THE TRAVEL POST / PARIS, FRANCE

So it took me about 5 months to write up my Australia trip so it's only natural that it's taken me 4 months to write up my trip to Paris. Typical Jess!

I paid for me and my mum to go to Paris at the beginning of March for my mum's birthday/celebrating my new job because you know, who wouldn't wanna go to Paris? City breaks to Europe are so cheap so whenever I have a few dates free in my diary, I'll almost always book to go away somewhere. For £150pp for the Eurostar and hotel, we couldn't really complain!

Having been up since 6am getting the train from Notts to London, the worst possible thing happened when we arrived at St Pancras. We sat on the Eurostar waiting to set off when an announcement told us that unfortunately someone had been hit by a train in Kent so there would be delays. There was nothing anyone could do but sit and wait until the track was clear and it was safe to go. 5 HOURS we were sat on that train!!! For the most impatient person in the world, it was absolute HELL. Ohh the anger.

Eventually we set off and 2 and a half hours later we arrived in Paris. We had to dodge the con men trying to charge us €70 for a taxi to our hotel when we eventually found someone who took us for €15. We got to the hotel at 9pm and headed straight out to see the Eiffel Tower which was a 5 minute walk away. It looked absolutely stunning lit up against the backdrop of a nights sky. Thankfully it made up for what was a truly awful first day.

The next morning we went for breakfast and devoured croissants and coffee at a little cafe around the corner from the Eiffel Tower. I pre-booked tour bus tickets before we left the UK so after breakfast we jumped on the bus and headed for the sights. You could hop on and hop off as many times as you liked so our first stop was the Louvre followed by the Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées and Notre Dame. It was SO windy and absolutely freezing so please forgive how windswept I look!

I absolutely loved the Arc de Triomphe, more so than the Eiffel Tower! It's such a beautiful structure and probably one of my favourite monuments ever. We went shopping along the Champs-Élysées and experienced the amazingness that is Sephora. I bought a few souvenirs and ate macaroons (standard) before heading back on the bus to Notre Dame. When we were walking around we somehow stumbled across the love lock bridge which I was SO excited about! We didn't really know where it was so we were lucky to come across it, especially as they've got rid of it now! I saw a padlock with Jess on which unfortunately wasn't me but hopefully one day I'll be able to go back and have my own love lock on the bridge (if they ever re-open it!)

That evening I persuaded my mum to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower with me which was a cool experience! The next morning we got the metro to the train station and made our way home (thankfully with no delays this time!)

Have you been to Paris before?

xxx