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The one were they went to Paris...
I feel like I am writing some sort of gossip girl column. So tempted to start this with: ‘bonjour upper east siders, you’ll never guess where I am. Let me give you a clue I'm indulging on fresh croissants and chocolate chaud at the top of a rather more sacred set of steps. Sacre Coeur what could happen? See you at the discotheque XOXO Gossip Girl.’
Hmmm yeah probably should just leave that there. So yeah basically I got taken to Paris for my 21st birthday!! Wooo snaps for me (and the boyf who took me). I was a whirlwind, nonstop weekend. I hadn’t been to Paris since the year 7 trip, my most vivid memory of this being the teachers trying to distract the boys from the sex shops. Oh and we went to Asterix instead of Disney Land and I was gutted, although to be fair it was still full of stomach turning roller coasters so my 11 year old self needs to get over it.
So what has changed in Paris in a decade? Sadly I really could not say, so I’ll just talk about the trip through my 21 year old eyes. (Side note, I’m 21, umm sorry but what, not sure I’m ok with this.) We flew from Gatwick, which was easy as pie – genuinely was. On landing the task of finding a train was slightly more difficult than intended. Turns out it doesn’t matter what you get in GCSE French all you will remember is chocolate chaud and discotheque (hence my brilliantly worded homage to GG). So after giving into our classic ignorant brits abroad stereotype we found ourselves on a train to Paris. Two observations here… number one there was buskers on the train. And impromptu rap duo. Oh this excited me. I love watching those videos of trains or planes when the casts of lion king burst into song or a dance troop flash mob the tube. I mean this wasn’t quite that spectacular, and they got annoyed and buggered off the carriage when we would give them any money. Second observation: the Parisian suburbs are a polar opposite universe in contrast to the beautiful city. It was pretty sad actually, maybe the same can be said for other major cities but I had never seen such a contrast as this before – clearly I need to travel more.
When we got to the centre the first stop was the Sacre Coeur – hence second gossip girl reference. I love the Sacre Coeur. It was so beautiful, so sunny, the food was amazing, the wine was gorgeous and the view…. YAS. It was very busy but as soon as we headed slightly further into the side streets it was so peaceful and just so…French? Vocab isn’t going so well is it? But it was just how I imagined Paris to be. The architecture was so pretty, not an ugly sky rise in sight. The slightly run down buildings just looked a lil’ shabby chic.
After lunch we wondered down to our hotel, which was just down from the Moulin Rouge. The hotel was named the Kipling. It was in recognition to Rudyard Kipling and admittedly I know little about him other than he was a literary great who wrote the Jungle Book. I believe he was big on adventure literature based on empire. I mean I think I am right as the hotel was decorated in beautiful oriental furnishings and was very boutique. The staff members were some of the nicest I have ever met and we had complementary unlimited wine in happy hour so would 1 hunna 10/10 recommend for a stay. The only thing that puts a slight odd feeling in me was the celebration of colonialism, which although is part of history and should not be ignored, shouldn’t necessarily be celebrated to such a degree? Maybe I am just a hypersensitive history student. The hotel was still extremely well priced, comfortable and was in a great location so tick tick tick.
In the early evening we walked around the Louvre and Garden Tuileries as the sun went down. I mean…goals? Before heading for dinner near our hotel. I only went and decided to be dangerous and order snails. And BF ordered fois gras. We really are quite the adventurers. And the verdict? Both dishes were nice, but not amazing, and for the money it’s a no. For me the foie gras was too creamy, and the nice thing about snails was the sauce, plus I had to keep telling myself to get over the fact I was eating a snail. But definitely worth a try. I wont lie we never made it to the discotheque. We did try to find one but a. There just did not seem to be any near by, there didn’t really seem to be any bars either, do they not party in France. B. The wine had been flowing all day and not going to lie I was on squiffy side of the crunk spectrum.
Day two: food, food, food, food. And oh my days the food did not disappoint! French onion soup and mahoosive beers by a water feature with a guy playing guitar. Crepes, fresh nutella donuts, fresh cut hams, cheese, croissants, and baguettes – yeah so basically I went to Paris and gained 5 stone. To compensate we walked around the whole city. We saw the Eiffel Tower, Place de la Concorde, the River Seine, the Notre Dame, the Champs Elysee etc etc. Despite the slightly less beautiful weather and the way my body chose this precise moment to develop a hideous cold, Paris was simply belle. I will never forget my 21st and I am so thankful to have been taken there!
Au revoir mon cheri
Xoxo