Hey Guys!
From my previous blog post, you'll know that I've split the photo diary from my Paris trip into two parts because the first part was getting too long and there were so many photos. So here is part two of our trip to Paris back in June.
Day 4: The Notre Dame
On day four of our trip, we knew we wanted to visit the Notre Dame and some of the surrounding area, so like every morning we went to the local supermarket to get water and breakfast (croissant for me!) and headed towards the metro station.
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| Notre Dame Cathedral |
Arriving at the Notre Dame the queue to get in was huge but we read on loads of travel guides that the queues go down really quickly and they did! We were in the queue for around 5-10 minutes and then we were inside. The inside is actually incredible, and at the time we were going around the cathedral a choir was singing hymns which just made the experience very special. The famous three rose windows were beautiful ♡ and photos do not do them justice!
We booked a time slot to go up to the top of the Notre Dame Towers so we had some time to spare before going back. Going back the way we came we went towards the Saint-Chapelle and La Concierge. We were originally going to buy tickets and do both tourist attractions but we were so hot and desperate for a drink, so we went to a cafe bar and relaxed for a bit (doing all this walking about was so tiring!). The time just seemed to escape from us and we only had a certain amount of time left so we continued to walk and headed towards the Luxembourg Gardens. But what we realised when we got there is that we had already been here before on day two when doing our Rose Line Walk! But we still sat in the gardens getting our lunch from a local cafe and then headed back towards the Notre Dame by passing the famous Pantheon.
Booking a time slot for going on a tour of the Notre Dame Tower was so easy as we just put my phone number in and they text me a reference number and the time of our slot, so all I had to do was show them my text and we got into the queue. You had to walk up quite a few steps just to get to the ticket desk and gift shop but that was nothing compared to getting to the top (a total of 387 steps!). For the Notre Dame Tower, I got in for free like Versailles as I'm a student attending a university in Europe so my dad just had to pay around 8 Euros for his ticket (which was a very good price). My mum hates heights so she didn't come up with us and instead sat in the cafe/restaurant next to the Notre Dame having a drink.
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| The views from level one of the Notre Dame Tower |
You stop several times going up the tower to see the views from different levels. So, this was the first stop. You then walk around to the other side and see the views from that side before going up more steps to the next level.
This was the view from the middle section of the tower looking on to the back of the cathedral where you can see all the gargoyles. There was an elephant gargoyle, pelican, a wizard and then the classic design of gargoyles that typically frighten off and protect those that it guards against any evil or harmful spirits.
This was the view from right at the top of the Notre Dame Tower and you could see the city of Paris! It was so beautiful seeing the top of this beautiful city and seeing the Eiffel Tower, churches and all the architecture ♡
After getting down from the top (which was painful and tiring going back down all those stairs without a break in between) we met back up with my mum in the cafe and had a drink. While we were sat there I did a bit of research on what we could do next before finding somewhere to eat. So, I used Discover Walks Blog to find out what fun things were in the area. After reading through their blog post we decided we would walk towards the Latin Quater and Shakespeare and Company bookshop.
On our way to the Latin Quater my mum suddenly realised her purse was missing, but thankfully the waiter at the cafe bar we'd just been to found it for us. We thought pickpockets might have stolen it while we were walking but luckily it was found and we didn't lose anything out of it. We were very thirsty walking in the sun and after having the stress of losing my mum's purse so we sat down in this little garden and dad went and got us some water.
First, we went to Shakespeare and Company Bookshop but I did a separate post explaining our amazing experience there so if you want to check that out click here.
After experiencing what is Shakespeare and Company we walked past the cafe and headed into the Latin Quarter to explore. The Latin Quarter is the left bank neighbourhood in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements, so we explored around the small streets looking at all the cute shops (eyeing up the chocolate places) and found a nice place for dinner. If you are looking for a really nice place to eat in the Latin Quarter I'd definitely recommend Monk La Taverne de Cluny, it had amazing food, drinks and the staff were so friendly!
Day Five: Eiffel Tower
To get to the Eiffel Tower we left our hotel to get breakfast at the local supermarket and then went to the closest metro (Porte de Vanves). We wanted to walk to the Eiffel Tower through the Jardins du Trocadéro, over the Pont d'Iéna and see the Eiffel Tower from a distance and take photos before going up. We tried to get tickets to go up the Eiffel Tower a few days before but there were no timed tickets available anywhere (we probably should have booked them before going on our trip) so we thought we would just go see if we could buy tickets there and see if the queues were really long. Getting off at Trocadéro metro station we walked through the gardens looking at the fountains and taking pictures from the top of the hill and then walked down over the river towards the Eiffel Tower.
When we got to the Eiffel Tower we had to go through security, have our bags checked and then we were in the area to buy tickets and join queues. I was slightly disappointed because the last time I went up the Eiffel Tower you could see the Champ de Mars and could walk from the foot of the Eiffel Tower down the park and gardens, but because of the new security procedures and construction work going on you were boxed in. When we looked about where to get tickets the queues were so long, so we made the decision that instead of waiting in a queue for four hours when we had already seen the amazing views from the top of the Notre Dame we would go and explore and find somewhere nice for a drink.
After going back out through security and into the park we strolled through the gardens and looked at all the flowers (it wasn't like I remember as metal fences were everywhere due to some new construction) but the sunflowers were fully bloomed and they looked beautiful!
After walking through the gardens and taking some photos in front of the Eiffel Tower we carried on walking. We had a drink in a cafe as we were thirsty from the heat and then walked towards our next destination; Les Invalides and the Army Museum. But before reaching there we stopped off for some lunch just before the Army Museum and sat in a lovely park.
I don't have a lot of photos of the walk from the Les Invalides to the Grand Palais/Petit Palais as we were too busy admiring the sights and enjoying the walk in the sun! But we walked around the Musée de l'Armée (Army Museum) which was located within the Les Invalides and headed towards the Pont Alexandre III bridge, which is a very extravagant bridge! We decided to walk this particular way as we were heading towards the Champs-Élysées and wanted to walk down Avenue Winston Churchill and past the Winston Churchill statue (which we couldn't find).
Once we came to the bottom of the Champs-Élysées we slowly walked up and explored past all the car and luxury brand shops.
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| Champs-Élysées pavement leading up to the Arc de Triomphe |
Walking up the Champs-Élysées was so interesting seeing all the luxury brand shops like Louis Vuitton, Abercrombie and Fitch (who has entrance gates) luxury restaurants and then your other branded stores like Adidas and H&M (it reminded me a lot of Oxford Street in London). When you get to the Arc de Triomphe there are so many people everywhere taking photos so it took us a while to find the underground entrance to go underneath the roundabout and come out underneath the Arc de Triomphe.
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| The Arc de Triomphe |
When we walked around the Arc de Triomphe and were taking photos, looking at all the names inscribed on the walls we noticed that a ceremony was taking place near the Unknown Soldier. Individuals were wearing army and pilot uniforms taking photos, so I think something important was taking place, it was nice to see a celebration going on.
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| The Unknown Soldier from World War I and the Eternal Flame |
The Unknown Solider symbolises all of those that died in battle fighting for their country in World War I.
After leaving the Arc de Triomphe we got on to the metro and got off at the metro station Concorde. Walking through the Tuileries Garden located between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde we headed towards the Louvre to find somewhere for a drink. We walked past the City Hall and went to a lovely bar/restaurant and relaxed in there before going back to our hotel and getting takeaway pizzas from the restaurant next door (they were so good!)
Because we visited Paris in the summer the sun didn't go down until around 10:30pm every night, and as most nights we were already back at our hotel after having dinner so we weren't able to get good shots of the Eiffel Tower illuminated up close but we did get some shots through the trees from our hotel ♡
Day Six: Last full day in Paris
For our last day of the trip, we decided it would be a good idea to not do too much as we were already pretty exhausted from all the walking around and hectic itinerary, so we made our way slowly over to Montparnasse and the Sacre Coeur. I visited the Sacre Coeur when we came to Paris on a school trip in year 8 but we weren't allowed to go inside, therefore, this time I was determined to get to see inside! The walk up the hill was a challenge and a half especially in 30-degree heat but we did it and after queuing for a very short time we got inside. The inside was incredible, there was also mass currently taking place so while we walked around you could observe mass and hear those taking part in the service sing.
I didn't take any photos inside as mass was taking place and they kindly asked if we would refrain from taking photos (that didn't stop some people though). Going around the Sacre Coeur was incredible, the architecture inside is beautiful! Like at Versailles some other visitors were so rude and even though they kindly asked not to take photos (nevermind using flash) people just went ahead and did it anyway. You could go up to the dome and view the panoramic views from the top but I'd already been up to the Notre Dame and my dad and I didn't want to leave my mum at the bottom on her own (she is afraid of heights).
After looking at the views from the top of the hill we headed over to the funicular lift (we weren't going to attempt walking down the hill) and got back down to the bottom. Next on our itinerary was the Moulin Rouge, lunch and then the Galerie Lafayette for a shopping experience.
We walked down some of the cutest little streets in Montparnasse, we stopped off at a lovely bar on this small street and it was a lovely place for a rest and some people watching. After relaxing for a while in the bar I got my map out and we started walking to the Moulin Rouge which wasn't very far away. When we got to the Moulin Rouge we were pretty disappointed just because we expected more of a flashy extravagant exterior, but to be fair we didn't go and see a show or anything so we can't make a judgment based on the outside.
After looking at the Moulin Rouge we continued walking down the street and found a lovely restaurant for some lunch, trying some classic French dishes. The next thing on our agenda was the Galeries Lafayette French department store. I thought I was following the right direction on Google Maps but I was taking us all completely the wrong way, so dad had to take charge of getting us there haha!
The Galeries Lafayette had part of its store opposite with a red carpet. We didn't manage to get any decent photos of the department store from the outside that gave it justice but we got some photos from the inside!
There were so many floors and the one floor with Louis Vuitton and Chanel you had to be invited in past the black rope to be allowed to view what was available to buy.
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| The ceiling in the Galeries Lafayette was something else! The interior decor for this department store beats any of the other stores I've been in! |
I couldn't afford much in the shop as a lot of it was highly expensive designer clothing but I did buy a notebook and postcard of Paris (I actually hoard notebooks and even if I don't need one I will buy it anyway haha!) which was a good price as it was in the sale!
When leaving the department store we crossed over the road and saw that the Paris Opera House was opposite.
After admiring the Paris Opera House we carried on walking and ended up in this really fancy bar but the drinks were a really good price considering Paris prices! When looking at the map we noticed that one of the restaurant/bars we had been to before was close by, so we decided we would go there for our last dinner in Paris. We sat on the terrace as it was a lovely evening and they are a very popular place so it was full of people inside! I ordered a spaghetti carbonara for my last evening meal and it was pretty good (but very different from the spaghetti carbonara I've had before).
Day Seven: Heading Home
We checked out of our hotel after making sure we had packed everything and said goodbye to the amazing staff at the Hotel ibis Paris Porte de Brancion Parc des Expositions. Then walked to the end of the street to catch the tram back to the metro stop Cité Universitaire to get our RER tickets and the RER B train back to Charles de Gaulle Airport. Charles de Gaulle isn't our favourite airport as it is so big and confusing to get around (we are used to flying from East Midlands or Birmingham) but the signs around the airport were great so we managed to find our gate without losing anybody haha!
So that was our week trip to Paris, France ❤
I hope you enjoyed the photo diaries and the details of what we got up to on our trip! I'll be uploading a post soon on tips and recommendations for those who are travelling to Paris too!
See you soon ❣
Amy xx
