Midnight in Paris

Well hello there lovely people! Sorry I have been somewhat absent from the blogging scene but I was busy sauntering down the Champs-Élysées, chewing on Escargot and window shopping in Cartier in sunny Paris. So, rather obviously, I have decided to blog about my long weekend to one of Europe’s most beautiful cities with my friend, Sophie.

Friday, 3.45am- alarm goes off. I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON, so getting up at this time offends me. However, seeing as I was getting up to go to Paris, the ridiculously early morning was somewhat cushioned by little pangs of excitement churning in my stomach. About 15 minutes later, a quiet toot from the taxi driver outside signalled that it was time to leave cloudy London and venture to London St Pancras to start our weekend. We got to the station and check in as normal and once through security, I treated myself to a Café Nero breakfast baguette. The Eurostar journey went very quickly, with me asleep the majority of the way.

Before I knew it, we pulled into the Gare du Nord  station where we were greeted by scorching sunshine! The sun was out and the Ray-Bans were on…we had arrived! We hopped in a cab, checked into our hotel, got changed and then headed out to see the Cathédrale Notre Dame. We roamed around taking pictures and then we ventured into the Cathedral itself. Even though I am not really religious, the Notre-Dame Cathedral itself was a truly magnificent site!

Later that day, we made our way to the Eiffel Tower and its surrounding gardens where we came across a group of extremely talented dancers. We watched them for around an hour as they all took turns to show off their moves…think Step Up but with less attractive French people. In all seriousness, they were incredible and it was a definite highlight of the trip. That evening, we went to an Italian and had Calzones with some Gin on the rocks (not our choice…) and then headed to bed.

The next day we decided that it was time to have a little look at the other lovely touristy sites in Paris so we ventured to the Arc de Triomphe! If anyone has ever been there, you will know that once you get off the metro you will have no trouble finding the Arc itself. HOWEVER, it is quite confusing to actually get to it. We ended up walking around it for about 20 minutes and then realising that you had to go in an underground walkway to get to it. Entry was free for under 26’s which was a massive bonus so we made our way up one flight of stairs. Then two, then 5, then twn, then what felt like 100!!!!! We finally reached the top, legs like jelly, out of breathe and breaking into a slight sweat but still, we were at the top. Unfortunately, it was a little cloudy do the view from the top wasn’t fabulous but it was still rather lovely to get a view of the “golden triangle”.

We then sauntered down the Champs-Élysées and looked at the shop windows at all the things that we couldn’t afford. I made a cheeky pitstop in H&M and found a fair few bargains. I got some black and white humbug cropped trousers, some snake skin leggings and my personal fav- an incredible hot pink blazer (my best of buy of 2012 BY FAR)- win! We stopped off at a lovely little café for a late brunch and walked the glamorous people of Paris walk by.

It was dinner time, so what is more fitting than a traditional French meal….snails and all! Yes, I did, I tried escargot (snails for those who aren’t familiar). And it was bloody lovely- albeit a little chewy. We ate Rillettes, Steak and Mussels and washed it down with Champers and some questionably strong Long Island Ice Teas. We had a fabulous waiter and he taught us how to eat everything properly and even fed me snails at one point. He was also wearing an England Rugby shirt, what a lad!!! We ate so much that we had to wait over an hour before we could even attemp to walk home!! At around midnight, we then waddled back to the hotel to bed, too full to move.

The best day had arrived. It was DISNEY time. We arrived at 10.30am and went straight to the souvenir shop to deck ourselves out with Disney gear. We decided on the Minnie Mouse ears and much to the a lot of peoples dismay, walked around with them ALL DAY on our heads. We met Goofy, the Rat from Ratatouille, The Incredibles AND Tweedle Dee- still pretty star struck. The funniest part most definitely where I tricked Sophie into overcoming her childhood fear of rollercoasters. I insisted that the Rockin Roller Coaster (Aerosmith ride) had no loops or corkscrews and was simply a rock tour where you sit in little carts. Ohhhhh but it wasn’t- it is probably the BEST ride there with loops and corkscrews a-plenty! Pretty sure she nearly had a heart attack as it started but secretly, she LOVED it!

On our last day, we made our way to Montmarche and grabbed a Corona in the sun- what a great end to a great trip.

The only negative side of the trip is that we felt rather unsafe at times. There are large groups of men and they can be very forward and have no boundaries or clue on personal space. I would suggest if you are a girl, to not make eye-contact or respond to any of their jeers/comments- it just encourages them. If any of you have seen the film “A Midnight In Paris”, I am afraid to say it is quite the opposite at midnight. I didn’t bump into Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Dali or Picasso- bummer! Midnight in Paris should definitely not be spent outdoors walking around!!

But all in all- a wonderful city.

Bisous!

O x