La Belle Paris
To be perfectly honest, I'm not actually writing this in Paris, but I spent as much time as possible there taking advantage of the fact I was in Paris, and since my internet time has become/will be sketchy. So yeah, sorry, and deal.
So, my first day in Paris, I slept in until 11ish. I defend that on the basis of I'd been up since 4am the day before, and there's nothing wrong with killing the occasional morning with sleep. I then had breakfast/lunch at a charming cafe down the road, where I had wine with my pasta, as one does in France. I then caught up with Caryn, a friend of mine from high school and together we wandered through the catacombs of Paris, then the streets of the Marais district, constantly getting sidetracked by the fantastic sales in H&M, the awesome little thrift stores and this one amazing homewares store. We split to go our separate dinner-ways, and I ended up back at my hotel not long after.
The next day I woke up early, intending to get a god start on things, but the fact that the sun didn't rise until after 8 put me off that, and I stayed cosy and warm in the hotel room for an hour or two extra before picking up a sandwich at a nearby kosher bakery and wandering off the the Sacre Cour. And I mean literally wandering off; I started off with a direction, but then spotted the basilica looming up out of the surrounding buildings and decided to go with a more 'I think it's over there' approach, which worked well in the end. I ate my lunch on the steps overlooking the town and then under the shelter of the 'cable car' as it started raining, but it settled soon enough and I wandered back, running into my aunt who invited me for coffee, which was very nice, especially since they also allowed me to call home from their phone...I think they really did like me =). I took the metro out to a place near the Latin Quarter that afternoon and spent it wandering around, getting lost, drooling over the most amazing journals in a store, realising I was running out of time and wandering back by the not-really-patented method of turning at every street to head vaguely in the direction I wanted, but sustaining a wandering feel. Oh, but if you spot something interesting, you have to side-track. Again, dinner was followed by a bath and internetting at the hotel.
The next day was my last, but I still managed to fit in a walk down to La Opera and then to La Place de la Concorde (by accident, following the 'this street looks interesting' method) and the Tuilleries Garden. I metro-d back, packed and checked out, walked to Place de la Bastille and the Marais before heading back to grab my bags and train to London. This was Thursday, btw.
More to come on Ye Old England!
So, my first day in Paris, I slept in until 11ish. I defend that on the basis of I'd been up since 4am the day before, and there's nothing wrong with killing the occasional morning with sleep. I then had breakfast/lunch at a charming cafe down the road, where I had wine with my pasta, as one does in France. I then caught up with Caryn, a friend of mine from high school and together we wandered through the catacombs of Paris, then the streets of the Marais district, constantly getting sidetracked by the fantastic sales in H&M, the awesome little thrift stores and this one amazing homewares store. We split to go our separate dinner-ways, and I ended up back at my hotel not long after.
The next day I woke up early, intending to get a god start on things, but the fact that the sun didn't rise until after 8 put me off that, and I stayed cosy and warm in the hotel room for an hour or two extra before picking up a sandwich at a nearby kosher bakery and wandering off the the Sacre Cour. And I mean literally wandering off; I started off with a direction, but then spotted the basilica looming up out of the surrounding buildings and decided to go with a more 'I think it's over there' approach, which worked well in the end. I ate my lunch on the steps overlooking the town and then under the shelter of the 'cable car' as it started raining, but it settled soon enough and I wandered back, running into my aunt who invited me for coffee, which was very nice, especially since they also allowed me to call home from their phone...I think they really did like me =). I took the metro out to a place near the Latin Quarter that afternoon and spent it wandering around, getting lost, drooling over the most amazing journals in a store, realising I was running out of time and wandering back by the not-really-patented method of turning at every street to head vaguely in the direction I wanted, but sustaining a wandering feel. Oh, but if you spot something interesting, you have to side-track. Again, dinner was followed by a bath and internetting at the hotel.
The next day was my last, but I still managed to fit in a walk down to La Opera and then to La Place de la Concorde (by accident, following the 'this street looks interesting' method) and the Tuilleries Garden. I metro-d back, packed and checked out, walked to Place de la Bastille and the Marais before heading back to grab my bags and train to London. This was Thursday, btw.
More to come on Ye Old England!