3/10/2015 First Stop, Paris
After a hectic 23 days of travelling around Europe my friends and I have finally made it back safe and sound to our humble abodes in the UK. This was after having a little malfunction with Easy Jet on our return. However, let me start by telling you all about Paris, our first stop on the Interrail map.
We started our journey by taking the Eurostar from London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord. The train journey was short and once we entered France we were welcomed with your typical French countryside, wide open landscapes that seem never ending which I absolutely adore. It had me getting just a taste of what was to come with future train journeys on our trip and I couldn’t have been more excited!Â
On the way to our hostel we got lost in between the beautiful Parisian architecture, something that was bound to happen on this trip!
Once we checked in we set off to explore Paris.
We wandered around the city aimlessly, walking past an array of flower shops and cafes that had so much character. There was nothing better than smelling the fresh brew of coffee and just thinking how Parisian everything was. We reached the Arc de Triomphe where there were a relative number of tourists but being a Sunday the city seemed quieter.Â
We continued to walk down towards the Seine where we ended up under the Eiffel Tower, which only meant one thing… we had to go to the very top! Being scared of heights this was certainly out of my comfort zone, but all I could think about was how incredible the view must be from the top of one of the world’s tallest landmarks. Seeing Paris from a height of 324 metres is so impressive, you not only get to see all the gorgeous rooftops but also the way in which the streets intertwine.
The architecture is just so grand and really puts things in perspective when you see such sights from different heights and angles.
On our list of recommendations we had the Musée d'Orsay which unfortunately is closed on a Monday, something that we should’ve checked beforehand. This resulted in us doing a detour and paying a visit to the Louvre so that we could at least check one museum off our Paris to-do list.
Finding a café to shelter ourselves from the rain and enjoy one of the best hot chocolates I’ve ever had made the whole experience of being in Paris seem more real. Especially as café owners were playing Edith Piaf softly in the background. This was just after having been to the cutest little bookshop, that sells new as well as used books, called Shakespeare and Company.
Paris is certainly full of charming, hidden places that you’ll undoubtedly come across; everywhere you walk looks like something out of a French film by Godard or Truffaut. I adored Paris this time round and would go back in a heartbeat!
areudirty
janainaart
2087
jacobvanloon
snowghoul
turnnoffyourmind
