Au Revoir Paris!

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Hi, I haven't had time for an update since I left for Liverpool so I have lots and lots to say!!

Ok so I set off on the train to Liverpool after a tearful farewell and had a pretty eventless journey, got chatting to a couple of girls from Manchester who'd been to Sheffield for an 18th birthday party, oh to be young!!

Arrived in Liverpool and managed to find the Travellodge pretty painlessly, dumped my bags and went for a wander, stumbling upon Liverpool One, a kind of outdoor/indoor shopping/cinema/restaurants/terraced gardens kind of thing, i.e. my dream world, and wandered around for a couple of hours before deciding to go see Harry Potter, I cried!!

Had an early night snuggled in a lovely comfortable double bed watching tele (for the last time in 5 weeks :p). The next morning I decided I couldn't stay in Liverpool without exploring so I packed up and saw China Town, Liverpool Cathedral and then the docks, so pretty!! Before going back to Liverpool One for a tasty Burrito!! Then it was back to the travellodge to pick up my bag before meeting Laura at the train station. We jumped on the bus to the airport and were kept amusing by a very cute little boy who was going to watch the planes!! Again, checking in etc went smoothly, and the flight was fine, partly thanks to the pre flight wine and on board vodka!! But whatever works right :p. Once we landed at Charles De Gaulle we found our shuttle bus driver and got dropped off at the hostel.

St Christophers Hostel is really fancy, the outside even changes colour! We checked in, then carried our bags up 5 flights of stairs because the lifts were broken!! After the trek we figured we deserved a drink so we went back down to the bar to celebrate the beginning of our adventure with cocktails and wine!! Back in the room we met a couple of Australian girls and a Brazilian guy, who were all really nice, but sadly leaving the next day, not before leaving us there internet minutes, so its thanks to them I'm on here now :p.

Woke up VERY bright and early on Tuesday morning and went down to the bar for brekkie, lots and lots of baguettes! We wanted to get the serious business out of the way first so we found the metro and bought our 3 day tickets, then hopped on to Gare de L'est and bought out reservations to Interlaken for tommorow!! Quite proud of ourselves we headed down to the Conciergerie and St Chapelle, managed to get into both for free thanks to being under 26 and EU citizen!! The Conciergerie was an old jail house, were Marie Antoinette was held for a while before she was executed!! The St Chapelle was just breathtaking, you'll have to see the photos to understand! Ready for lunch, we found a little cafe and got a good deal, 7euros for a baguette (more bread, you'll see a theme soon!), a desert and a drink.

With full tummys we headed towards Notre Dame, there were huge queues up to the tower but luckily is was sunny so waiting wasn't too bad, we went to the main cathedral first, and once again words can't describe it. Then we queued for the tower, kept amused by a guy in an old person mask sneeking up on unsuspecting passersby. We got into the tower for free too, and 400 steps later could see out over the whole of Paris!! We had jelly legs but it was well worth it for the view!! After all the climbing we felt some sunbathing was in order, so found the Jardin de Luxembourg and had a bit of a lounge. Grabbed a sandwhich on the way back to the hostel, and quickly freshened up before heading back down to the bar ready for the backpackers quiz. Copious amounts of wine followed before the quiz had even begun and by the time we were a team I was feeling confident, we were with a Welsh couple and a Canadian guy, all really lovely, and we were actually in the lead, until the last round, but the wine kinda made me not care, and we had a celebratory drink anyway! Had a late night shower and then fell dead asleep!

The next day was Lauras birthday!!! Woke up with the mother of all hangovers, and wasn't sure if I could make it, but I pushed through and felt a bit better after brekkie, gave Laura her cards and pressies, put banners around the room and made her wear her 21 badge and then we set off for the Eiffel Tower, just our luck the metro was broken, so it was a bit of a trek, which worked in our favour because we got to see so much more of Paris!! We stopped off on the 2nd floor and had a crepe, then carried on to the top! We thought the view from the Notre Dame was amazing, but that was nothing compared to this! Got the lift back down to the 2nd floor but couldn't be bothered to queue again for a lift to the ground, so I had the bright idea of walking down the stairs, I didn't realise there would be so many!

We found another Cafe and this time I had Croque Madame (bread again!!!) On the way we got accosted by artists and Laura gave in and let one draw her, he was rubbish and wanted 10euros, errr yeh right :p The hangover pretty much worn off, we went to the Louvre! The longest building i have ever seen, its crazy!! It was really hot so we followed the crowd and sat by the pyramid with our legs dangling in the fountain, before going in to the Lourve (for free) we saw statues, and the mona lisa, and egyptian antiquities, medievil Louvre and lots of other stuff!! Popping outside for another dip in the fountain between sections!! By the tim we'd finished it was about 8ish so we went for something to eat and then headed off towards the Eiffel Tower where we sat in the dark, and watched it twinkle, Lauras favourite moment on the trip so far! Got back to the hostel about midnight exhausted and met our new roommates, 2 New Zealanders, an American, a Swiss, an Australian and a Turkish girl. Stayed up ages talking about everything from Guns to Obama to the Stone Henge :p.

Had a lie in this morning (half 7) then headed down to breakfast for, you guessed it, more bread! Set of to the Sacre Coure, and after finding out it has about 240 steps, figured it would be a piece of piss after Notre Dame, we didn't take into account the 180steps to actually get to ground level from the metro haha. After being helped by a kind French guy, who took pity on our struggling with the map, we set off to the Sacre Coure. The view from the top was once again breathtaking, and the building itself was stunning, we had a look around inside, and we were lucky to have a service taking place, so we sat and listened to the end of it, with the nuns singing, and half way through everyone got up and started hugging and kissing each other and shaking hands, it was so nice it made me cry, I know, I'm a loser. I pulled myself together and we sat on the top of the steps and watched a Diablo(er?) and listened to a harpist whilst eating lunch.

In the afternoon Laura and I split up because she wanted a relaxing afternoon and I wanted to do some more exploring! So we arranged to meet later and set off on our own. I started off walking through Montmartre, which is my favourite place in Paris! Steep cobbled streets and pretty little shops, ooh and random Celloists. Although I did have an artists tell me I was killing his creativity when I wouldn't let him draw me, I thought that was a bit harsh. I ended up at the bottom of the Sacre Coure steps where I was acosted, again, by guys trying to put braceleted on peoples wrists, I said no so one guy grabbed my wrist, I told him rather sternly to let go of me NOW and he looked rather sheepish, HA go me!!

I then wandered down to the Moulin Rouge, it was lovely, barely any tourists, just lots of lovely smelling fruit shops and patiserries! After the Moulin Rouge I fancied more exploring, so had a quick rest outside Ste Trinite then headed off to find some shops!! I pretty much navigated well, apart from when I was distracted by a french guy who started following me striking up conversation, he spoke as much English as I did French, so obviously it went well, and after I turned down going out for a drink about 5 times he got the hint and left me alone, by then though I'd totally missed my turning so took a lovely little detour through Sephora.

The feet were getting sore so the Louvre fountains started calling, walking through a majorly posh shopping area, I didn't even dare get too close to the windows, and then walking through Jardin de Tuilleries! Laura met me there and we sunbathed with our feet in the fountain for a good two hours, chatting to a lovely American couple for part of it. Rumbling tummies meant we finally pulled ourselves away from the cold water and headed off to a restaurant we'd been recommenend the night before, encountering lots of pretty buildings and gardens along the way. Not being exactly sure where the resturant was or what it was called we thought it might be a lost cause, but we found it, it was called Flunch! You buy some meat, a drink and a desert, then get to pile you plate with as many veg and potatoes as you like!! Good stuff! Headed back to the hostel and sat by the canal outside before going to the bar for a drink, and that brings me to now, sat here, typing this, before I go pack ready for tommorow!!! Scrolling up I can't believe how much I've actually typed haha, oh well it'll help me remember it.

Hopefully update again in Switzerland. Lots of love xxxxxxxx

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