The Final Paris Adventure

Minus the other two, Yasmin and I headed off early to Montmartre to see the Sacre Coeur, bags packed and left in the trusty hands of our check-in receptionists (Yasmin had been the previous day - God knows what I was doing - but we wanted to buy everyone French novelty gifts!).

With the sky a tremendous blue and the sun shining down on us for the first time in our four days, we soaked it all up not wanting to waste a second of the beautiful March day. We headed around all of the typical touristy shops and stalls, finding a little cobbled square full of boutique cafes and antiques, spending our Euros as we went on plenty of souvenirs, chocolates and pastel coloured macaroons!

We came across the most beautiful chocolatier - stunning architectural French buildings were carved into slabs of chocolate and put on display behind glass cases, taking our breath away.

Before we wound our way back to the hotel to pick up our luggage for our return journey home, we perched ourselves on a rustic bench beneath the shadows of an overhanging tree up on the hillside, the Sacre Coeur above us, surveying the hustle and bustle of Paris in all of her beauty below us.

What a perfect way to end our trip and a great gift to myself for my twenty first birthday for the following day!

Although I was disappointed in myself for not being able to explore as freely as I would have liked or in being comfortable abroad in myself, I really did enjoy my time there and it was definitely a stepping stone to get my confidence up with travelling and facing my many fears (I mean since this time last year I have been to Dubai for two weeks with a combined time of 14 hours on a plane as well as doing many days/weekends out of my comfort zone, including a recent weekend to Oxford for my 22nd birthday! Although I'm happy to report that that wasn't so out of my comfort zone and I am slowly conquering my fears once and for all. Can't wait to bring you the posts on my time in Oxford!❤)

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Walking Through Paris

On our third and final full day we met up with my other couple of friends that had joined us the evening before and tried another cafe, talking through our plans for the day ahead of us. I vaguely remember deciding on going to some sort of chocolate museum, walking all of the way there and not even going in (think it looked small and rubbish) and then settling for another cafe making more decisions for our day.

We then did a lot more walking all the way to the Pont des Arts, otherwise known as the lock bridge, and took the obligatory photos.

Think this was the closest I got to the Eiffel Tower

We then wandered over to the Louvre and joined the massive queue, but then thought better of it and meandered off down towards Champs-Élysées instead, taking more pictures as we went.

Apologies for the world's crappest photo of the Arc de Triomphe 

We stopped for food again and then me and Yasmin decided to head back, tired from all of our walking. The others headed on as they wouldn't have any time in the morning before their train.

Shameless Paris selfie

My new favourite mug

Later in the evening we all ordered pizza, played numerous games (including my beloved Uno) and the others drank some cheap wine which was such a nice way to finish off a long day and our few days together!

The others were leaving early the next morning so we bid our farewells and with a few hours to kill the next morning, we packed in preparation and settled in for our final sleep in the hotel

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Exploring Paris

Although the hotel wasn't perfect, we did wake up to a pretty beautiful view - the balcony, the entwining railing, the curtain blowing in the morning breeze. Perfect.

We got ready and made our first trip on the metro (which is so much more confusing than the tube!), heading straight for the Notre Dame.

We arrived to a snake-like queue and after stopping to take a dozen photos, eagerly joined it in order to get a peek inside. However, I got a bit panicky (eugh, only I could get panicky and wimp out of exploring to my little heart's content) and decided I'd take a walk around the Notre Dame as Yasmin went inside. I got to oggling the crepe and waffle stalls as well as all the cheesy souvenir shops. I stopped off to buy myself the traditional tourist-y t-shirt and a couple of presents for people back home!

When I met up with Yasmin again, not long after, we headed next to the Pantheon, through winding cobbled streets and an abundance of beautiful old shops, convinced we could see our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

The Pantheon itself is stunning inside and out, filled with long passageways, mosaic high-ceilings and long floors with a handful of pillars and statues to keep you entertained. We even went down to the chilling tombs where our voices echoed and our footsteps slapped loudly against the stone floor.

After our morning adventure we went back to the hotel to have a rest - meeting up with a couple more friends later in the afternoon. Once they had settled in we went to a little cafe and ordered tea like the civilised Brits that we are and had a good old natter.

Later on, the others went to the Eiffel Tower - I chickened out again, saying I was too tired. I honestly can't remember what I did instead, but I wish I had had the courage to go and see the Eiffel Tower! They even stopped off for dinner and had snails!

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