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.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Now to do what I do best, drink 4 bottles of Chablis and flash my freckly bangers" - The Windsor's

Image
The Windsor's - a hilariously inappropriate television series. It is a comedic and exaggerated representation of the younger generations  (I don't think they dared include HM The Queen)  of the Royal Family and one that I would highly recommend.  I was first told to watch the series by my Dad who,  after observing a discussion  between my sister and I about our futures,  strongly felt that  we were Beatrice and Eugenie, no question. On the show, these two represent every aspect of the typical 'living off daddy' type. The Verruca Salt to the Royal Family and quite frankly Daddy, they unreservedly do want another pony. Played by Ellie White and Celeste Dring, the two have constant wild and fluffy plans for their lives, coming out with questionable knowledge (dumb statements) and discovering that a full time job consists of more than three days a week for two hours each day. Oblivious to reality and having never worked a day in their lives, they bring their mad mother
Read more

Music grounds you wherever you go.

Image
More than once have I been asked the question 'would you rather be deaf or blind,' and I always, always answer - blind. Obviously I've never had to genuinely consider this as I'm lucky to have the gift of all of my senses and never would wish the loss of them on anybody, but my main reason for answering this question in such a way is down to music and the importance that it has in my life. Not a day goes by when I don't listen to music. When I'm driving, while getting ready, while writing, on my walk to work, and many more. It features in my day to day life quite significantly and this is for all kinds of reasons. Music gets me going. Upbeat tracks give me energy and put me in a happy mindset to begin each new day with. Whatever I might be driving to, whether it's a friends house or an important meeting, I will step out of that car having sang my heart out on the country roads and I will be feeling good about everything. It motivates me to write more, wr
Read more

Successful Navigation and Ribblehead Viaduct

Image
  As I tend to remind my readers fairly often because it is something which frequently scares the s*** out of me, the end of my life as a student and as I've known it for the last three years is fast approaching and so I am trying my absolute best to make the most of the weeks that I have left. As well as studies, alcohol driven Karaoke/ being a general embarrassment nights and exploring the beautiful city of York, my university experience has so much more to offer due to living in the truly English county that is North Yorkshire. So, with that in mind, and with my trusty Fiesta parked outside each day, I've decided to explore a new part of this huge county each week and I will be keeping you up to date with these explorations during the course of my final semester. We shall begin with successful week one!   The first expedition we decided to take ourselves on was to Ribblehead Viaduct - or as I name it 'That Harry Potter Bridge' - with a few stop offs along the way.
Read more