Even when our trip was a mere idea, I had been saying I wanted to have my birthday in Paris. I was lucky enough that Trent made that happen for me and it stands as the greatest birthday to date. We spent 10days in the most beautiful city I have ever been to enjoying the abundance of history, culture and wine it has to offer.
We were both deeply saddened by the attacks on the 13th of November and feel incredibly lucky we left just one day earlier. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims of acts that can be described as nothing more than evil. We hope that people still get excited to go to this wonderful city and embrace everything it has to offer. Don't live in fear of what might happen, enjoy every second of every experience if you're lucky enough to explore this magical world.
Paris, France:
Day 126:
Today we flew from London to Paris! We arrived in the late afternoon and headed for Georgie and Het's house. We were lucky enough to catch the insta-famous Mardi and Doug before they left Europe and enjoyed a nice afternoon of wine and snacks with the gang. Then more wine once they left. Our whole time in Paris was quite wine-focussed.
Day 127:
After a great night of catching up we woke up late and headed out to explore. We walked to Luxembourg Garden for lunch. We bought a baguette and some French cheese obviously. We decided that was enough exploring for one day and headed home for a well deserved wine.
I had read about Des Catacombes in our Lonely Planet book and the entrance was conveniently located just 5minute walk away. We both got an audioguide each, however I think one would have been fine. We would definitely recommend getting one as it explains the whole history of the site, without it we wouldn't have really understood what we were looking at (kinda like our time in Pompeii). It's only cheap to enter and is a really interesting part of Paris's history, would recommend a cheeky visit.
After finishing the tour we set off for some lunch. Georgie is one of the only people that I know who likes McDonalds more than myself, and she had suggested we purchase some from a store adjacent to Luxembourg Gardens and eat it there... so we did. She was right, it is the nicest place to eat McDonalds.
We then continued our walk toward the Seine. We went to Notre Dame which is so incredibly beautiful. The stained glass is stunning. But that wasn't the best part of our day... Months before we left I had read an article about how the 'love locks' on Pont de l'Archeveche were being taken down because their weight was affecting the historic bridge. I had, since leaving Australia, made two failed attempts at romantic gestures, the first being the love locks in Cinque Terre (the trail was closed due to a land slide) and the second being the Trevi Fountain (the fountain was drained and covered in scaffolding due to construction). I was ecstatic when we walked around Notre Dame and just so happened to stumble across the bridge, which was very much so covered in thousands of locks!
After attaching our lock to the bridge we headed home to celebrate our success with wine.
One side affect of attaching a 'love lock' can be breaking out in a lip-shaped rash.
Day 129:
This morning we left Georgie and Het's and headed for my first birthday surprise, a beautiful apartment Trent had rented for 6days that had the most wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower (please note from here on majority of our photos feature the Eiffel Tower). We spent most of our day marvelling at its beauty then had Georgie and Het over for dinner and drinks to marvel with us.
Day 130: MY BIRTHDAY!
This morning I woke up to fresh croissants and a treasure hunt, oh and that dream view! I LOVE BIRTHDAYS! We were almost ready to leave when I got a birthday video from my sister of my whole family. So of course I had to cry, then fix my make up then call them to say thank you... eventually we made it out the door. The directions Trent had printed were slightly off so we got lost a couple of times. Eventually we decided to just use Google Maps because at the rate we were going we were not going to make it there any time soon. I had no idea where we were going, but we ended up on a street with lots of boutiques and I just thought it was a tease. We made it to the Hermes store and after I stopped jumping up and down and checking whether it was really true Trent bought me the most beautiful bracelet. I had intended to buy it for myself when we went to Paris, but had decided I didn't have the money to spare... lucky for me Trent is big on birthdays! We made our way home via the Eiffel Tower (since arriving we hadn't seen it other than from our apartment and it is HUGE!). We then relaxed for the afternoon, had some wine and headed out for the final surprise of the night. My parents had purchased us a dinner cruise along the Seine, it was such a beautiful night. The food was great and we consumed the most expensive bottle of champagne we'd ever had (it was the cheapest on the list, I swear). It was such a nice way to see the city and we would highly recommend doing it if you have the chance!
Almost there babe.
Today we woke up late, and headed back to the Hermes store with our passports to get the VAT form. (it saved like 50euros so make sure you have your passport when making these kinds of purchases!) Trent didn't wear undies and got chronic chaffe, then threw a hissy fit because he wanted his hair cut. It was all very dramatic. We were supposed to meet the girls at Sacre Coeur but by the time we got home there was no point. We spent the afternoon at home. We then had the girls over for dinner and drinks as Katrina was visiting from Munich. Such a nice night.
Day 132:
I had seen a sign at the McDonalds conveniently located just opposite our apartment advertising 3cheese burgers for 3euros. My hungover self thought this was a good idea so I went downstairs to get us 3each. Ended up being you had to order online then pick up in-store, which was such a mess because I can't read French. Anyway, I just ended up buying 6cheeseburgers at full-price. No matter how hungry you are, the stomach pains from eating that many cheeseburgers aren't worth it.
We then headed for the Lourve. We arrived and realised neither of us are that into art and the only reason we were going in was to see the Mona Lisa so decided to wander around the grounds instead then walked through Tuileries Garden and along the Champs Elysee to the Arc De Triumph. We stopped in at Lauder for some macarons but they were a bit out of our backpacking price-range so they'll have to wait until our next visit.
Probably annoyed because Trent was being Trent.
Day 133:
We had spent the last few days looking at the Eiffel Tower, today we decided it was time to see what the view was like from it. We definitely recommend climbing it. It has a beautiful view of the city, you can see a long way due to the height restrictions on the buildings. There is lots of information about its construction and height comparisons to other tall buildings around the world on the first floor which was interesting. We then had some mediocre macaroons in the park from Monoprix, would not recommend.
Day 134:
This morning we woke up and fog covered the majority of the Eiffel Tower, so weird. We got ready then headed to Carnavalet Museum. It was interesting, but we picked it because it's free, not because it's the best. Recommended as a free option to learn about French history. After the museum we visited Tilt Vintage to find Trent some replacement sunglasses after I accidentally broke his. This is an amazing vintage store, beautiful vintage Burberry trenches and other designer brand items for cheap. If we had any spare room in our bags we definitely could have picked up some goodies here!
We then set off for the Sacre Coeur. We got some crepes for lunch then headed for the steps to people watch and enjoy the view. The view overall isn't that great as it doesn't look over the centre of Paris but it's still nice. We then wandered through Place du Tertre looking at all the beautiful art. If you want to get a portrait or caricature done there are some amazing artists here that will be happy to help you out.
Day 136:
Today was our last day in Paris, we spent it at our place relaxing. We hadn't had our own space, just the two of us for ages and knew it was unlikely to happen again for a while, so it was so nice just to relax. We had intended to go for frogs legs and snails for dinner but got comfy drinking wine with Georgie and Het and decided to stay in for our last night.
Today we flew from Paris to Istanbul, it was pretty much a whole day of travelling so not much to report on, except that Athens airport does not sell MacBook Pro chargers.
TIPS:
DES CATACOMBES: Don't go if you're any taller than Trent or I, so basically an activity for those 12 and under. The ceiling is particularly low at the beginning but most of the way through it is the case. This also makes it a no-go zone for those who suffer from claustrophobia. Also, either get there early(opens at 10am daily) as the line is long and they only allow a certain amount of people in at a time.
EIFFEL TOWER VIEW: If you can, stay somewhere where you can watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle all night, even if it just for one night. It sparkles every hour, on the hour, for five minutes and we were mesmerised every time it happened. Our accommodation had a 6night minimum, so if that's not an option the Pullman also has a great view (however you're not guaranteed a room with a view, so it's luck of the draw). If you are lucky enough to have 6nights to spare in Paris (which you definitely should) we're more than happy to give you our Air BnB contact.
EIFFEL TOWER CLIMB: It's much cheaper and faster to climb the stairs of the Eiffel Tower. It costs 7euros per person and the queue is understandably shorter than that for the lift. There is information all the way up and it really isn't a challenging climb. We only made it to the second level. To make it to the very top you have to pay extra to catch a lift but we already felt like we had a great view and that we were very high(turns out we were hardly even half way).
CALIFE DINNER CRUISE: Could not recommend this more! There are two dinner options, both are three courses, however the more expensive one has a cheese platter included. We're not so keen on the cheese so opted for the 67euro/pp meal. Dinner included a glass of champagne, we purchased a bottle of this to have with dinner as it was really nice.
CREPES: If you go to the Sacre Coeur, which you should. There is a little square called 'Place du Tertre' and a woman makes the most delicious sweet and savoury crepes here! The perfect snack to have while enjoying the view.
