Travel Diary: Paris

A lovely long weekend was spent in Paris for my birthday. I had the best time strolling through the autumnal streets, drinking all the wine and sight seeing. So much so, that I want to share the things that we got up too. (Thank you Sam, you're the best). 

We arrived early hours of Friday morning, after an hours flight. We checked into the hotel after a train ride to the city, from the airport, dropped our bags off and jumped onto another train to Versailles. We stayed super close to Notre Dame, which was beautiful and convenient to be so near a metro to most other central parts of the city. Once off the train in Versailles, we visited the Palace of Versailles. A place that my year 11 self learned all about in History, when studying the treaty of Versailles. A beautiful place, surrounded by the most gorgeous gardens. A third train back into the city, and a stroll around the Eiffel Tower later, we got some dinner and went to sleep super early (a 4 o clock start that morning truly did me over). 

Saturday morning started with a croissant and some freshly squeezed orange juice. We strolled through the city to the Jardin De Plantes and the Pantheon. Another stroll through the city to the Louvre, where we qued and saw the Mona Lisa. Afterwards, we found the 'love lock' bridge which is no longer full of love locks. They were removed a couple of years ago, due to the weight that it was putting on the bridge which would have had effects on the usage of the bridge. But there were a few bunches of them here and there. We also visited a bar called the Little Red Door after dinner and it was really cool! There were only a small selection of drinks which were based on words in different languages. 

On Sunday, the weather wasn't the best, so we decided to spend the day doing what I'm sure was the rest of the tourists residing in Paris idea too - shopping. We started at the Galeries Lafayette, a designer mall with a roof top view over Paris and the most gorgeous ceilings, and shopping floors with balconies that overlooked the whole building. We also visited the Champs-Elysees, did a bit more shopping and took photos of the Arc Du Triomphe. 

Monday morning started off with more rain, which lead to more shopping. Thankfully, it stopped raining around lunch time when we were due to go up the Eiffel Tower. The views were amazing, although it was FREEZING! A hour or so was spent wondering around the Eiffel Tower, which followed with another little stroll, trying some snails and then the train ride back to the airport to fly home. Would 1000% recommend a long weekend in Paris, it's the most beautiful place. The architecture, the views, the people, the food, everything. It's so lovely.

Recommendations for the city..

- Due to being under 25 and an EU citizen, most of the museums and tourist attractions that we visited, we got in for free. (Definitely something to make use of if you're visiting Paris soon!) 

- Anything that you know for certain that you want to do/see, book beforehand! We were disappointed that one of the museum exhibitions were fully booked, but if we had looked further in advance, we may have been able to go!
- Eating out is expensive if you stick to the touristy areas. Take yourself away from there and you'll find some amazing food.

Have you ever been to Paris?
Amber X