177 PARIS

Day 44, 12-08

Our last train travelling day for a while! Arrived in Paris at 9.30am. We are staying in Bastille in a super awesome hotel complete with breakfast. Paris is massive and beautiful! We walked through Bastille – a laid back trendy area filled with lots of patisseries, bistros/dining, vintage and new shops. Tried out 2 patisseries Nush was particularly fond of from her last visit in extremely rusty French, (most amazing pain aux raisins, most amazing tarte au fraise) then took the metro to the most anticipated Champs Elysees. It is such a beautiful wide street lined with a sea of green trees, housing some of Paris’ finest, like the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe. We walked up to the Arc at the head of the street, but after a threat of rain we last minute changed our mind and left the climb to another day. We ended up at a very cool street Etienne Marcel to find All Saint’s for Nush. Wah, Paris shopping is a whole new level, it’s not the slightest bit cheap apart from vintage stores, but if you have money (which I don’t) there are some AMAZING finds. I have become obsessed with a local shop called The Kooples. Nush and Shal went home to rest for the late arvo while I went on to the Centre Pompidou (Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers), recognised by most from the giant escalator running up the exterior. I had forgotten how awesome it was (colour coded service pipes etc), and the fact that it was a contemporary and modern art gallery multiplied its awesomeness. Going up the escalator was quite strange, I kind of felt like Charlie and the Chocolate factory in a slow motion lift-breaking-through-chocolate-factory scenario as I was seemingly moving up above the city of Paris to a bird’s eye view. There was quite an interesting Indian-France exhibition on, and then there were the classics. I felt quite liberated after all of that! I actually walked all the way home after this – no easy feat in the hawt sun plus I didn’t think I was going to make it home in time, so it was this awkward fast pace which slowed down only to take photos until my camera ran out of battery and window peek at shops which I had no money or time to shop in. Nush and Shal were pretty chill when I got back, but I convinced them to get up to do the Eiffel Tower tonight. It is actually surprisingly beautiful up close. We arrived after 8pm but it was awesomely still day light, however it was pretty madness there and we must have started our ascent around 9.30pm. 700 steps later we had risen up 2 platforms to the highest we could walk, really high above ground level. The view was pretty stunning; everything looked so tiny down below. After a minor communication mare on the second level getting tickets to the very top, we finally joined another long queue for the lift. To get to the top is something everyone should experience and I wouldn’t have not done it, but to be honest it wasn’t completely worth the money and hour wait – it is just the same as the second level view but everything is smaller! We got back down at 11.30pm, rushed off to get 6.50 euro hot dogs (hadn’t eaten for 12 hours SO HUNGRY) and came back to sit down and watch the light show which runs from 10pm every hour for 15 mins. The whole tower sparkles! It is insane and awesome. Stopped for a disappointing crepe – savoury fillings does not work in a sweet crepe! And by the time we got home it was 1.30 and we were well exhausted. Epic first day to my favourite Paris. As a random insert which I don’t know where else to write, the Italian’s love their cats, and the French LOVE their dogs. They go everywhere (shopping malls, restaurants) and everyone from the upper class handbag dogs to beggars using their dogs as bait on the street has one.

Day 45, 13-08

Today was inevitably a sleep in day which meant a very slow start – didn’t leave the building till midday! We shopped around Bastille, had some lunch (disappointing highly anticipated quiche), walked through the food markets there then took the metro to Galleries Lafayette. Holy crap this place was insane. It was much more hype than any shop in New York, although I guess we didn’t really do much department store shopping there. Even more of a shock was the beautiful royal baroque interior. The place was run down with people but somehow all the shops managed to stay pretty and organised. Absolutely amazing shopping that will unfortunately break your bank. I found my dream pair of shoes, but the number of times I’ve said that on this trip made me sad and unwilling to spend the ridic amount they were. Went home for a wee break then walked through Bastille to get some take aways. I got an amaaazing penne pasta with tomato, basil, garlic and smoked duck from a great Italian restaurant. We ate and watched The Blindside (highly recommend).

Day 46, 14-08

Me and Shali did the Louvre this morning – Nush had already done it so did her own thing. It was a scarily massive building to tackle. We arrived just after opening time at 9, and after not being able to find a less popular more discreet entrance we waited outside the main pyramid. The queue was veery long already but moved really fast; we were in after about 20 mins max. We bee lined straight for the Mona Lisa after hearing about how crowded it gets, and it wasn’t bad at all. After that we pretty much ‘did the Louvre’, just like that. Tips for the Louvre – 1) go early at or before opening time 2) if you don’t go early find an entrance that isn’t the main pyramid one inside the square 3) drink water before you go (we had to pay 6 euro for a COKE) 4) there is a lot of art, and you need a lot of time 5) I didn’t get an audio guide, but I forgot that all the written descriptions are in French, so I was a bit peeved. It is probably worth the 6 euro that you would have bought the coke with. After the Louvre we were starved and thirsty, we made our way to the Champs Elysees Arc de Triomphe end and found our only desirable lunch at Quick burgers. Lame but so good. Nush decided to stay home so Shal and I did the Arc, and it was so fantastic. It was actually a better view than from the Eiffel tower – including a view OF the Eiffel tower, as well as being closer to the ground, and better locate – lots of tree lined big streets including the Champs Elysees radiate out from this exact point so quite a cool geometric lay out can be seen. Two big tourist attractions later we were quite exhaust and needed home! We stopped at Laduree on the way home, a world famous French patisserie which has been around since 1862. Got some macarons (chocolate, Venezuela chocolate, strawberry mint), a millefeuile praline, and a framboisier. Take away of course to share with Nush who has the biggest sweet tooth of us all! Much delish. For dinner we went to Les Grandes Marches, a great restaurant down the road which, apart from the crazy waiter and the crème brulee would have been a spot on meal. Where in the world is a proper chocolate fondant?!?!

Day 47, 15-08

Woke up reeeeally sleepy today. Probably the sleepiest I’ve been on the trip apart from 1pm sleep ins at the start of New York jet lag. Suddenly it all catches up to you! After a slowish start we took the metro to Notre Dame in the morning. There was a mass happening inside the cathedral. It was quite empowering inside, and really large – reminded me of some of the ones back in Spain. We then went to see Sainte Chapelle across the road, a small High Gothic chapel which Nush was recommended for its splendid stained glass windows. I was thinking something of size like the Spain Leon cathedral, but we got there and it was totally different – small and intimate, with fifteen tall and beautiful stained glass windows along the sides and front of the chapel. It used to be part of the royal residences from the 10th to the 14th century, housing the relics of Christ under King Louis IX. The rest of the morning was spent in the area of Montmartre, where the stunning Sacre Coeur sits on top of the hill. It is a very different view down than from central Paris (Arc/ Eiffel Tower) as Sacre Coeur is right at the top of Paris. It was pretty hot and stinky and there are lots of lame gypsy type men trying to ward off (cursed) bracelets on to you. They shout at you “Do this for the church! Do this for the church!” and try and tie them around your wrists… The surrounding area was pretty cool, full of souvenir shops and other design type stores. I finally tried a croquet monsieur for lunch – a traditional French ham and cheese toasted sandwich, but the inside is ham with béchamel sauce and the cheese is crispified on top. Pretty good. We walked to the site of Moulin Rouge which was a bit of a let down as we couldn’t figure out how or where to get to… Nush and Shal then left me and I went to go try find the famous Saint Ouen Les Puces (puces = “fleas”) market, the biggest flea market in the world. It was probably a 20 minute walk upwards from Sacre Coeur, but perhaps not the best idea to do by myself as it seemed to get dodgier the higher up I went, and Sacre Coeur was already not the safest place… By the time I got there, it was very much in the African area (please take no offence) and to tell the truth I was a bit scared – there were intimidating in your face hawkers everywhere, and I couldn't stay for long at all. Went to fabric markets back by Sacre Coeur which was also pretty lame, so I took the metro to Rue de Rivoli and walked home by the shops, stopping to get nom pastries. Had take away Asian for dinner after going to check out a rave reviewed French place which didn’t do take aways unless I brought back the plate. We didn’t have that good communication between the two of us; the waiter was like, “Are you sure you can’t come back with the plate? Because you know, the food is actually very good here”. It was quite hilarious and cute.

Day 48, 16-08

Effectively our last day in Paris, very sad face. Had a semi late-ish start, I went in search of a certain bag for Mum, which was a complete fail. The staff at Longchamp were so ponsy after my wait in queue to get in. Walked along the Seine River a bit from Louvre-Rivoli metro stop to get some last minute pressies, then ended up back in Bastille at our favourite patisseries – one for tarte au fraise, one for pain au raisin. This seemed to take the better half of the day, the afternoon was very quiet and lazy, and we left the hotel again just after 5pm. We took the metro to the Latin Quarter to see Phoebs! The Latin Quarter was a lot quieter and more fancy than Bastille, although today nothing much seems to be open for some reason. I had looked up a few potential dinner options but they were all closed! Anyway, met up with Val and Phoebs at their cute French apartment and after a lovely wine and cheese looking out their little French window we went around the corner and found a dinner spot. Tonight I tried Steak Tartare for the first time! It was actually delicious – if you take all the thoughts of eating raw meat out of your head. There was a citron gherkin type flavour which combines the texture into this amazing consistency and taste. It was great seeing Phoebs and Val – lots to catch up on from all our exciting travels!

Day 49, 17-08

Nush and Shali are not feeling top notch… such bad timing! They are not too sick but a little poorly. So we had a minor sleep in, which lagged the rest of the day out that much more. We had planned to go to Versailles this morning for half the day, then have a relaxed last afternoon in Paris. It ended up being almost 11 before we left, umming and ahhing about whether it was worth it and if we could really be that stuffed going! We arrived at Versailles just after 12, and decided the best thing was to get a guided tour around the Palace – short and sweet and saves us having to think too much! The Palace of Versailles is most well-known for housing King Louis 14th to 16th and of course Marie Antoinette. It had phenomenal grounds – the Chateau’s in Tours were a fraction the size! The lady at the tickets office said the gardens itself took 2 days to walk… We managed to shorten it down to 40 minutes! Our tour was just over an hour and took us through the most famous of the Palace’s rooms – The King and Queen’s bedrooms, the Queen’s apartments, all the rooms dedicated to various gods which had dining, ballroom, entertainment purposes, and of course the most exciting Hall of Mirrors! This was quite stunning. The whole decorative scene took me back to St. Cuth’s ball days where a lot of this was our theme inspiration. Tired and hot and a little grumpy, we left soon after and got back to Bastille just after 5. Our dinners have been a little… non French the past couple of days and tonight, our last night here was unfortunately no exception! I really wanted pasta, but dinner times here are so much later and since we had to go out to the airport hotel we needed to eat at like 6pm. And our favourite pasta place was not open yet! So I had Chinese again… guilty, but good. After thinking we would metro out to the airport the whole time, we packed our bags, felt how heavy they were and all agreed we would pay big money for a taxi to get us there instead haha. Got to the hotel at the airport before 9pm to meet Phoebs again; our wolfpack is now FOUR.