Four days, three nights

I initially started out with a thought and a plan that I would write a diary entry each night I was in Paris but after the first night it became clear that it wouldn’t happen as I had hardly enough energy to write to my boyfriend or family not to mention take notes; we made sure that we experienced our trip to its absolute fullest. I don’t think that we would have been able to do and see more even if we really, truly wanted to. I did take hundreds of photos so I will be able to tell you all about our adventures without missing much out!

When I got on the plane and sunk into my seat I felt all the worry and stress slipping away further from my mind. I gave myself completely to this adventure and I’m not disappointed one bit; a few days getaway with Nicole was just what we both needed -wine and girl chats can work magic! Arriving in the City of Lights was extremely exciting but stressful at the same time, we couldn’t wait to see it and explore, but Nicole and I are well known for our talent for getting wrong trains and booking the wrong tickets HOWEVER I must say that our trip in that sense was flawless and I’m extremely proud of us! We managed to get the right trains at all times as well as the metro and get everywhere without any bigger struggles. Two minutes after we arrived at our hotel we happily left our suitcases and headed to Montmartre which was just around a corner; we couldn’t have been more excited!

Montmartre is filled with artists and people who are sitting back, relaxing, enjoying a cigarette and being French so it really is exactly what I imagined. It is stunning. I would also like to point out that it is not a myth that men here wear long coats, fancy hats and sophisticated looking glasses. I think they all look like writers, which makes me want to stop every single one of them and take a photo and ask a million questions.

We spent our whole time in France exploring and admiring Paris; its charm and beauty is without any argument completely irresistible but also very melancholic; there is something so sad about this city that I sometimes felt extremely overwhelmed and emotional. Paris was everything I remembered and dreamed it would be, but I think finally being there was such a big dream come true and a massive tick off my bucket list that what I felt was an explosive mixture of feelings!(Poor NicNac!)

What we’ve learned EXTREMELY quickly was that Paris is full of noises, people, smells and men who are not afraid to show admiration… It’s impossible to walk down a street without men making a comment or looking at you. This can be flattering but also make you feel very self-conscious and sometimes even a little scared. However a very beautiful French man said hello and smiled at Nicole on our first day so it can be safely said that her day was made!

We found it difficult to find a regular shop which would sell snacks and wine but I think that’s just due to our lack of brains…after a good half an hour we did find one that was located literally five minutes from our hotel. Let’s say we just took a few bad turns.

Paris is absolutely massive, it’s a home to almost 2,249,975 people (look at this number and tell me it’s not impressive?!) not to mention the huge amount of tourists coming in and out the whole year round. We found it can be difficult sometimes to just rest without hearing people and sounds coming from every corner. Montmartre is by far my favourite part of Paris- when walking the streets of this charming area Nicole and I agreed that we can understand why there are so many great writers and artists who come from this city; you don’t even have to try to get your imagination working, it just does it itself and you find yourself surrounded by book and film characters from different eras- it was truly magical and magnificent.

This trip was also eye opening as to my friendship with Nicole. We’ve been friends for over a year now, but know pretty much everything there is to know about one another and I consider her to be one of the best people I know- and I only know a few of those. Nicole is a person who can party in a club till the sun rises which as you can imagine made it even more surprising when she managed to fall dead asleep on our first night at….WAIT…here it comes…eight o’clock. You can totally tell we are twenty year old party animals. Just kidding Nicole, we were both absolutely shattered; I think she just wanted to be in Disney even quicker as that was our plan the next day.

When leaving Scotland the one thing I wasn’t looking forward to THAT much was Disney. I was never obsessed with it as a child and it was never my dream to go there, but when we made it off the train and I seen how beautiful and amazing it is I fell in love on the spot. We both felt like kids again and even the rain, cold and queues didn’t ruin it for us.I can honestly recommend it to anyone and everyone if you have a

chance and some spare money. Don’t think about it, GO. You won’t regret it. And yes I might have cried a little at the night show when the castle was aglow with lights and came to life along with some of my favourite Disney characters, not afraid to admit it!

A massive thank you goes to my Mum who gave us the idea for booking a hop on hop off bus for one of our days in Paris as we wouldn’t have seen half of what we did without it. If you are planning a trip to this incredible city please make sure to book one as it will allow you to enjoy it even more and have a chance to learn something while admiring everything around you. It was raining the day we booked it and it saved us from getting even more soaked than we already were. We decided to make only one stop and leave the warm bus at the Eiffel Tower (who wouldn’t). We took photos, went for a walk and it started raining so badly that we couldn’t wait for the bus to come back for us. Being asked to take photographs by other tourists with the Iron Lady helped to kill some time, but we literally ran for our Foxity bus when we seen it; we were overjoyed to be back on it. We are a pair of sad little young women so we decided to go round the same route twice just to make the most of it all! It was great and a good way of getting out of the rain and cold.

Here is a link to the Foxity website where you can easily book your ticket if in need of one! You can also purchase it from the driver on any bus but I think it is slightly cheaper to do so online.

http://www.foxity.com/paris-sightseeing-tour-by-bus/paris-city-tour.php

Our last night was great; we decided last minute to go out because we both felt we might regret not experiencing Paris by night when we get home. And so we quickly got ready and made our way to Montmartre, we found a lovely place which was decorated unusually with the walls covered with various things like photos, tickets, letters that guests left behind as a mark. An older man was playing the piano, a handsome waiter who was Nicole’s ideal man served us and we enjoyed a few glasses of wine in that magical little place. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

We arrived in Scotland exhausted and starving, but I think now that we are fully fed, slept in our beds and had a proper bath (that we can properly fit in!) we wouldn’t hesitate a moment if someone offered to take us back for a while.
What came as the biggest surprise for me was the fact that I came home with a slightly different image of Paris in my head, I guess it just became more real, but I now know that I don’t think I could live there for a longer time; it was far too overwhelming and there wasn’t a moment when I felt completely safe. I would love to be able to spend a few months there, to be able to explore it properly, without having to rush, to try to learn the language and culture, but I just can’t picture myself ever being fully a part of this city. I will however for sure be coming back for MORE.

To see ALL of the photos from out trip go to:

https://www.facebook.com/ontheroadblog5

Love,

Joanna