One Week In Paris: Photo Dairy | Part Two

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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 

Our Week In Paris: Photo Diary | Part One

Hey Guys!

From my previous post, you'll know that I recently took a trip to Paris and found the cutest bookshop, but that wasn't the only part of the trip. I've put a photo diary together to show you what tourist attractions we explored while we were there. 

Day One: Travelling to Paris

We travelled to Paris on Sunday 24th June and landed at Charles de Gaulle in the afternoon. We didn't really have a lot planned for Sunday other than checking into our hotel and exploring the area around us, so there weren't many photos taken on the first day as we explored a few bars in our neighbourhood and places to eat. For the duration of our trip we stayed at the Ibis Brancion Parc des Expositions in the 15th Arrondissement, so we were more south of the city but by taking the metro and tram it didn't take long to get into central Paris. I was glad we didn't have anything planned as the early morning flight and travelling was exhausting and by the time we had checked in I was ready for a nap. In the late afternoon, we found a quiet little bar for a drink and they just happened to be playing the England vs Panama game which was convenient for my parents haha! After dinner in a local restaurant, we headed back to our hotel and relaxed for the rest of the evening. 

Day Two: The Rose Line Walk 

If any of you have watched or read the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown you will know what the Rose Line is, so my dad being a huge fan of Dan Brown downloaded the Rose Line Walk. The Rose Line Walk is a walk exploring Paris and the sites discussed in the Da Vinci Code novel.  Therefore, on our first day, we did a lot of walking and saw some of the big attractions. We didn't get any tickets for anything for our first official day in Paris hence it was just exploring around the city and seeing what was around. It is actually surprising how close everything is together and how after five minutes of walking you are seeing another tourist attraction!

We didn't take photos of every part of the walk as we were taking in all of our surroundings but we did take pictures of the main attractions we saw: 

The Louvre

The queues for The Louvre were quite long and we didn't buy any tickets for our walking tour so we didn't go in. But it is definitely on my list to visit when I take a trip to Paris again!

The Jardin du Luxembourg

The Jardin du Luxembourg was beautiful! Children we playing with boats in the water, the flowers are so colourful and vibrant and there are chairs dotted around everywhere so you can sit and read or people watch. I can't believe how a public garden is so well kept and is that beautiful ♡ we have beautiful gardens here in the UK too but the flowers and statues in the garden were something else!

This was just a building I took a photo of on our walk to another part of Paris and these flowers were too beautiful to not take a photo of. Imagine living here and seeing such charming flowers every day ♡ 

 Hôtel de Ville 

The Hôtel de Ville was decorated in the Pride colours ready to celebrate Pride the following Saturday in a big parade. This is actually the town hall, the city's administration building so to see the exterior decorated with the pride flag was nice to witness!

We also went into a beautiful church called the St Sulpice Church (where the Rose Line, also known as the Paris Meridian is located) and it was so beautiful inside. Inside there were separate chapels within the church so you could pray to individual saints and in each chapel, there was a confession box. The paintings in some of the chapels were incredible, especially that of the angels.  We also tried traditional French baguettes and beers while sat outside making the most of the incredible weather we had. 

While walking around Paris we also came across plenty of other churches, the Notre Dame and some beautiful architecture. For our first official day in Paris, it was wonderful ♡ 

Day Three: Versailles

Versailles was about 45 minutes from our hotel so we did research prior to our trip to decide which method was the best way to get there, resulting in us deciding to get the tram to an RER train stop and getting the train (which was a double-decker train, something I've never seen before) to Versailles. 

We didn't pre-book tickets to Versailles because I get free admission as I'm a student who goes to a university in Europe, but mum and dad needed to get their tickets. So we got there early (it was still so busy) and ended up buying tickets from a self-service machine which was more convenient than the huge queue leading to the ticket desk. We did have to queue for an hour and a quarter to get in (the queue by 10:30am was longer than the courtyard so we had people queueing in lines next to us) but luckily I was prepared with a rucksack full of water, suncream, hats and portable phone chargers! Even though it seems like a long wait the queue was actually moving quite fast and we got inside at a good time, so don't let the long queues put you off. 

I've been dying to go to Versailles for so so long (especially since watching the BBC show Versailles) and I'm a huge fan of going to palaces, castles and estate houses so my expectations were pretty high! The palace was beautiful and each room was incredible with portraits and the furnishings, but unfortunately because of the number of visitors, the flow of traffic in the palace and how rude the other tourists were it kind of ruined the experience for me! Other visitors were pushing into me and cutting me up trying to get in front and each room of the palace was so full of people it was uncomfortable! But one of the members of the staff we spoke to when buying my garden ticket did say that this was the busiest he had seen it for a while, so I think we just chose a day when everyone else decided to go too. So that was a bit disappointing, however, the gardens made up for it completely. The gardens were like a dream and I'm going to do a separate post talking about the gardens and how beautiful they are ♡ 

The Hall of Mirrors

I didn't manage to get a lot of photos of the inside of the Palace due to how busy and crammed the rooms were full of people and getting pushed around so I got better photos of the garden. 

I'll discuss the fountains and the Music Fountain Show in the separate blog post about Versailles Gardens. 

Latona's Fountain

Apollo's Fountain

Petit Trianon

The Petit and Grand Trianon is the small château offered by  Louis XVI to Marie Antionette and was her residence away from the Palace. The Petit Trianon house and gardens were so beautiful ♡ 

Statues placed around the Versailles' Gardens

Versailles was incredible, especially the gardens! However, I would say some tourists are so rude and inconsiderate of the people around them and every room was crammed full of people that you couldn't move with people constantly pushing into you. I much preferred the gardens as you got your own space but also because they were literally something from a dream! ♡ 

After spending the entire day at Versailles and walking what seemed like miles around the gardens we took the train back to the RER station and got on the tram back to the neighbourhood our Ibis hotel was in, relaxing for the rest of the evening.

  As there are a lot of photos from our trip I split this photo diary into two parts so it didn't get too long. Part two will be coming Wednesday 8th August at 7:30pm so look out for that to see day four (The Notre Dame), five (The Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Elysées) and six (The Sacre Coeur and Moulin Rouge) of our Paris trip ♡ 

See you on Wednesday! 

Amy xx

Finding The Cutest Bookshop In Paris

Shakespeare and Company, an Adventure Land for book lovers! 

In Paris, there are so many places you could explore but this wonderland really was a golden find. While searching for other things to explore around the Notre Dame I came across a blog post by Discover Walks and scrolled through aiming to find some hidden gems, and up came Shakespeare and Company amongst the list. When I read the description and history of the bookshop I knew this was one that had to be added to the agenda. 

When I was younger I was obsessed with everything books (especially Jaqueline Wilson) and every Saturday I would go to this bookshop Book Thrift and see what else I could find to read but also just to look amongst the shelves and see if they had brought anything new in since the last Saturday I'd been in. Then as I got older and school became harder I didn't have the time to really enjoying reading anymore, the only time I really got to sit and read was when we would go on holiday. 

I miss having the time to read and not have so many other priories. Now I'm in university I do get the opportunity to read, but it isn't the books in my bookcase and instead is my course's reading list (which at times is really interesting) but a lot of the time I would love to swap them for a Harry Potter or Lauren Kate novel! 

When I visited Shakespeare and Company it kind of reignited my love for bookshops and the joy of just wondering around and finding new books to read ♡ 

It was busy inside so it is clearly a very popular place amongst Parisians and tourists, so I browsed through each of the rooms admiring all the different collections of books and getting excited when I came across a book I'd been trying to find for ages. Each room was filled with bookcases displaying countless genres and furnishings which were old and vintage, giving an old English vibe. Each room was snug and only a small group of people were able to fit in each room but the cosiness of the place made it ideal. This was my dream bookshop, it gave the look of someone's library and I love it!

Outside they had a few stall type bookcases where they were all second-hand books donated. There was such a large collection of books like the Hunger Games and Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy, a variety of books that everyone could enjoy. My mum and I both share the love for crime and murder novels so we picked up The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld, which is is about Sigmund Freud (which is crazy because I have to read a lot of his work for my course at university) and his first and last trip to the United States. I haven't started reading it yet as I've been enjoying Fallen By Lauren Kate but it is next on the reading list for my summer break ♡ 

The staff were great and so friendly! Smiling and laughing at my over-excited shriek when they stamped the book and gave me a free bookmark. I wish I could have had more time to look around all the bookcases that covered the walls from floor to ceiling and got the chance to buy more books from their extensive collection but we only had one suitcase between the three of us for our trip so I don't think buying tons of books would have been a good idea! 

If you're a book lover and live or visit Paris this place is a must visit! If you are struggling to find a particular book I'm sure they will have it, I'll definitely be paying another visit when I come to Paris next and plan on taking my best friend as she is a book lover just like me ♡  

They have an Instagram page so make sure to check it out:

#orwell #truth #shakespeareandco #shakespeareandcompany

A post shared by Shakespeare and Company, Paris (@shakespeareandcoparis) on Apr 25, 2018 at 10:37am PDT

#Pride #Paris #parisestfière

A post shared by Shakespeare and Company, Paris (@shakespeareandcoparis) on Jun 30, 2018 at 5:56am PDT

What is your favourite book? Let me know in the comments below! 

See you soon!

Amy xx

Lanzarote Photo Diary | July 2017

Hey Guys!

I've been away in Lanzarote for two weeks so now that I'm back I wanted to share with you what we got up to while we were there and some photos from the trip. When we first got to our accommodation we found out that the booking system had mixed up our reservation so they didn't have an apartment ready for us until Monday, so instead they booked us into another accommodation complex down the road for the Saturday and Sunday until we could go back to our original accommodation choice. So for both Saturday and Sunday we ended up at Palmeras Garden. It was a great place and their apartments were lovely! The only problem we had was it was a bit far out from all the restaurants and shops, but thankfully we had a car. If we hadn't we would have really struggled!

But that little hiccup didn't ruin our holiday and we still made the most of it, no point worrying about it when we could still have fun as a family and enjoy our vacation ♡ 

Apartment #1

The views in the morning were beautiful! ❤ 

We really enjoyed staying at this apartment complex and the pool was so quiet and peaceful but by the Monday we had to pack up our things and move on to the accommodation we were suppose to be staying at originally.

Apartment #2

Our second apartment at Playa Limones was lovely and I loved our patio as we were able to sunbathe with our own sunbeds and had a nice patio set to eat at! The only problem we suffered with our apartment was that our neighbours were very noisy and not very respectful to the people around them. But other than that it was great! We did experience some noise from the hotel resort behind with their Karaoke night haha! But it was all fun :) 

While we were on holiday we saw so many cats around the apartments but there were two specific cats who liked us and came to visit or followed us back, so we named them Hudson (cat with the brown coat) and Alfred (black and white cat). We weren't suppose to feed them as the staff at the complex already fed them in the reception but we did anyway as we had some left over tuna to share ❤ 

We ate out quite a bit while on holiday and my favourite was the tapas we tried! We ordered canarian potatoes with mojo sauce, meatballs in sauce, chicken croquettes, fried baby squid and bread :) My favourite was the fried baby squid and chicken croquettes as I love seafood and chicken! The tapas was quite expensive considering how much we ordered but I guess it was more for the service as it was very fancy and out there ahah! 

Some of the views of Playa Blanca were incredible! There are obviously a lot of beaches but the mountains were amazing ❤ There were loads of lockets everywhere, like they have done in Paris where you get a locket and write you and your significant others initials and attach it to the chains around the island. 

There was also some great scenery and gardens. This garden was the prettiest I have seen - it looked so colourful and bright :) And only feet away from the harbour and boats. They could legit walk out straight on to a boat! 

In our first week we visited Timanfaya where all the camel rides start, they then tour the volcanoes and show tourists all the scenery and history of the volcanoes. We got to visit the museum that explains all about the use of the volcanic soil in Lanzarote's agriculture industry, it wasn't my cup of tea but I'm glad it was there so that they can share their history with tourists. Seeing the camels was the best bit! There was so many of them and it is clearly very popular! But I don't think going up the volcano on a very windy day was for me haha :)

We had such a great time on holiday and got to try so many different seafood dishes, which is my favourite! And the weather was incredible, I was sad to come back to England where it rains 24/7 haha! But its home ♡ 

Where are you visiting this summer? Let me know in the comments below!

See you on Sunday my lovelies!♡ 

Amy xx