I’ll Meet You In Paris
Back in February my best friend and I took a long-awaited trip to Paris. We started planning this trip at the end of last year, meaning we were more than excited by the time the trip finally came around. We flew out on a Monday afternoon after tackling the tube to get to London Heathrow. The flight was fuss-free which definitely settled my pre-flight nerves which always seems to arise. Once we arrived we had to make our way to our hotel so using the metro but we finally managed to get there in one piece. After a long day of travelling, we decided to get an early night to be extra prepared to for the 7 jammed packed days we had ahead.
Our hotel was situated in the 9th Arrondissement just a short walk from the infamous Moulin Rouge. We were also very close to the metro stations too. St. George and Pigalle were our most used stations; both having the easiest connections to the larger REC train lines and the centre of Paris. We felt that we chose the perfect area to stay in as we weren’t right in the hustle and bustle of the centre, but not too far out either. Also, as Versailles and Disneyland were both places in our itinerary, it was perfect that we were only about an hour away from both.
Day One consisted of us gaining our bearings and learning how to use the metro system. We headed into the centre and spent most of the day walking around the city trying to find the most popular tourist destinations, such as The Notre Dame, The Louvre and The Eiffel Tower. We wanted to scope out the queue situation for The Eiffel Tower as we were headed there the following day. Although, what seemed like hours of aimlessly walking we found it was the best way to learn where everything was. Meaning we spent the rest of the week ahead with a new found confidence when it came to directions. On this first day, we didn’t enter all the tourist attractions mentioned above. However, one we did go and have a look around was The Conciergerie.
The Conciergerie is this beautiful building above and is located on the west of Île de la Cité. Although the building is rather bare nowadays it holds thousands of years of French history. During the French Revolution, this building was used as a prison where many convicts were sent, from all over, to be executed by guillotine. One of the prison’s most notable prisoners was Marie Antoinette whose cell has now been turned into a small chapel in her memory.
Day two consisted of even more walking, further cementing the theme of our whole trip. We had already pre-booked to go to The Eiffel Tower in the afternoon but didn’t really have much planned for the morning. After scouring the many maps we had been given upon arrival we decided to visit The Sacré-Cœur, which was only a short metro ride from our hotel. We stupidly climbed the 300 plus steps to the top of Montmartre, only realising on our descent from the basilica that our train passes could have been used on the funicular that takes tourists from the foot to the summit! A little out of breath we finally arrived at the top and realised that all the steps had been worth it when we saw how beautiful the building stood before us was and all its surrounding views of Paris. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to go inside due to the queues being rather lengthy. But we did sit on the steps in front of the basilica catching a few rays whilst listening to a group of male singers doing an incredible rendition of Stand By Me.
After waiting in the shortest queue for what seemed like hours we finally got inside The Eiffel Tower. I swear the queue for those buying tickets on the day was moving at a much faster rate than our pre-booked queue. Once we were finally through the barriers, after being searched at security, it dawned on me what we were about to do. Usually, I am not one to be scared by heights in the slightest but for some reason, I was kinda terrified. I think it was once I was stood under the tower and could see just how tall it really was that made it all sink in. Deep down the lift actually scared me more than anything else, it just looked really rickety and put me quite on edge. The journey to the top was a bit squished as they jam a lot of people into such a confined space, however, I was rather grateful because being stuck between people taller than myself made me feel safer.
The views from the top were magnificent. We visited mid-February so albeit a sunny day once we were at the top it was a freezing -4 degrees Celsius which definitely added a bit of colour to our cheeks. We decided the 4pm time slot when booking online because we were hoping to catch the sun setting. Although, it was a little foggy the further out you looked the sun did look rather pretty reflecting off the Seine.
I think Disneyland was definitely the day we had both been waiting the whole week for. I had already been to Disneyland Paris once before, when I was 4, but don’t really remember much about the trip other than the flying Dumbo ride. So, going back now that I am a lot older was filled with an unknown sense of nostalgia and made me appreciate the whole day far more. Even though it was freezing I relished in the chance to be a kid again for just one day. As I feel these days are few and far between now that I have grown up. The queues were rather long as it was French school holidays, but we didn’t let our numb feet dull our moods and we had a pretty awesome day. We even got to meet Darth Vadar, even if it was by accident! By far though the best part of the day was the projection lights show at the castle at the end of the night. It was just truly magical!
With slightly sore feet we headed to the Château de Versailles on a rather impressive double-decker train. Before we even got through the security gates we were already shocked by the elegance and lavishness of the building ahead of us. The palace was built in the 17th century and became a rather political location after King Louis XIV moved the royal courts here from Paris. Both the architecture of the building and the aesthetic inside screams nothing but grandeur. The palace became home to the King and his new wife Marie Antoinette who was given the Petit Trianon which she added to extensively. Even including a theatre which is now known as Petit Théâtre de la Reine. We walked for what felt like miles to find the infamous blue theatre, however, to be disappointed by the fact that it was gated and closed to the public. After, getting lost in the mass of glorious gardens we eventually found an exit and decided to head back to our hotel.
On our second to last day, we didn’t actually have anything booked but we knew that we wanted to try and squeeze a visit to The Catacombs in during our stay so decided that this was the perfect time to do so. Once we came out of the metro station opposite the entrance we realised just how popular this tourist attraction really was. Both shocked by the endless queue the winded completely around the block. We stood in the queue for over 3 hours but the wait was totally worth it once we entered the tombs. The Catacombs of Paris are giant underground ossuaries which hold the remains of more than 6 million people. They were created to stop the overcrowding of Paris cemeteries. However, they were largely forgotten until the 19th century when they started being used for concerts and other events. We decided to do the audio tour which was jammed packed with historical information. Just knowing the vast amount of the people’s remains that are kept down there added to the already creepily hair-raising atmosphere.
The train pass we had bought ran out on our penultimate day so we decided to walk around the area surrounding our hotel. The Galeries Lafayette was about a 20-minute walk away and since it had been advertised on most of the maps we had been given by our hotel we decided to go and see what the fuss was about. Once we entered the department store we soon realised why this place was so popular with the public. It was absolutely massive and has the most beautiful ceiling feature I think I have ever seen. By far the prettiest shopping centre I have ever been in. Although most of the brands within were much out of our price range it was nice just to be a part of the hustle and bustle. It also has an impressive 10 floors with an awesome viewing platform at the top to view the whole of Paris. We were also rather happy to find out that it had its own Disney Store.
After such a jammed packed week we just about managed to get a flight back the UK before all the snow hit. I truly had an amazing week and it has definitely ignited the travelling spark inside of me.
Better start saving for the next trip! 🙂
M🌸
