Today was our final day in Paris, I was so not ready for leaving. We checked out of our room at 12 then got the metro down towards the Catacombes. The queues for Les Catacombes was the longest ones we faced, waiting around an hour and a half waiting to get in. It cost 10 euros to get in, and to get through the Catacombes completely takes around 45 minutes, so you definitely get value for money. I was going to include photos from my time in the catacombes but decided against it as I'm sure people probably don't want to see the bones of 6 million people on my blog. I found it really fascinating though and in places the bones were arranged in patterns; hearts, crosses ect. It was quite surreal to think that because they ran out of space to bury people above the ground that they ended up making an underground graveyard. Connor wasn't as big a fan of it as I was - he found it interesting but really weird and morbid. The final place we visited on our Paris adventure was Montparnasse Tower. We only visited here because I managed to get our tickets through Tesco Clubcard points, so we didn't actually pay any real money for the tickets.
The views from up the tower were unreal, you could really see how green Paris was. We just sat here for awhile looking at the view and chilling in the sun before getting the metro to go in search of some souvenirs. Near the metro stop for the Eiffel Tower we found a fairly good shop that we got a few things from, Connor even got a little canvas style print for his mum from here.
Before going back to the hotel we went into a supermarket for some juice and snacks. We got the Paris Shuttle back to the airport at 6pm, we were there a little early but only by about half an hour or there abouts. I picked up a few things in the airport, some more Macarons from Laduree - couldn't say no to them could I? I also got a bottle of Angelina's hot chocolate from duty free - I'm hoping it tastes even half as good as the hot chocolate from the store.
I hope to go back to Paris soon as I miss it so much already, hopefully we go back sometime within the next year - I hear Star Wars season is coming to Disneyland Paris soon....
This day was the day we walked the most. Our own fault, we easily could have taken the metro but since it was a nice day and we are cray we walked it. Tiring, sore and sweaty bodies were the result of us walking everywhere this day. We did get the metro at the start of the day but it still involved a 10 minute walk to Sainte Chapelle. We missed out on seeing Sainte Chapelle the day before when we went to Norte Dame, but it was nice to come earlier in the day feeling fresh and not feeling rushed.
Sainte Chapelle was beautiful inside, the newly renovated sainted glass windows were stunning and the way they light up the room was something else entirely. Pictures don't even do it justice. We then went next door and wandered around Conciergerie, both these places were free for Connor and I because of us being from a EU member country and being under 24 years old. Its basically a french castle turned prison, and my oh my it was grand inside. Both places were definitely worth a visit, and both beautiful in their own right. Next up on the agenda was a rather long hot walk to Sacré-Cœur, we walked for well over an hour more or less entirely up hill in the blistering heat. The plus side to this was getting to explore the area of Montmartre, which out of all the areas we went through to me seemed to be most authentic, and I'd definitely come stay in that area when we come back. There was just so many patisseries, boulangeries, butchers and cheese stores in the area - much more than I had noticed in other areas - especially in the area we stayed in. We passed by a cute little Patisserie on the way up, after a quick google search I found out it was called Maison Dupuy on Rue Cadet. They had so many pretty desserts, I opted for a lovely raspberry macaron and Connor got a strawberry tart, each cake cost around 3 Euros which I was more than happy to pay.
It was definitely well worth the money as the macaron was delicious. Definitely the best thing I've ever tasted. Connor loved his tart too but I think mine was by far better.
Sacré-Cœur was amazing to get up to, only ruined a little by the scam artists that were out in their masses - one man even grabbed Connors wrist to try attach a bit of string to him. After walking through the basilica we decided to pay to go up the Dome, I think it cost around 6 euros each. The views from up the top were amazing and well worth paying extra to go up. Everywhere in Paris that you can go up offers different perspectives making each thing worth going up.
After the Sacré-Cœur we took a walk down the Champs Elysees. With my new found love of macarons I was in search of the Laduree store. I bought a coffrete of 6 and an individual larger one. They were amazing and worth every penny spent. They went a bit off before we got back to the apartment but it was only the way they looked, they tasted just as good even if they looked a wee bit off. We then sat at the end of the street looking at the Arc De Triomphe and took some photos before heading off to go up it.
Watching the sun go down from on top of the Arc De Triomphe was so lovely, seeing the city go dark and the Eiffel Tower light up was brilliant. It was a great end to the day, and I'd highly recommend doing this too!
Ending the day with this was definitely the perfect way to end it, I can't think of a better way to have spent the night than this. One last instalment of Paris posts before they conclude.
After some what of a long lie, we started our day with the metro heading towards the Pantheon.
The Pantheon was an interesting bit of history, we opted to get an audio guide so we could learn a bit more, many a famous person had been buried here; Victor Hugo, Marie Currie and her husband. Next we walked towards Notre Dame, we got some pastries on our way and had a little stop off in the Luxembourg Gardens.
The Luxembourg gardens were so pretty, like if Glasgow parks were taken care of just that little bit more they could be just as pretty, but alas. After a little rest we continued on our way to Notre Dame.
Notre Dame was beautiful both inside and out. It was very grand and regal, and I don't think we waited much more than 15 minutes to get into the cathedral itself. The windows inside as well were crazy beautiful. The purples and blues were stunning.
We also decided to go up the towers - of which were also free for us (18-24 yrs and a EU member country perks). My lord the stairs! If you have difficulty getting up or down stairs or struggle to walk after long periods of time then I'd highly advise you against this. I struggled so much to get up the stairs, it was hot and my whole body hurt. The views at the top were well worth it though. The architecture all the way up was really cool too and seeing the gargoyles up close was really cool!
After going up the towers we sat in the square outside Norte Dame for a bit, rest our poor wee legs a bit... After our wee rest we looked up how to get to the Louvre from where we were and off we went. We stopped at some of the market stall type things that lined the river Seine. Connor liked the look of all the prints they had, so we bought a few: one for me; one for Connors mum; and one for my gran. Hopefully I'll get mine framed so it looks good on the wall. I also got my gran a little decorative plate from one of the stalls, when I gave her it the other day she was so happy with it, adding it to her little collection on the mantle place. We sat outside the pyramids for a little while, chilling out and taking in the views before we went inside - there was legit no queue to get in which was great! Connor tried taking one of the classic holding the pyramid pictures, it didn't go 100% as planned but it doesn't look horrendous.
It was such a warm day that people were literally walking in the fountains and others were just dipping their feet in. Connor was close to putting his toes in but decided against it when he decided he couldn't dry his feet off.
The inside of the Louvre was spectacular. Napoleon's apartments were so grand, I love places like this. Old fashioned styled houses, English castles and houses I could genuinely spend hours walking around and here was no different.
While wandering around the Louvre, I legit grabbed Connor and squealed with excitement when I saw there was an Angelina's. We stopped here for a little while and had the best hot chocolate I've ever tried! It was amazingly thick and so so sogood. I drool when I think about it, no joke. It wasn't cheap but it was completely worth it! We then went in search of the Mona Lisa, the famous painting that everyone knows about.
We honestly came across the Mona Lisa by complete accident, you'd have never known the painting was there because there was not a huge crowd around it like we both thought there would be. Mona Lisa isn't a huge painting, but the wall she is on is huuuuge, maybe that makes the painting itself look smaller? Both Connor and I thought it was nothing special and that there were much more visually stunning paintings on display in the Louvre.
Our day ended here, and we just headed home after this. We did go into a nearby supermarket to get something for dinner before getting the metro but nothing exciting. The next Paris post will be the second last of my Paris Diaries!
I've not had a blog post up for about a week now and I'm sorry for that, but all my energy was being put into my trip to Paris! I'd been planning this for months and had been wanting to visit the city for years, I kid you not - it literally has been years! I'm so glad Connor - my vvvvv lovely boyfriend - said he would come with me. Paris wasn't somewhere he thought he wanted to visit, but I think after visiting he was glad he went. We both had so much fun exploring the beautiful city, and I definitely want to visit again soon. We arrived into CDG airport around half past one in the afternoon and after getting the Paris Shuttle - I'd highly recommend, it was quick and incredibly good value - to our hotel we unpacked and went out exploring! Connor really wanted to visit Napoleons Tomb - so our first stop of the day was to DÔME DES INVALIDES, TOMB OF NAPOLEON I. Our hotel was nearby so we just walked it, the walk wasn't a long one - taking maybe only around 15 minutes, it was incredibly hot though which made the short walk feel so much longer.
After wandering around the gardens we got our tickets to go into the Dome itself, because Connor and I are both under 24 and members of a EU country we got in for free. This happened a lot while we were away. And those that weren't free they were offered at a lower rate. The DÔME DES INVALIDES was stunning, inside and out! Next on the list was to wander over to the Eiffel Tower, we were going to leave going up if the queue was long. Luck was on our side though and we waited no more than 20 minutes to get a ticket and make our way up the tower.
The Eiffel Tower was amazing - its spectacular to look at (even more so at night time!) and to go up it was amazing as well! We visited all three floors of the tower, the views from all levels were amazing. The first floor had sections of glass floor and oh man it was freaky! The photo Connor took of me standing on the glass shows how awkward and uneasy I look, it made me feel a bit uneasy looking down and seeing what was below me.
After we went up the Tower we then went to get something to eat - there was a pizza place near by so we got a take away pizza and sat watching the tower light up. It was a great start to our first day in Paris!
So that was our first day in Paris! Day two - which was Disneyland Paris will be the next!
