was lovely, even though it rained pretty much all day.In the evening we visited the Latin quarter to go to a (very small) restaurant. Hands down this was the most atmospheric, lively restaurant i have ever been to.
There was a set menu (very french, onion soup for starters, followed by beef bourguignon, a cheese board and then apple tart for dessert) with unlimited wine included in the cost. Oh and champagne. Ha. Not only was the meal lovely, but there was an accordion and a guitar player walking up and down the restaurant all evening, interacting with the guests. They were hilarious.

The restaurant owners somehow found out it was my birthday, and got the accordion and guitar players to sing happy birthday to me (which the whole restaurant joined in with) AND they brought me cake and (more) champagne. It just made the evening even more unforgettable.

Paris by night is so beautiful, being know as the city of light, you are in for a real treat when the sun goes down. I really recommend just wandering around with a camera after night fall, you wont regret it.

(Sorry this photo isn’t exactly sharp, blame the wine haha)

So, the next day I just spent the day wandering around and taking photographs. The best way to explore Paris quickly is to buy a carnet for the metro- meaning you get 10 metro tickets for €12. A few highlights from the day include Nutella Crepes (oh my god the best things ever invented, I would literally marry one if I could), and a trip to the famous Louvre art gallery. Plus a huuuge bonus was that it was much sunnier than the previous day, meaning that we took a lovely walk through the park near the Louvre (most adorable place I have visited in my life).

Oh, in the evening we went to Montmartre to see the artists. It was so inspiring, I literally was so shocked (and completley jealous) at their ability to draw such realistic drawings of people in less than 10 minutes, just wow. We also went inside the famous cathedral and I (sneakily) took a couple of photos, because it really was unbelievably stunning. We got the chance to see and hear the nuns that live in the cathedral singing too.

I really had the time of my life, and I am completely and utterly in love with Paris now. If you get the chance, visit- I promise it will be one of the most memorable experiences of your life.

Sorry it took me forever to write this post, and sorry it is so long!

It has snowed about 1cm outside, so obviously there is complete chaos across the country, and college is cancelled tomorrow because england literally just cant cope with the snow. Not that i’m sad about college being cancelled of course! 🙂

I hope you had a good weekend~

À bientôt!!