Thursday 3 January 2013

Paris: Day One

We caught the Eurostar bright and early Saturday morning and I was so surprised at how quick the tunnel was! We didn't even realise we were in France until they announced we were ten minutes away from arriving at Gare du Nord!

I had to take a photo of Ian Mckellen gracing the Eurostar magazine!

After making our way to the hotel in Montmartre and dropping off our cases, we headed straight out to make the most of the day and get crackalackin on our ever growing Paris to-do list! We first made a beeline to the Sacre Coeur, as it was a stones throw away from our hotel! It looks like a real life Disney princess castle, perched on top of the famous hill and surrounded by stairs.

(If you want to visit the Sacre-Coeur, take the metro to 'Anvers' and follow the sea of people walking up the side streets to the cathedral)

Jacket: Barbour  Jeans and Top: H&M  Bag: Ebay  Sunglasses: Ray Ban

I would definitely recommend staying in Montmartre to anyone! It's basically a melting pot of culture and has such a lovely laid back, cosmopolitan vibe.
The metro entrances looks like something from Tim Burtons imagination

For lunch, we hit Mcdonalds... As a huge Pulp fiction fan (and anything and everything by Tarantino) how could we come to France without ordering a Royal with Cheese? 

Next, I figured out the riddle that is the metro, (trust me, if you bear with it, you'll soon suss it out), we made our way to the Notre Dame Cathedral!
Boots: Daisy Street

As it was its 850th anniversary, there was an extra long queue, but luckily it looked a lot worse than it was - within twenty minutes we were in! And anyway, I kept myself amused by breaking out into my own renditions of 'Bells of Notre Dame' and 'Topsy Turvy'! There was no entry fee, but as there was a gift shop full of little beauties, it wasn't long until I delved into my purse! 

Lighting a candle 


The beautiful Rose Window

Afterwards, we stopped by a local cafe called 'Le Quasimodo Notre Dame' and had a hot chocolate and Nutella & banana crepe! We then caught the Metro to 'Trocadero', turned left and were greeted by The Eiffel Tower! Even though it looks just like it does in the books, I still got goosebumps!
It was such a sweet atmosphere, every so often it would sparkle and everyone would cheer and clap in unison!! We then grin and bared an hour and a half line to go up the Eiffel Tower. We ended up going all the way to the top and as we we're so high, it was unbelievably windy! (But it made for some funny photos, so it wall as good!)
My Dad's adamant on framing this photo!

If you've ever been to Paris, feel free to leave your pearls of wisdom on places to go, food to eat or gift ideas to bring back to blighty!