After an overly hectic final year at university and the graduation buzz that followed, I was ecstatic to get a chance to pop over the water to Paris for a few days with my dad for a well-deserved treat. Growing up in Asia meant that I have yet to explore much of Europe, and France was no exception with my only excursion over there before this Paris trip being to Disneyland a few times when I was younger. With Paris being practically next door, it seemed a crime that I had yet to explore its legendary streets and fantastic cuisine, so earlier in July I popped on the Eurostar at Ebbsfleet (which is conveniently located about 20 minutes away from my house) and was in the centre of France's capital city in just over 2 hours - not bad eh? With it only being a short trip, my time was fairly limited (50 hours to be exact) so I had a lot to fit in, and below is a little summary of what I got up to...
Day 1:
Day 1 we definitely hit the ground running - Our train left Ebbsfleet at 8.10am and after a relaxing 2 hour journey we touched down at Gare du Nord in the centre of Paris, and were in our Hotel on rue Scribe (right by the Opera house!) by midday. After a little freshening up we head out and headed to the nearest stop of the bus tour (god I love a bus tour - it's truly the best way to get around and see a new city!) Somehow we had inadvertently managed to arrive in Paris on Bastille Day which meant that loads of roads were closed due to the military parade down the Champs-Élysées, so the main bus route was extremely jumbled. Therefore, we popped on a bus taking the shorter Montmartre route to the north of the city centre and saw sights like the Moulin Rouge and a quick glimpse of the Sacré-Cœur.
After a quick pitstop consisting of an ice-cold beverage and a cheeky Croque Monsieur, we headed back to the bus stop to see if the main line was functioning properly again. We were told it was (more to come later...) and merrily hopped on. I was most excited for this line because it was my chance to see the most famous attractions in Paris - the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre and the Arc du Triomphe, amongst others. The bus tour is great for hopping on and off to check out sights, but the first time around I always like to stay on the bus for the entire tour just to get my bearings, and that's exactly what we decided to do, saving the proper sightseeing for the next day. First we entered the main courtyard of the Louvre and saw the famous pyramids, as well as a beautiful arch which lined up perfectly with the Arc du Triomphe at the other end of Champs-Élysées which was amazing! Then we went along the northern bank of the Seine and got to see Notre Dame which was stunning, as well as a huge array of 'love locks' covering metres and meters of bridges and railings along the river. Next we went past the Musée d'Orsay, got our first view of the Grand Palais, passed through the grand Place de la Concorde, and then turned onto Champs-Élysées which was still lined with thousands of chairs from the earlier parade. We got about half way down to the Arc du Triomphe before we were redirected by the police, and a few reroutes later the bus decided to head back to the Louvre which meant missing half of the tour stops including the Eiffel Tower, Hôtel les Invalides and Pont Alexandre III. It was a bit annoying, but we hopped off at the Louvre and made our way back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner and made plans to get back on the same route the next day when Paris was back to normal.
Day 2:
Day 2 started off with another early morning, as the one thing I was determined to do whilst in Paris, no matter how long the queue was, was to reach the top of the Eiffel Tower. As booking tickets online seemed to be virtually impossible, I made sure to do my research and we ended up arriving at the Eiffel Tower at 8.30am, 30 minutes before it opened in order to ensure that we weren't stuck in a line for hours. There were already a fair few people there who clearly had the same idea as we did, but once it opened to visitors at 9 am it only took us about 50 minutes to get to the front of the queue and into the elevator. I can easily say that the view from the top was well worth the wait and definitely the highlight of my trip - it was a gorgeous day and the view in all directions was stunning. You could see Sacré-Cœur perched on top of Montmartre, the École Militaire which was attended by Napoleon, and the magnificent Arc du Triomphe, as well as the winding streets down below. I'm not one for crowds and queuing and at the beginning of the trip I decided that I would queue for one major attraction, and I am so, so glad it was for the Eiffel Tower - the view was just stunning.
After about 30 minutes of snapping pictures from both the second floor and the summit, we made our way back down to terra firma - a relief after the creaking heard at the top! From there we crossed the bridge towards Trocadéro and continued on our way to finally see the Arc du Triomphe up close and personal after the mishap on the tour bus the day before. The sun was scorching and before long temperatures were reaching 35+ celsius and I was beginning to glow like a beetroot! I had never realised just how big the Arc du Triomphe was until it was right in front of us - the copies you see around the world are nothing compared to the splendour of the real thing which perches at the top of Champs-Élysées. After a quick spot of breakfast (pain au chocolate and orange juice anyone?) we popped back on the bus and continued the part of the bus tour that we had missed out on the day before. I love the bus because you really learn some interesting facts about the things you're seeing as you travel around the city - for example, did you know that Napoleon nearly joined the British Navy? Now that would have made for a very different story down the line... Anyway, as I mentioned above we got to see the Grand Palais, École Militaire, and the Pont Alexandre III, all of which are great works of architecture. I won't ramble on too much about them as I feel the pictures can tell you more than I ever could, but I've got to say that Paris is one beautiful city.
Our plan from then was to hop off the bus again at the Louvre to see famous works like the Mona Lisa for ourselves, but when we arrived and saw a line comparable to that at the Eiffel Tower under the scorching 36 degree sun, we decided to give it a miss this trip and head for a spot to eat instead. As I said, I was only really up for one long line and the Eiffel Tower had already fulfilled that, plus I'm sure I'll be making my way to Paris again on a count of how easy it is to get there so I didn't feel like I was missing my only chance to venture inside the world-famous Louvre. After another (and even more splendid) croque monsieur at a lovely cafe opposite the Hotel du Louvre, a stroll up Avenue de l’Opéra and a look around the famous Galeries Lafayette, we decided to go back to the hotel and freshen up before our last dinner in Paris. Dinner was lovely and very laid back, and I finally crossed off the final task of my Paris bucket list - to try a snail. I can't say that it was my favourite experience as there definitely wasn't enough garlic present to detract from the earthy taste of the escargot, but it's something I've always wanted to do, so I'm glad I did!
Fast-forward to the next morning and we were at Gare du Nord at 9am ready to board our train back to Ebbsfleet. My introductory trip to Paris was short but sweet - the only things I didn't get to do were visit the Louvre/Sacré-Cœur and hit the world-famous shopping scene, but that only gives me another excuse to return to the beautiful city of lights. I can't believe it's taken me this long to visit Paris, but I'm so glad that I finally got around to doing it!
Have any of you been to Paris before? What would you recommend for my next trip?
Isobel x
