It was the first holiday abroad with just my
boyfriend. My boyfriend bought the tickets to Paris for me as a birthday and
valentines present. He’s very generous and I am forever grateful. Everyone
says couple holidays could potentially make or break a relationship. I wasn’t
naïve but I was quietly confident that our love could only grow stronger.
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| Paris 2014 with the boyfriend <3 I love him! |
Tuesday
11th February 2014
We met up at 9am and headed towards Kings Cross
St Pancras Station where we boarded the Eurostar. We arrived at Gare du Nord
shortly. The journey was a smooth journey and we both were as excited as each
other.
We arrived at Gare du Nord and we bought 10
single metro tickets which cost us about €13 Euros. We took the M4 line towards Mairie de
Montrouge-Métro and changed at Odéon Station. We then changed to the M10 towards Pont de
Saint-Cloud to Javel - André Citroën Station. Exit station and the hotel was literally
just across the road. Result!
We arrived at Mercure Paris Plaza Pont Mirabeau
(10 avenue Emile Zola) about 3pm local
time and we checked into the hotel. We got the lift to our room, room 306. The
room was smaller than what I expected but it was very cosy, warm and clean. We
unpacked our things and looked around the hotel room. The hotel’s bathroom did
not have a door only a curtain and the toilet was separated from the bathroom;
something I haven’t seen before. The TV didn’t work, well we didn’t know how to
use it so we used the free wifi and played some music on spotify. On the train,
we already decided that today would be - an explore the area, find a
supermarket and have a bit of dinner and plan the days out for the next few
days. It felt new but good.
We left the hotel and walked around the hotel
block, we then decided to have some unhealthy fast food close by. We had a cheeseburger,
fries and a drink. The guy was friendly and asked about where we were from. We
nicked named him ‘Bill’. After dinner, we headed towards the Eiffel Tower,
which was about 30minutes walk. We looked around and explored. It wasn’t
difficult to find at all as we followed the river. After a stroll, we headed to
the supermarket and bought some snacks, tea bags, milk and some on-the-go
breakfast (i.e. croissants, brioche rolls). We got back to the hotel and we had
a nice cup of tea, snacks and started to plan our next few days. Where we were
going to go was determined by the distance from location to location and the
weather. We made our plans. It wasn’t as late but we were tired. We took a
shower and we did some chilling in the hotel. I really wanted to sleep but my
boyfriend kept saying no. Little did I know, he had it all planned. My
boyfriend waited until 12oclock midnight and bought out two surprise cup cakes
with a candle and wished me happy birthday. He made me make a wish and then we
ate the cakes. We made a mess on the hotel floor but we didn’t care. I was
surprised and happy. I did not expect him to do that at all. It was heart
warming.
Wednesday 12th February
2014
We planned to leave at
9am so we would get to the Eiffel Tower about 9.30am, however we didn’t leave
until about 10am. It was so nice to wake up in my boyfriend’s arms. We decided
to go to the Eiffel Tower by foot. It was about 600 steps in total but it
didn’t feel too bad. There was no queue and the cashiers assumed we were
juniors, which meant we had discounted tickets! Result! We had to pay to go to
get to the third floor that took us up by a lift. Luckily for us it was blue
skies although windy. The view was amazing and of course we took loads of
pictures like tourists. I absolutely loved it! (NB. Eiffer Tower: Address: 5 avenue Anatole France. Hours: Open daily 9:30am - 11pm.
Admission: €11.90-15 per adult)
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| View from the very top of the Eiffel Tower |
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| Eiffel Tower |
After the Eiffel Tower
we walked to Arc De Triomphe. We didn’t go up the Arc but took some pictures by
it. (NB. Arc De Triopmhe: Address: Place Charles
de Gaulle, Paris 8e
Nearest metro: Charles de Gaulle-Etoile. Hours: 1st October
to 31st March: 10.00 – 22.30
Last admission 30 minutes before closing time. Admission: Adult:
€9.50)
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| Arc De Triopmphe |
We continued along where
we hit Champ-Élysées. This was a long street full of shops and restaurants. It
was a nice stroll. We got a little lost where we took a wrong road but we
managed to make our way to our next point of interest which was the Pont
Alexandre III. Again, we took some pictures and enjoyed being together like
tourists.
As we still had some
time we decided to find somewhere to eat. We decided before we go into The
Orsay Museum to grab a bite. It was getting to early evening and we hadn’t
eaten since the morning. We stopped by near a little café where the staff
didn’t seem to understand English as well but we stopped for a bite. After a
bite to eat we went to The Orsay Museum. It was a nice little museum and we
looked at the art gallery and went to the different floors and took some
pictures with the big clock located upstairs. It was fun and nice. We found out
during our visit that it used to be a train station, which was quite cool. I
knew it resembled something. It was nice.
(NB. The Orsay Museum: Address: 62 rue de Lille
Paris. Hours: Tuesday to Sunday: 09.30 – 17.30. Thursdays until 21.30. Admission: Price: Adult: €9.00)
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| Orsay Museum |
After browsing the
museum, we decided to walk back to our hotel. We passed a shopping mall that
resembled London’s Westfield’s. We decided to take a stop inside and check it
out. Most of the shops were retail and we bought a few bits and bobs from the
supermarket located below. We then headed back to the hotel and rested. We
didn’t know what to eat for dinner and struggled for ideas. My boyfriend then
suggested we could go to ‘Bills’. It was getting late and I was getting lazy, I
didn’t want to leave the hotel room. He kindly went to get it and bought it
back to the hotel. We had some more dirty junk food but we were on holiday so
it didn’t matter. It was a long day and we were tired. After a shower, we
headed to bed, ready for another day filled with adventure.
Thursday 13th February 2014
We got the metro to Saint
Jacques, which was a short walk to the Catacombs. There was no queue and we
walked straight in and bought the tickets. There was quite a few stairs to go
down where you end up in a cold feeling cave- like environment. It was
different but nice. When we went there wasn’t a lot of people, which was good.
There was a group with people with a tour guide. There were loads of skulls and
it was interesting. I enjoyed it. (NB. Catacombs:
Hours:
10m-4pm. Admission: Price: Adult: €8.00)
After the catacombs we headed
towards the Panthelon but first we stopped for a bit of lunch. We stopped off
at some nice restruant that was nicely decorated inside. It was really nice and
the food was on point. It wasn’t too expensive either. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It started to rain a little while we was eating and was quite windy too. But as
we finished eating, the weather brighten up. It was still cold but at least it
wasn’t raining. We passed the Panthelon and took a few snaps. They were doing
some maintenance on the building; we didn’t go in just explored from the
outside. (NB. Panthéon: Address: Place du
Panthéon
Paris 5e.
Hours: 1st October to 31st March: 10.00 – 18.30. Admission: Adult: €8.50)
We then stumbled to the
Luxembourg Gardens. This was a lovely park. (NB.
Luxembourg Gardens: Hours: 8am – 5pm) We sat for a little bit and took a
break and enjoyed the peacefulness of the gardens. We then headed towards the
Notre Dame Cathedral. We took some pictures outside then went inside. There was
a service going on inside when we went and it was a lovely Cathedral. We took a
seat inside for a little while. We didn’t go upstairs and just explored inside
of the Cathedral. (NB. Notre Dame
Cathedral: Address:
Parvis de Notre-Dame
Paris 4E. Hours: October–31 March: 10.00–17.30. Last admission 45
minutes before closing time. Admission: Adult:
€8.50)
Afterwards, we walked
around were we hit Ill Saint Louis. It was lovely. The view by the river was
romantic and it just a nice walk with my boyfriend. He then needed the toilet
so we decided to head back towards the hotel. We got back to the hotel and
chilled for a bit then we headed out to the supermarket. We decided that we
would buy some sushi and have dinner at the hotel. I loved it!
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| Hotel Chilling |
Friday
14th February 2014
Waking up for the third day in a row in my
boyfriend’s arms and on Valentines Day was special. We headed to Angelina a
recommeneded place to go to according to TripAdvisor and they wasn’t wrong!
There was a short queue and unfortunately we just missed the brunch but we
ordered some lunch. It was slightly pricy but the food was amazing. We got a
cake which was delicious too. It was really good.
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| Cake at Angelina |
We then headed to the
Lourve Museum. When we saw the queue which was very long we decided it wasn’t
worth it. We took some pictures and then decided to go to the Grevin Wax Museum
which wasn’t too far away. (NB. Lourve
Museum: Address: Palais du
Louvre
Paris 1er. Hours: Daily: 09.00 – 18.00
The museum is open until 22.00 on Wednesday and
Friday evenings. Admission: Price: Adult: €11.00)
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| Lourve Museum |
At the Grevin Wax Museum
we managed to get it on concession which was really good. I didn’t know what to
expect from the museum and I must admit I didn’t expect it to be as fun as it
was. There was a lot of wax models that I did not know who they were but it was
very fun and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. The beginning part
was very strange and did not make any sense but I guess it made the whole
experience funny. (NB. Grevin Wax Museum:
Address: 10 boulevard
Montmartre
Paris 9e. Hours: Monday to Friday: 10.00 - 18.30
Saturday, Sunday,
French school holidays: 10.00 - 19.00. Admission: Price: Adult: €22.50)
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| Omar Sy at Grevin Wax Museum |
We then walked around
the area passing the Montparnasse Tower and stopped at the Supermarket once
again before heading to the hotel. We then headed out to an Italian restaurant,
which was a few doors down from the hotel. It wasn’t busy and we had escargots
and the meal was nice. The first time ever since we have been together, we
spilt the bill between us because it was easier. I had a lovely time and it was
sad that it was coming to an end. We went back to the hotel after and relaxed, chilled
and did some packing. I really enjoyed just spending time with him and being
with him. We stayed up until 4.30am talking. We then fell asleep together.
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| Escargots |
Saturday
15th February 2014
The last day in Paris
where I get to wake up next to my one and only was sad but lovely to know what
a great week it had been. We finished packing and checked out. Our train wasn’t
until the evening so we had some time. We headed towards the Eiffel Tower for a
quick souvenir shop and then had lunch by Concorde Station. We found a café
that was busy but we decided to go in to eat. Food was ok but the service was
terrible. When I say terrible, it was terrible. We waited about 40minutes for
our bill to come and we asked at least three times! We then headed back to the
hotel and picked up our luggage and headed to Gard Du Nord. We got the Eurostar
back to Kings Cross. What a lovely week in Paris.
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| Lunch by Concorde Metro Station |
I really enjoyed this holiday. It was new and
exciting and most of all I loved spending time with my boyfriend. We had some
laughs and it was definitely a special birthday and Valentine’s Day. I love
you! Some of our jokes –
‘NIP’.
His family that we saw twice in two different
days!
‘Premeditated Partner.. You know what I’m saying’
Reduction in clothes as the week went on! LOL
Omar Sy
‘DAFUQ’
was the intro at the Wax Museum
Student discounts and
25yrs old!
Boyfriend constantly needing
to go wee wee
Playing Asphalt
‘Doo doo’
Mad man with blade at
Starbucks
Making friends at
Angelina
Gold ring scammers
Scammers petition around
the Eiffel Tower. No we don’t speak English!
CoD mans surrounding the
tourist attractiions
Spotify music – ‘Drunk
In Love’
101 Cups of Tea
Singing Beauty and beast
soundtrack randomly
Belle el la bête
Anak – I leanrt what
this word meant. His mum usually calls him Anak.
June Jones – the ‘ghost’
that lived with us at the hotel because one occasion the shower started
dripping on it’s on.
V14
We really did have a great
time. I miss it already.
