The day stated with a 6am wake up call and left over crêpes for breakfast. We then all jumped in the car and began our 4hr car journey to Paris. Even though by the time we left Le Verger behind it was around 7:30am it was pitch black outside. We got to watch the sunrise and see the sky turn from black to dark blue to pinky orange and finally to a beautiful clear blue. I noticed that there were lots of white patches on the ground and on the houses. It turned out to be snow! I do not have a picture that captured it but I think you can imagine how excited I was!!! (NOTE: Some of the photos on this blog post have captions. Some will appear underneath the photo and others you will need to hover you mouse/or tap your finger on to see.)
We were staying on the very outskirts of Paris in an Ibis Budget hotel. It was in a great location, right next to a tramline which lead straight to the Paris Metro. When we were heading towards the hotel Sebastien pointed out something on the horizon which very much looked like the Eiffel Tower. At first we got very excited but then we realised that we wouldn't be able to see it from here and that he must be tricking us. We refused point blank to believe him. Unfortunately he was correct and it did turn out to be the Eiffel Tower. Whoops! Our two hotel rooms were very comfortable and cosy. Lisa and I slept together in room 229 and Chloé, Celiné and Sebastien slept together in the room next door, number 230. Before starting our day in Paris we had a quick lunch in the hotel room which was very funny. They spread an unused sheet over the bed and we all huddled around it to stop the room from being covered in crumbs. I volunteered to shake the sheet out and only realised halfway through that there was a window below, the whole time I had been whacking the sheet against it. We all thought it was quite hilarious! Also for the hotel rooms we had one of those cool swipe cards instead of a key. I don't think I've used them since staying at the AIS in 2009. I can tell you that they were just as exciting to me at 16 as they were when I was 11!
We headed off to the tram station were we bought two days worth of tickets that covered trams and Paris metro. We look the tram all the way to it's last stop before getting out and heading down into the Paris metro for the second time in my life. It is so much easier and less stressful to take the metro when not carrying a massive suitcase and a hand luggage suitcase! The first time I ever caught the metro my luggage kept getting stuck in the ticket barriers and poor random french people had to keep stopping to help me carry them up or down the numerous flights of stairs. The thing I love most about the Paris metro is the life it holds. It is not for one minute silent and is full with every different kind of person moving hither and dither. It is a constant stream of babbling colour and I could not get enough of it!
Our first stop was the Eiffel Tower which I was dying to see! The Eiffel Tower was everything it was made out to be! It was such a striking piece of architecture standing tall against the clear blue sky. As I got closer to the tower I noticed a very familiar flag flying on a building directly ahead. That's right, the Australian flag was flapping in the wind just in-front of the Eiffel Tower. I have no idea why it was there, we pretended it was because they knew I was coming, but it is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. It was also something I was not expecting to see in Paris! Alongside the Eiffel Tower was a little christmas market selling an assortment of different things. From bed socks to hazelnut and raspberry nougat to freshly roasted chestnuts. P.s. The clear blue sunny sky is deceiving you! It was -2 degrees the whole day and I lost feeling in both my hands and feet!
After visiting the Eiffel Tower we walked across the Seine and through a gorgeous little park on the other side. After a little stroll across the sunlit lawns, we made our way through the cobblestone streets of Paris towards the Arc de Triomphe.
The Arc de Triomphe was incredible! The two things that struck me the most were, firstly the amount of traffic there was and secondly, how intricately carved it was. I couldn't take my eyes off it and will definitely next time go and take a closer look.
We had a quick snack before heading off once again. This time we walked in the direction of the metro where we took a train to the Tour Montparnasse. The Tour Montparnasse is a 56 story sky scraper with a 360 view of Paris from the top floor.
The lift took less then a minute to go up 56 floors! It was a pretty scary feeling! There were two different levels when we got out of the lift. The first one was inclosed with walls of glass, a souvenir shop and restaurant. The level above that was an open platform from which you got the most spectacular view of Paris. We arrived at the perfect time. The sun was just setting and the city had turned all its lights on. It was absolutely stunning! These photos do not do the view any justice.
We found a little restaurant just near the Tour Montparnasse called Flamby's. For dinner I ordered 'Le Français' which was camembert, walnuts, spring onions and bacon on what slightly resembled a pizza base. They however mixed up my order and gave me 'The Classic' which was crème fraîche, potato slices and bacon. We managed to rectify the mistake and I got the pleasure of eating half of each! I preferred 'Le Français' but they were both incredibly delicious! For dessert the girls shared a chocolate and banana pizza. I however finished off the meal with 3 scoops of sorbet, one strawberry and two lime. It was the best sorbet I have ever tasted! Throughout the meal Lisa had been working on a drawing for a competition the restaurant was holding. I have attached a picture below. I thought it was pretty impressive!
Once we had finished dinner we found our way to the metro and caught a train to the suburb we were staying in. When we got off the train we looked around for the tram station which would take us to our hotel. It turned out however that the tram station we were looking for wasn't where we thought it was. Actually, it wan't anywhere near where we were! Luckily we stopped an nice young woman who kindly showed us the way to our Hotel, which turned out to be not to far away. It was wonderful to be out walking at night again. I'd forgotten how refreshing it is! It was so lovely feel the cold wind whipping my face as I walked down cobblestone streets bathed in golden light.
We made it back to the hotel safe and sound and headed straight to bed. Lisa watched a few episodes of Oliver Twist while I caught up my journal on the days events. My first day in Paris could not have been more incredibly amazing or beautiful! I fell asleep that night thinking excitedly about everything I had seen that day and all the fantastic things that were to come!