My Birthday Weekend in Paris

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Hey hey 😊

Well I have to say that turning 20 in Paris was certainly one of the best birthday's ive had so far! It was so great to wake up in Paris and (despite the rain...) head out into the city for a big day of sightseeing and just 'doing the paris thing'...
The whole weekend was fantastic and i loved paris this time just as much as when i was there in july! It had a completely different feel to it this time as it was about 30 degrees colder than last time, but the christmas decorations and festivities made it all the more fun! We climbed the eiffel tower (of course...) and went to the louvre, saw the palace of versaille, the Arc de Triomphe, went to the impressionists art gallery, and just spent a lot of time wandering the shops and markets in the latin quarter, as this was where it all seemed to be happening!!
So we had a really fun time, and found the parisians (despite all the myths...) to be really friendly and fun and helpful. We tried to communicate with our very limited french, and they used their slightly better english, and with the help of hand actions, etc. we had no trouble getting across what we wanted to say! :P

I hope you enjoy the pics...it really is just such a beautiful city...

Thanks for all the birthday wishes too - it was great to hear form everyone on my birthday as it was definately a weird feeling being on the other side of the world...

Love em xoxo

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Photos

Birthday morning...
On the morning of my birthday, very excited after just opening a package sent over from the parents, and a few lovely birthday cards from friends :)

Hot, mulled wine...
Us drinking hot mulled wine in this little market street that we found just near the eiffel tower. Randomly, an old french man that didnt speak a word of english had just given me big wishes for 'a lovely birthday and happiness into the future' (as translated by the lady selling the wine...) haha...very sweet :P

The eiffel tower at night...
We had a picnic birthday dinner under the tower, and it was just so beautiful. The rain stopped for us for a couple of hours too! You really cant get a feel for how huge the tower is until you're standing under it!!

Halfway up the tower...
The view from halfway up the eiffel tower...you can climb the stairs to this level and then you catch the lift to the top - it just keeps going and going... Such an amazing view though, and we had a really clear day!

The latin quarter
This street in the latin quarter was so so fun - there were so many people and it was just full of little shops and stalls selling jewellery, scarfs, fruit and vegies, cheese, and of course crepes and pastries!

The latin quarter again...
This area was just so festive with the chrissie decos and little kids running around in santa hats and stuff...

mmm...yum....
there's nothing quite like the french patisseries... we just dont do croissants or pastries like they do them in paris...

The Louvre
Usually I dont really get all that excited by art galleries, but the louvre really is amazing. Its just huge and there are so many different types of art and sculptures in there. The outside looks really cool too :P

a cool photo...
Took this one just outside the louvre, pretty impressed with my photography skills!!! haha

little paris suburb
We stopped off at this suburb on our way out to versaille and even though our tickets wouldnt let us leave the station, it was pretty surreal just standing there in what looked like the set of a little french movie or something. Got a bit creative with the photography again... :P

The Champs-Elysees
The main shopping/tourist street in Paris, this street leads to the Arc de Triomphe and in december with the chrissie lights it's really really pretty! Just had one of those 'im actually standing on the champs-elysees in a red jacket and its nearly christmas..' moments, when it suddenly hits you where you are and its all just a bit too surreal!!