trois.

Last part of my Paris trip.

As we were leaving in the afternoon, didn't plan much for the day so we had a later start. Checked out, left our luggage and then made our way to Notre Dame.

But not before admiring the snow! Thus my first proper experience with snow is not in Manchester, but in Paris. 

Everything was covered in a blanket of white. So pretty =D.

Something that didn't cross my mind was how the snow would affect my trip. Got to Notre Dame obly to find that we couldn't go up the tower due to the snow =(. Major bummer. Going up was suppose to be one of the highlights of my trip cause of the gargoyles. 

Change of plans to go to Saint Chapelle instead for the stained glass only to be yet again disappointed. Turns out that it was closed. So instead decided to go for some hot chocolate at La Chalotte de l'isle. Of course it being Paris got slightly distracted on the way by a bird market.

Scary looking chicken. 

Pretty red birds.

Finally we got to the island of St. Louis where the hot chocolate was. Most of the shops there were still closed but thankfully the hot chocolate place was open. 

Just stepping in you can already smell all the chocolate-y goodness. 

The chocolate fondant.

The hot chocolate. Which was seriously rich. It was as if all they did was melt a bar of chocolate into the cup. Definitely recommend sharing it between two people. Perhaps even three if you plan on ordering other things. 

So with warm chocolate in our tummies, we made our way back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and say goodbye to Paris. 

More like au revoir. Definitely plan on heading back some time in the near future. 

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deux.

Okay this is gonna be a lengthy post so bear with me.

Saturday morning started out relatively early, perhaps too early as most shops had yet to open for the day. We did however stumble upon this little antique market on Rue Monge where I was very tempted to buy some rings and necklaces but with a price tag of 40euros for a necklace it was way out of my price range. There were a ton of interesting things such as swords and even this Autobridge playing board.

Wanted to head into

the Pantheon 

but got kinda distracted at the market for too long. Headed to the newparistours meeting point at the St. Michel fountain around 11am for their free tour. We had Amanda as our guide for the next 3.5 hours and it turned out to be a very good tour as she was both informative and entertaining.

Saw the Pont des Arts which is where couples go and 'lock' their love and throw away the key into the river Seine. Romantic? Cheesy? Unrealistic? Either way I thought it was a nice part of being in Paris.

Perhaps those who do have a lock on the bridge carry a spare key just in case the love doesn't last?

Covered most of the touristy places of Paris so was more than happy to tip the guide at the end of it all. After having lunch it was then a short walk to where else but the Eiffel Tower. What is a trip to Paris without a visit to the Eiffel Tower. Didn't go to the top but even from the bottom it was a sight to behold.

The Eiffel Tower.

After that made our way to Galeries Lafayettes which was way overcrowded. They had a gorgeous ceiling which I forgot to take a picture of but considering it was just a shopping mall was really pretty. 

Bout some macarons from 

The passionfruit and chocolate one was delicious. They also had one that had chili in it which might seem strange but was surprisingly quite nice as it had that little 'kick'. 

Went to the Arc de Triomphe after where I did not know I had to climb up like hundreds of steps to get to the top. Well worth it though. Had a magnificent view of Paris at night as well as getting to see the Eiffel Tower light up for their light show.

So bright and twinkly =D. 

After that headed back to the Latin Quarter for dinner as everyone was pretty tired out from the long day. However, Andrew, Sonia and I headed back out to walk along the River Seine wanting to make the most of our Paris trip. Funnily enough we three were the oldest in the group but yet the only ones with the energy to go back out. 

We were rewarded with a glimpse of just how beautiful Paris could be at night.

The Notre Dame. 

Wandered around a little longer before deciding to call it a night. But no before stumbling upon the bookshop(Shakespeare and Co.) as well as a jazz bar that were on my list of things to see. Only while getting 'lost' did I find these places. Haha. 

And that was day 2. 

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un.

Ah Paris. One hears so many wonderful things about it all the time. So when I finally went there, was slightly afraid that Paris was overhyped and that it wouldn't meet my expectations.

Thankfully, it did. It's such a beautiful city that I would love to stay there for a bit. Perhaps not for life but at least for a month or two.

Flight was delayed for an hour so by the time we landed in Paris it was 5pm instead of the scheduled 4pm. Paris Beauvais was a small airport so getting through immigration was quick. And then it was a 1.5 hour bus ride into Paris itself as Beauvais is more like the country side. The Metro/RER was relatively easy to navigate thanks to the app I downloaded on my iPhone.

Got off at the St. Michel-Notre Dame spot for my first proper sight of Paris. It was dark and cold but even then Paris was beautiful. Although slightly lost at first, managed to find Hotel Marignan(thanks to Julian's app of Paris; what would we do without iPhones I swear) where we would be staying. The guys' room was on the fifth floor which meant an extra 2 flights of stairs compared to us girls to climb but they had a balcony!

View from their balcony.

Checked in with no hassle as the lazy at the counter spoke perfect English. Unloaded our luggage into our rooms which was a lot bigger than I thought it would be after hearing about how small Paris hotel rooms could be and then it was off to dinner.

On the suggestion of the lady who checked us in we ended up in Le Volcan(10, rue Thouin) for dinner. Bout a 10 minute walk from our hotel as it was next to Place de la Contrescarpe(where Ernest Hemingway used to hang out). Three course meal for 12euros was decent I guess.

Campaign Pate for my appetizer.

Cheese and bacon thingy for main course. 

For dessert I had a cheese and chestnut puree dish but was too eager to dig into it hence the lack of a picture. It was really yummy though. 

By the time we were done it was 11ish so wandered around a little and then went back to rest up for a long day ahead. And so day 1(more like night) in Paris was over. 

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always have.

This time tomorrow I hope to be sipping on a glass of wine watching Parisiennes go by.

Can't wait for my first ever trip to Paris. 

Kinda nervous though. A country where I don't speak the language.

Not to mention the fact that I have either overplanned my trip or underplanned it. Not sure which one as some parts of my itinerary are extremely detailed whereas other parts are just blank in hopes that I will get distracted by something.

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