We travelled with 2 friends (another couple - J&A) and went for 3 days. We got great timed flights (thanks Ryanair!) so we got in to Paris at around 10am on Day 1. J&A had already arranged to stay in a hotel in the business district but we wanted somewhere a little more central, so rented an apartment through airbnb. It was the first time we'd ever tried this out, so we were a bit apprehensive, but our apartment was perfect (we had such a good experience with airbnb that we've been on 3 holidays since where we've used this site for apartments and every one has been perfect - highly recommended!). We were right in the centre of Paris and the view out of the window was stunning.
Eeeeee! The Eiffel Tower!! You know the scene in Sex and the City S6, where Carrie goes to Paris with Petrovsky and screams when she sees the Tower for the first time? Yip, I did that too and I'm not ashamed of it! To say I was excited is a little bit of an understatement.
After dumping our bags in the apartment we headed out to explore and made a beeline to get a closer look at the Tower, as we were only a 10 minute walk away. The weather was absolutely stunning and we had glorious sunshine every day we were there. This was slightly unexpected at the beginning of September, but definitely welcome.
Lipton Ice Tea pops up in a lot of my travel pictures... For some reason, it becomes my drink of choice in Europe but I'm not as keen on it in the UK. Maybe it's a different formula or something... Anyway, if you continue reading my little blog (big thank yous if you do!) then this is not the only picture it will be featured in.
We sat in the park people-watching while we ate a soft, fresh baguette from a local boulangerie and then headed over to Champs Élysées to take a look at the shops.
Up until this point Paris had seemed very quiet, we'd practically had the park to ourselves, but when we reached the Arc de Triomph we found the tourists! It was so busy and the fact that it's in the middle of a main road made it difficult to get a good view. We snapped a couple of photos but then gave up on fighting for space.
I have to confess, being a Vuitton girl at heart, I made a beeline for the flagship store. We didn't get any attention from the SAs there, which was a little frustrating, but the store was filled with so many people 'just looking' that it would have been impossible for them to know who was actually wanting to make a purchase. There were a few other Vuitton stores around Paris that were much quieter and the SAs there were much more attentive.
Second SATC reference in this post but I also dragged Hubs to see the Dior store that Carrie fell over in... (Hi, my name is Aimee and I'm a SATC addict...). This store was slightly off Champs Élysées so was, again, much quieter and the SAs were lovely.
We passed by Place de Concorde, then headed to Place Vendome to see the Ritz. I should have done my research before we went as it is actually closed for refurbishment for two years! I was hoping to go for afternoon tea there during our visit, but obviously this didn't happen. At least I can use it as an excuse to go back again!
One of the great things about Paris is that everything is within walking distance (if you're wearing comfortable shoes!) and a lot of the main sights are quite close together, so it felt like we'd achieved a lot in our first day! We headed back to the apartment to reset before heading over to the Gothic Quarter to meet J&A for tea.
Given the amount of walking we'd done through the day we got the Metro across and our stop was just up the road from Notre Dame and we got our first glimpse. Didn't see the Hunchback though!
We found a lovely little restaurant not too far away and sat outside to eat. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but there were lots of lovely eateries in this area, so it wasn't difficult to find something tasty. I had a lovely tomato pasta dish and even managed to fit a cheeky crepe in too!
We decided to saunter back to our apartment to work off some calories and enjoy Paris by night but we'd underestimated just how far away our apartment actually was and ended up jumping on the Metro half way back!
We got 'home' just in time to make a cup of tea and sit in the window and watch the light show.
It was the perfect end to a perfect first day in Paris.
Have you ever been to Paris? Did it live up to your expectations?? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Paris Day 2 and Day 3 will be on the blog soon, so don't forget to drop by again!
Aimee x
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