They say they best thing about London is Paris. I don’t think that’s true, I just needed some kind of opener for this entry. I tried to put my Carrie Bradshaw hat on and that’s what came out.
With Paris being just hop, skip and a jump away by Eurostar, I decided it was finally time to make the leap and booked tickets with a friend for a Paris weekend away. It would be a super short but much needed break away.
I don’t know how many times I’ve tried to plan a Paris trip with friends. Something always seemed to get in the way. With France on high alert from the recent terrorism attacks, we did have our doubts about going. However we figured that London was just as dangerous and even then we continue to go about our daily business. So what should stop us from going to Paris?
Let’s go!
It’s been a VERY long time since I came to Paris. I planned to revisit some of the old places I went with my family – The Eiffel Tower, Sacre Couer, The Notre Dame e.t.c. Yes, all the classics!
Food
The thing I was most looking forward to was eating a lot of pastries and macarons.
In case you did not know, I’m a bit of a shutterbug. I love taking photographs. However I don’t really post them on this site. It’s my new years resolution to be more creative and take more photos. So in the spirit of keeping up with my resolutions, you’re getting this spam of Paris photography.
River
Whilst in Paris, I do recommend taking a river cruise on the River Seine. It only costs about 12 euros and lasts roughly 2 hours. There are a lot of machines along the river and you can directly buy your ticket from there. Very easy.
Notre Dame Cathedral.
It’s so beautiful. Unfortunately there was a massive Christmas tree standing in front of it.
Inside is equally beautiful (and a bonus it is free to get in!). The stain glass windows are HUGE.
Sacre Couer
The whole area of Monmarte (where the Sacre Couer is based) is very touristy. I still thought it was worth a visit. It’s really cute artsy area and there’s also plenty to eat around there.
The Louvre is HUGE.
I didn’t have time to go inside but judging from the scale of the building, I imagine it would take hours to walk around and view all the exhibits. It’s still worth checking outside and looking at the lovely architecture!
The Shakespeare Company Bookshop
It doesn’t seem very Parisienne but I recommend you visit the Shakespeare Company Bookshop. It’s like the most amazing bookshop in the world. It’s wonderfully decorated with small windy alleys, a random cat, little reading nooks in the corners. It is everything a bookshop should be. Unfortunately you can’t take photographs inside (don’t think anyone would leave otherwise!) but I have to admit I did take sneaky one!!!!
The Paris Opera House
I LOVE Phantom of the Opera. DO YOU? DO YOU? If you do as well and you love flouncy pretty architecture then the Paris Opera House will be your thing. It’s just jaw dropping gorgeous and exactly the type of thing that I wanted to see when I came to Paris! It’s so grand and gold.
Just a random thing I noticed
-The French sure love their dogs but they do not love cleaning up after them. I had read this little factoid before I came. I thought it was just in the area of my hotel but it’s basically…all over Paris. It’s such a shame! I spent a lot of my time looking on the ground rather than around and up.
It’s typical though after warning my friend about this, I ended up being the one who slipped in some.
C’est la vie!
Until next my next Paris weekend away! Au Revior.