Oui, oui, Paris!

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In October last year my parents and I went on holiday to Paris. I'd never been before so I was highly thrilled when I found out we were going. I spent hours and hours researching the city and could not wait to see if it lived up to all my expectations. I have to say, when we finally arrived on the 28th it did not disappoint in the slightest.

When we landed we found our taxi and set off on our journey to the hotel. The traffic was absolutely insane. I thought traffic in England was bad but Parisian traffic had to be at least 20 times worse. What would probably have been a half an hour car journey back home took about an hour and a half. Just as I was starting to worry whether we'd ever get to our hotel at all, we turned a corner and there it was. Our first sight of the Eiffel Tower. We'd driven past the Arc de Triomphe and were all distracted by that until my mum let out a gasp as she saw it. It was so much bigger than I imagined it to be, I mean I knew it was big but not quite that big.
We finally arrived at our hotel and after a slight confusion with the rooms, we managed to find our chambres and started to settle in. I was so happy to find out that I had a separate room just down the corridor from my parents with such a comfy double bed all to myself!

Once we had recovered our bearings we decided to venture out of the hotel and explore the environment. The hotel was literally about 500 metres from the Effiel Tower itself and by this time it had gone dark to we got a wonderful view of it all lit up. Me and my dad took this opportunity to start taking photos which was defiantly my favourite part of the trip. Once we'd had a wander we went back to the hotel and I had the best nights sleep I'd had in a long time.
We spent our first full day in Paris taking a trip up the Tower and walking to the Arc de Triomphe and back. The views from the Tower were absolutely spectacular and because we went so early in the morning the lighting was si beau.

On our walk to the Arc de Triomphe we saw oh so many cake shops until we finally caved and decided to but ourselves some. I had this sort of macaroon thing with raspberries in the middle which was slightly disappointing. I can't remember the name of the shop but I may try and avoid it if I ever go again seeing my parents also did not enjoy their purchases! It was on this walk that I wished I had the elegance and style of all the Parisian women I saw. They all looked so smart and had a presence that most women back home do not. Oh the things I would do to live in Paris!

 On our second day we visited Notre Dame. First of all, however, we walked down the River Seine until we reached the station for the Batobus we were going to take for the rest of the journey. Again, the weather was amazing and I managed to get many more photos! (I took way more than I think should be allowed)

We caught the Batobus from the Musée d'Orsay. The views from the boat itself were amazing and we saw all the of main tourist attractions that are situated by the side of the Seine. 

Once we arrived at our destination, we were overwhelmed by the sheer size of Notre Dame. I still can't believe it took 200 years to complete the construction! We had a gander around the surrounding area before we went in and found one of the many Love Lock bridges which I developed a slight obsession with while we were there, being the closet hopeless romantic I am at heart!

We climbed up what felt like an endless number of stairs to reach the top after what felt like hours of queuing and the time and energy certainly paid off! The view from the top was fab as we could see for miles around the city and got some lovely photos of the Eiffel Tower!

That evening we went on a bike tour of the city with Fat Tire Bike Tours. It was certainly an experience cycling through Paris at night as there were many times when I feared for my life and some of our fellow tourists were extremely egocentric and annoying but apart from that I had a great time! The city certainly looks so beautiful lit up and we learnt so much about the history. They took us to Île Saint-Louis after Île de la Cité (home to Notre Dame) which is apparently where many a celebrity chose to reside. Here we got the chance to have some ice-cream or sorbet and damn was it good. It had to be the nicest sorbet I have ever had. Towards the end of the tour we went on a boat ride from the Louvre all the way round the main river area and back. This way we got to see everywhere we had seen from the Batobus but all lit up and lovely. It was really nice but so so so cold! It is safe to say that when we got back to the hotel at silly o'clock at night I slept very well indeed!

On our last full day in Paris we visited the Louvre art gallery. As with everything we had visited before I had not expected it to be so huuuuge! I mean, there is huge and then there is the Louvre. We spent the majority of the day in there and we still didn't see even half of it. The building was so majestic and elegant and even though the glass pyramids at the centre are so modern, they tie in with the environment so well. We saw the Mona Lisa which was amazing (and smaller than I expected) and Napoleon's chambers which were absolutely stunning. We wandered away from the Louvre eventually and crossed the Pont de l'Archevêché which I think is the largest love lock bridge in Paris. We had lunch in this really cute, old fashioned café where I had a minor stress over the menu and eventually ended up what was probably one of the world's most expensive sandwiches but it was SO GOOD. I'm not normally a sandwich fan but by heck was that one amazing sandwich! I also tried my first ever crème brûlée which turned out to almost as good as the sandwich.

We left Paris on the 1st November and I really did not want to go home. I felt so relaxed and comfortable in the city, 10 times more than I do in my own town! It looked like the ideal place to live even though it is so expensive. I must return some day and do all the things we didn't have time to do in our short stay. Let's just say I now know why it is called The City of Love, it had to be the most romantic place I have ever been!

Au revoir pour le moment mes amis!