Paris

Day one in Paris was by far the best day. ever.

First of all we are in Paris, I probably don't need to go on  - But I will.
We arrived on the train from London late Saturday night, our hotel was only a short walk away and it is perfect! Very cute room on the top floor of an old building in Montmartre.

We went for a late dinner (which is totally normal in Paris) to an Italian restaurant with a menu only written in French - It doesn't have to make sense. There was a fair bit of guess work involved but in the end it was delicious.

On Sunday, our first full day I went for a run along the streets of Paris and it was amazing, hardly anyone was about, I felt like I had the city all to myself.
All my life I've wanted to be here and here I am.

After crossiants for breakfast  I checked the map and Sam and I headed on foot to the see the Louvre. After about half an hour of walking Sam checked the map and realised I'd directed us in the opposite direction to where we were meant to be going. Sam took charge of the map (possiby for the best).

We arrived at the Louvre and I was that excited, until I saw the line.

The Louvre, and the line..

We didn't go in, plan is to go tomorrow morning before it opens to see the best bits (Mona) and then get moving before the crazy crowds begin (lets just see how that pans out!)
Then we wandered on to the Arc de Triumph, munching on crossiants and sipping coffee that I had ordered in French - they totally thought I was a local! (no, they didn't)

Bouyed by my successful beverage order I even asked a frenchman (in French) where the toilet was and got a response, after that I'm pretty sure that I am French - oui!

Poor Sam had no idea that we had to walk down the Champs de Elysees to get to the Arc, he didn't complain.. but after walking around two shops I started to get the feeling that it was enough when he said "Oh No! the boyfriend chair is taken!"
On to the Arc, we didn't climb it, I negotiated with Sam that if he climbed the Eiffel Tower with me we could view the Arc from below.
At this point my feet felt like they were going to fall off, and I'm sure Sam felt the same - because he was wearing thongs.. No comment

So  we stopped in at Laudree for some macarons, it was the sugar hit we needed. We added the left over macarons to our bag of picnic goodies and headed to the lawns beneath the Eiffel Tower.

Baguttes, macarons and red wine beneath the tower was probably the best way to spend the afternoon.

And then we climbed the Eiffel Tower, we went to the second viewing area - not the top. But it didn't matter, the second I started climbing the stairs I had the biggest grin, and it didn't go away.

From red wine beneath the tower to a celebratory white on top the afternoon  was unbeatable.

Given that we had walked about twenty kilometers that day already we decided to get a taxi back to the hotel and get this, the driver only spoke French and we still managed to get to the right place.. That'd be my excellent linguistic skills coming into play again.

With tender feet we wandered around Montmartre to find another cute little Italian place called Michelangelo's the food and the wine was fantastic. A picture of the Mona Lisa hung on the wall, so maybe don't have to go back to the Louvre..

The owner was so sweet, he gave us a free shot of something before we left.. Not sure why maybe because we were the only tourists there.

The next morning we headed to see the Sacre Couer Basillica, luckily we we were all over the tricks they play to get you to pay them money. The string trick - where they go to shake your hand and then tie string around your wrist/finger and don't let you go until you pay - was attempted on us about ten times, they really should communicate better.

The view from the dome of the Sacre Coeur was amazing, even after climbing the Eiffel Tower the day before. We had to climb teeny tiny stairways that went on for ever (did I mention I'm slightly claustrophobic?)

We also visited the church and the crypt, I'm not religious but it was pretty astounding. All the sculptures and alters and even the grandness of the ceiling.. There was writing on some of the sculptures, and the stone that made up the building, can you do that? I'm pretty sure if you are the guy that writes I was here on a statue of Jesus in a Basillica bad things will happen to you.

Then the camera ran out of battery... (yeah, that's not going to happen again)

After returning to the hotel to charge the camera and discuss who's responsibility camera charging is we headed to Galleries Lafayette. I wanted to have an outfit that I could refer to as 'oh this old thing, I got it in Paris..' you know, like a wanker.

Sam didn't know what he was getting himself in for - neither did I. Everyone there was insane, it's like they had never been shopping before.

After we'd navigated through six floors of insane pushy women we reached the top which had a fantastic view of the city. And I had another photo with the Eiffel Tower behind me (there will never be too many photos of me with the Eiffel Tower, maybe for you - but not for me.)

The shopping experience had scarred us both, so we sat and had lunch and drank red wine and champagne before heading back to the louvre.

The line was so much smaller and we saw Mona! I'm quite sure that the insane crowd clamouring to take photos of her had come straight from Galleries Lafayette.

It was our last afternoon in Paris and our feet were achy from walking the halls of the louvre, so there was only one thing to do. Sit in the street and eat Nutella crepes.

And on the way home I got my Parisian outfit..

Staying in Montmarte meant that we hadn't seen the Eiffel Tower light up at night so dinner on our last night was right out the front, with a prefect view. The food was delicious (it would want to be, it cost us a whole days budget) and we saw the tower light up and got more photos with it (I told you, there will never be too many)

Im sad to be leaving Paris, it was exactly what I had hoped it would be, but there is so much more to see, I'll be back Paris..
Au Revoir