Day 1
I am currently sat on the flight drinking wine and eating crackers feeling rather sophisticated. Dad had us in full military mode whilst going through the airport fussing over passports and boarding passes. He has to have everything planned otherwise he will just panic! I'm rather excited to finally explore Paris and I am starting to decide where I want to go. The drive back to my house this evening from Leeds was manic with torrential rain and appalling drivers! The usual 35mins journey took me 1hour and 15mins and when I arrived home I was put in another car and driven to Manchester airport. Sad to say as soon as I get to Paris I want to fall into my hotel bed!
Arriving at the hotel was much needed! Have to say I have absolutely NO confidence in French driving and found it to be really unnerving. There seemed to be no laws and instead it was much more like a 'free for all' if you're brave enough! Hotel is nice though if a bit small for all four of us! Mum and I claimed the bed whilst we left the sofa bed for the boys. After logging into wi-fi and checking Facebook think it's time to finally get some shut eye.
Day 2
We were up bright and early however we quickly returned to our beds when we heard torrential rain outside. However an extra hour or two in bed was lovely as we eventually got out of our beds for 9.30. We strolled around our hotel looking for a place to eat breakfast and soon found a small cafe in which we parked ourselves and looked through the menu. Mum and I embraced the French culture with a 'traditional' French breakfast which allowed us to have a hot drink (cappuccino), orange juice, baguette, croissant, butter and jam. It was a nice change for what I usually eat in a morning. Max and Dad tried something new with sausages, bacon and scrambled eggs (what they would usually order at home). We must've enjoyed it though because we decided to eat there Sunday morning. After breakfast we walked to the metro and took the tube to the station near the Louvre where we used our Paris passes to queue jump (thank god)! The Louvre was beautiful and I enjoyed walking around inside but for me the real 'art' was the architecture. I thought the ceilings were beautiful (see photos) rather than endless paintings or sculptures of people. Something which was new to the the gallery was the Lady Gaga paintings which were displayed virtually on a screen. I found the screen was rather out of place surrounded by paintings of Napoleon and of course the Mona Lisa. On the subject of Mona Lisa I have to say I was quite shocked at how small the painting of her is. She was placed on a plain wall on her own and to me didn't really 'wow' me. I love art but I guess I expected a lot more than what I saw! Maybe I'm just hard to please.
After we left the Louvre we hopped on a bus and went to Notre Dame. As a joke we decided to take a family selfie which turned out pretty funny for us. Sad to say this is one of the best pictures I have of us as a family! Finally giving into the cold we took shelter in a nearby cafe and if had another cappuccino and ate a cinnamon sugar crêpe, whilst Max tucked into a rather sickly looking crêpe with chocolate sauce. We were then on our feet again this time walking past 'Lovers Bridge' to go to the wine tasting. We tasted 3 wines (1 white wine, 2 reds). I hate red wine so I really didn't like them but I could've easily finished a bottle of white wine! Wine tasting was soon over and it was off to the Rugby Match. I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to this as much because I don't really get rugby. When we arrived outside the stadium there were groups of England fans dressed as knights and soldiers and I tried to get as many photos as I could with them although some groups refused so I stood in front of them and my dad snapped a few photos.
The rugby match was brilliant the atmosphere electric with the DJ from 'fun radio' blasting out many songs that reminded me of going out. Although we lost France did play a good game and I honestly though we were going to win until the French scored in the last 7 minutes which was gutting. Nevertheless it was still an enjoyable match and has changed my view on rugby.
After a busy day we chose to wind down in an American style restaurant which offered comfort food from the chilling Parisian wind! After consuming far too much food and lovely wine we called it a night and headed back to the hotel. My feet were aching and it was quite painful to walk however Dad soon cheered me up by slipping in dog poo and almost falling over but was saved by a tree. I was laughing so much I started crying and Mum and I almost collapsed on the floor.
The rugby match was brilliant the atmosphere electric with the DJ from 'fun radio' blasting out many songs that reminded me of going out. Although we lost France did play a good game and I honestly though we were going to win until the French scored in the last 7 minutes which was gutting. Nevertheless it was still an enjoyable match and has changed my view on rugby.
After a busy day we chose to wind down in an American style restaurant which offered comfort food from the chilling Parisian wind! After consuming far too much food and lovely wine we called it a night and headed back to the hotel. My feet were aching and it was quite painful to walk however Dad soon cheered me up by slipping in dog poo and almost falling over but was saved by a tree. I was laughing so much I started crying and Mum and I almost collapsed on the floor.
Day 3
Our final day in Paris started at the same café again with the same breakfast I had had the previous morning. I was getting rather used to my morning cappuccino! After iMessaging my french friend Alix all day Saturday and again Sunday we had arranged to meet up under the Eiffel Tower later that day.
Firstly we caught the red tour bus using our Paris passes and Dad chose to sit on the open top deck. It was freezing so if I wasn't awake already I definitely was now! I took a lot of photos as we passed the Arc de Triomphe, the ferris wheel, the streets of posh Parisian shops and world renowned jewellery stores as well as some commercial ones. Have to say it was boring simply because we kept stopping as traffic was terrible and eventually we had to get off near the Eiffel Tower if we wanted to see it. So we took the Metro and I ran to meet Alix. I was so happy to see her again as it had been 4/5 years since we last saw eachother. I always considered her like a big sister and I was her little sister and being together again was so good. She's invited me over to stay at her house so hopefully I'll be able to save some money and go over soon. On the Metro on the way back to collect our bags some people jumped on the train with us with speakers, mics and clarinets and started singing. It was really cool and I wish I had filmed it because they were surprisingly really good!
After we had coffee and a catch up with Alix we left to grab our bags and head to the airport. Paris was definitely a good experience and an awesome trip. When I finally got back to my flat in Leeds I was so tired and fell asleep quickly. New blogs will be written this week so stay tuned to hear more ramblings from me!
Sorry if this was a bit long but I hope you've enjoyed it! Oh and don't forget to check me out on Bloglovin! Would make me dead happy!
'The rest is still unwritten'
Megan
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