Paris

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Living abroad I hadn’t seen my best friend for a few years. With me being home for two months we decided to do something together.

We arranged a date and I went up to London and met Maggie after she finished work. We had also arranged to see two girls we went to school with, Portia and Hannah - Maggie had not seen them since she left school 10 years before.

On arriving in London I met Hannah and we went to get some food for a picnic. In Hyde Park we met up with Portia and Maggie. We had our picnic in the sun and Maggie told me that she had actually sorted a trip to Paris and Disney for us both, leaving the next morning. She had warned me there was a surprise for me and to bring my passport!
Our train to Paris was at 6am so after an early start we arrived in Paris around 9am.

We had two days in Paris and three in Disney. The first day in Paris we went to the Louvre. Neither of us are really in to art but we wanted to see the Mona Lisa. After getting lost, we finally found it and honestly neither of us were that impressed but as mentioned, we aren’t in to art! We looked around some more and then left.

We headed down the river towards Notre Dame. This is over 800 years old and completion took 200 years. It was started in 1163 and completed in 1345. In 1431 Henry VI king of England was crowned inside the cathedral. In 1804 Napoleon was crowned Emperor there after saving it from disrepair and being demolished. We had tickets to climb up the towers to see the famous bell, which we didn’t want to miss. We walked down the river bank and arrived at the cathedral just in time for our slot. After finding the entrance we climbed the stairs to the first floor, after suffering minor heart attacks at the steepness of the stairs! But it was worth it! The view from the top was amazing. I love city views and the top of Notre Dame did not disappoint.

Once we had finished and made it back down we found a traditional French restaurant and had savoury crepes for tea. After that we headed back to the hostel and had an early night. We’d been up since around half 4 and were tired.

The next day was Disney!! We got up early and headed to the train station. After getting on the wrong train we finally made it to Disney. After checking in to our hotel, Santa Fe, we headed to the park. We decided to stay in the main Disney park for that day and spent the day on rides, shopping and enjoying ourselves. That is basically what we did for the next two days. Enjoyed the rides, had fun together, shopped, ate and enjoyed the sun.

I had never been to Disney during the summer and even though I still loved it, it was so busy, I’m not sure I’d go back at that time of year again.

After our three days in Disney we headed back to Paris for our last day there. We left Disney early evening and had a hostel in Paris for that night. Our train home was booked for later on that day so we knew we had nearly all day and we tried to make the most of it. We got up early and went to the Sacré-Cœur. The Sacré-Cœur can be found in Montmartre, part of Paris. It’s a Roman Catholic cathedral which is the second tallest point in the city, after the Eiffel Tower. It was built after 1870 when the french Army were defeated by the Prussians. The purpose of the cathedral was to give the French people something to believe in during the painful and humiliating time.

Once we had looked around the cathedral and had breakfast we headed to the metro and went to the Arc De Triomphe. It was built between1806-1836 and was built to honour those who fought for France, particularly the Napoleonic Wars. We had tickets to climb to the top. Even though it’s only 49.5m (162ft) tall the view was a different perspective and wonderful.

After that, we walked down the Champs-Élysées and headed towards the Eiffel Tower. We had tickets to go up, but only to the first floor. The security was very strict and even with a set- time ticket we were still waiting over an hour before being able to ascend. The tower was constructed between 1887-1889 and was the entrance to the 1889 world fair. In 2015 the tower was the most visited paid monument in the world with 6.91 million visitors that year. As you can imagine the view was just what you’d expect. A wonderful sight over the city of Paris.

After we climbed down the stairs we went for lunch. I’d been in France for five days and hadn’t had snails, so that was my lunch that day. The last place we visited was the Montparnasse Tower. The tower is a little way out of the main city centre and over the two observation decks you are able to see different parts of Paris.

After getting our bags from the hostel we headed to the train station and back to London.

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