12 exits, no lanes - welcome to Paris!

After an absolute trek to London South End airport of all places (I'd mistaken it for South world and thought I was doing Mum a favour), we arrived in Paris and were driven to our "hotel". I say this with great hesitation as a hotel it most certainly was not. Rather a dingy 4-walled space, surrounded by strip clubs and peep shows, tucked away through a seedy entrance and up the most enclosed staircases which weren't good for my claustrophobia at all. So, as you can imagine, we promptly escaped to explore.

We started as we intended to continue by having a glass of champers 207 metres above Paris with the view of just about everything. The Eiffel Tower standing magnificently on one side, Notre Dame on the other and so much in between, our time spent at Montparnasse was definitely the best way to begin our adventure.

The return to our room wasn't so pleasant however. We'd walked an hour from the glimmering Tower in all its glory where we'd planned to sit and enjoy a nice bottle of white, but when it came to it we realised that we'd bought a cork top and didn't have an opener so we were, quite obviously, pissed off. Then, we were greeted on our turning of the key into our room by two very drunk German guys telling us how beautiful we were and that we needed to party. Now, at any other time I'd have been more than game but at that moment, miffed about my wine and exhausted with aching feet from the hideously long walk home, I was not. After about thirty minutes of their madness, they got the hint and left us to our miserable British ways.

We knew the next day was going to be full pelt because we wanted to make the most of our only full day in Paris so we were very glad when we woke up without a hangover having declined the party offer and headed out early to explore. A boat trip, lunch by the river and an explore of some beautiful gardens later, we were ready to sit down and enjoy two bottles of Chardonnay on the Seine. Bliss.

The day's itinerary didn't end there though and we headed to Arc de Triomphe to catch our bus for a night tour of Paris. The sights were beautiful from Moulin Rouge to the amazing Louvre and plenty of other architecture along the way, finally ending with the stunning Eiffel Tower lit up in the colours of the French flag. Though these sights were extremely enjoyable to witness, the driving and road situation in Paris caused me much stress. Despite the fact that I wasn't involved and could happily relax, the city roads were cray. No lanes, constant beeping and road rage, shameless tourists taking pictures within the traffic (and I mean literally in the middle of the road) and the most hilarious incident that we saw.

Three cars. The one in front full of drunk men dancing enthusiastically singing "I'm so excited, I just can't hide it", the one behind them loving life and joining in and the one behind him getting deeply infuriated to the point that he actually got out of the car and attempted to lift and throw it but realised he wasn't strong enough! I mean, he tried to lift a car full of grown men, you've got to laugh.

So, there we have it. We saw Paris by day, we saw Paris by night and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

Things I learnt in Paris:
Hotel does not mean Hotel
A 45 minute walk to your destination is a short distance
Tourists have an obsession with selfie sticks as opposed to taking in their surroundings
Wine/alcohol is not served in measures, they just pour
The city never sleeps but mornings are the best and most peaceful time
Never even consider driving, period.