At the beginning of February I was treat to a few days in Paris, by my friend, as a late Christmas/early Birthday present. Although I have been to France before, I have only been to 'Disneyland Paris' when I was younger - I have never actually seen the typical tourist attractions.
After getting checked into the hotel very late at night on the first day and being initially very disappointed with our room (both of us, i'm not just ungrateful, I promise!), we hoped our trip could only get better. We really wanted to make the most of our few days out there and see as many different places as we could. So, on our first full day in France we decided to do the most typically tourist thing first - see the Eiffel Tower!
We had initially planned to take the lift up to the top of the tower but after seeing the queues we decided the stairs were a much better option (I later regretted this as my legs hurt so much! Who knew there would be so many stairs?!). As we got to the half way mark we were taken aback by the amazing views. It was such a lovely day as well which made it all even more incredible.
On our second day in Paris we decided to take a trip to the Love Lock Bridge and see what other sights were in that area. The streets were filled with cute little cafes and small market style shops full of souvenirs and quirky ornaments. We also noticed how many themed cafes and restaurants there were - Irish, Canadian, the lot! After a short walk from the metro we found the bridge (well two actually). The bridge(s) were full off couples adding padlocks and people taking pictures so after taking some pictures ourselves went to see what else we could find.
Just a small while down the road we found the Notre Dame Cathedral which was (again) swarmed by groups of people on school trips and mini holidays. Inside, the cathedral was full of candles to light in memory of loved ones and tall stained glass windows. Most of the rows of seating where filled with people taking in the calm atmosphere. It was amazing how such a large are could be so full yet so quiet and peaceful.
As the day went on we continued to see what else was in the area. We walked back on ourselves, back past the Love Lock Bridge and the metro and soon came across the Louvre. Unfortunately, the Louvre was closed (and typically it was the only day of the week it does close) so we just had a look around the grounds and took in the scenery.
On our final full day, with lack of inspiration, we decided to go to a Pixar Exhibition at the Art Ludique. As I have previously been an Art and Media student I thoroughly enjoyed it in the museum. It was full of clay models and various drawings from the beginning of a pixar production right until the end.
The use of cameras was prohibited inside the museum so instead I just took a picture of the river the museum sat on. This area of Paris strangely reminded me of London.
All in all, I really enjoyed the sights I saw in Paris and it's something else to tick off my bucket list!
Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored. All opinions are my own. All aspects of the trip were paid for by myself/friend in full.
