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Published: August 19th 2013
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Upon entering a city as big as Paris, my gut instinct instantly tells me to get the hell out so that's what I did. I hopped on a train to Versailles ad spent the day inhaling fresh air and staring in awe at the amount of green space. It may be a bit out of the city but I think its well worth a visit even if you're only in Paris for a short period of time - Versailles has one of the best gardens of any palace I've visited and I love the architecture of the buildings. There's also the added bonus that entry to the palace is free if you're a European citizen under 25 and reduced entry to the gardens. In all honesty I personally think the palace is nothing special, it's the same old thing that you'll see over ad over again in palaces of a certain era throughout Europe and large sections of the palace aren't open to the public but the gardens in themselves are well worth the trip. Being a champion sunbather, having such beautiful gardens to sunbather in is like a dream come true. I really admire the work the designer put in
to those gardens, even today they don't look at all outdated or old fashioned. I could happily spend hours meandering through the gravel pathways and strolling along the lake. The gardens are a great place for people watching and its one of the few places in Paris where you will see tourists and locals managing to get about their business in harmony with each other rather than just managing to piss each other off.
Watching the sun set over the Sacre Couer is my favorite way to spend a warm summer evening in Paris, not just for the beauty of it but because of the lively yet relaxed atmosphere of the area at that time of day. If you're feeling a bit peckish its also a nice place to have a picnic and a few drinks but the consumption of alcohol in public is actually illegal in Paris (possibly in the whole of France) so make sure you keep and eye out for and stray police officers that may be patrolling the area. I would also recommend a late night trip to Tour Montparnasse and take the lift to the top (the fastest lift in Europe) where
you can get an amazing night time view over the city. Looking down on the city when everything is lit up and you have a clear view for miles makes you realise just what a massive area the city of Paris covers - it definitely covers a massive area for a small town girl like me.
Most tourists tend to overlook Musee d'Orsay on favor of the Louvre if they're only going to visit one art gallery and in my opinion this is a mistake. The Musee d'Orsay has a wider variety of styles on display so it tends to not get so monotonous and I found a lot of art there a lot more to my taste than anything the Louvre had to offer. Obviously the Louvre has the appeal of the Mona Lisa but its not as big or as impressive as you imagine it to be and you'll be lucky if you get more than a ten second look at it due to the amount of tourists crowding around it.
Of course a trip to Paris wouldn't be complete without some shopping. I'm not in to designer brands so its not
about the Gucci and Chanel, for me its all about New Look. I know New Look is nothing special but we don't have any in the country I live in and the majority of my wardrobe comes from there so I use my trips to Paris as an excuse to add a few fresh items to my closet. In the past year or so, Paperchase have also opened some concession stores in Paris which I like to visit when I'm in the city as I think the designs they have in Paperchase are always so pretty and girly and where I live you only get boring stationary. If you're looking to go shopping on Sunday you're going to have to head to La Defence - most of the other shops in Paris are closed, when they say Sunday is the day of rest, the French take it seriously and most people are lucky enough to not have to work on Sundays.
Hasta Luego Guapos!
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