Paris, France

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You can't go to Europe without visiting Paris. Cobbled streets, delicious food and delightfully strange people, what is there not to love? The city itself is full of history and gorgeous scenes from the past.

My first visit to Paris was shortly after I arrived in London, for Bjorn's 30th birthday. From London, the cheapest and easiest way to get to Paris is via Eurostar. The Eurostar Terminal in Paris is located at Gare du Nord, which is right in the heart of Paris. From the main train station, the Metro is just a short navigation through (sometimes) confusing tunnels. The Metro itself is fairly easy to navigate, if not a little confusing when it comes to trying to figure out where the hell you should be going (there are a lot of stations) but once you've gotten the hang of it, it could be done with your eyes closed. And besides, if you've had any experience with the subways, it shouldn't be much of a problem getting your head around the Parisian Metro.

We stayed at the Bastille Hotel, on Rue de Lyon, which is within walking distance of the Bastille Metro Station, the Seine and the Notre Dame. The area itself was filled with cute little cafe's and pretty decent restaurants. You could walk anywhere from this hotel, so fortunately we didn't have to rely on public transport that much. The hotel itself was pretty nice, with all new furnishings and clean rooms. They had these wacky hairdryers in the bathrooms that freaked me out the first time I saw them. They looked like small, wall vaccuum cleaners. I tried to use one once, but had to stop from the fear of my hair suddenly being sucked into it lol.

I spent most of my time in Paris just walking around the streets, watching the people. I didn't get around to going to the Lourve, or inside the Notre Dame (Oi vey! The lines!) but I did have a good time and get a good taste of Paris. This hasn't stopped me from wanting to go back, something I'll be doing this May with Bjorn 😊 I'm looking for it so much!

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Photos

Paris
View from Sacré-Coeur