paris

guide to experiencing paris


finally arrived in paris after a hell journey. the whole of europe shuts down with a little snow and a little bit of cold. i left cleavelys at 10 am to take a bus to the poulton-le-fylde train station to find out that the trains were delayed getting out of blackpool. after 45 minuted a train finally came to take me to preston station where there were more delays and had to wait another 30 minutes to catch the next train to liverpool. because of the delayed liverpool train i missed the bus from liverpool station to john lennon airport. by the time i got to the airport it was 4 in the afternoon so it took me 6 hours just to get to the airport :( getting through the airport was fine, except for the usual security line ups. i met some nice people traveling to jersey from england and some people from holland and utrecht and woerdon who were trying to get back home after having there flight cancelled on wednesday from the liverpool vs utrecht game. this was fun talking to as i was heading to utrecht to visit my friend iris come january 2nd. the security system really doesnt like me as it always gets me even though i have nothing on me, every time i have to be searched. when i got to the gate i found out the plane was going to be delayed 30 minutes and when we got to charles de Gaulle airport in paris the plane had to circle the airport 15 times before gaining clearance to land. ( i wonder how many other planes were doing the same thing). we had to do this because they were spacing the arrivals to do the bad weather conditions. getting from the airport to the hostel was a breeze. train systems in europe are always good for that. after 13 hours i arrived at the hostel at 11 at night. the hostel, st christophers inn was really big and along a main line crimee which made it really accessible.

when i got to my room i met my room mates one english, james and his australian cousins that used the eurostar from london to paris for the weekend trip and were going back the next day. soon became friends with them and went down for drinks in the bar in the hostel were we drank and played games untill 4 in the morning. we met other people down in the chill out room. americans, noel and marcus and 2 others and more australians and irish and a canadian. so we had a big group of people together.

my new friends and i went to explore paris on there last day. after waking up at 9 and having breakfast we went to explore paris. from crimee station near our hostel we went to go see the musee du louvre and the musee de l’orangerie but aparently museums and galleries close on monday and tuesdays in paris. so if planning on visiting make time for that to happen as you wont be able to see the museums on the monday and tuesday. instead we walked the jardins des tuileries, where there are number of artist selling their work. their are also other people selling tacky eiffel towers - ignore them and say “non”, their are also people usually dark trying to sell you made bands, DONT let them do this as they say its free until the make it on your wrist and then ask for 10 euros or the people giving free flowers until you accept and then ask for the money. this didnt happen to me but one of the people i met in the hostel told me about it. so dont let it happen to you. after going through the park and unsuccessfully getting into the museums (thank god it wasnt my last day in paris). we saw the gift from the Egyptians, the obelisque. this place is also great for getting pictures of the eiffel tower on a clear day.

we had lunch at a local restaurant. the server was very funny and very nice but for french cuisine it was good but i guess i built up french cooking to much to really enjoy it. i had frog legs and then duck with a glass of wine. wine really is cheaper than water in france and even a cheap bottle of wine, has magnificent aromas and hint of certain flavours. if you go to a restaurant in paris do not go to one in a touristy area as you wont get a good or authentic meal. i had a small little meal in one of these and the price was pretty expensive for the food they were serving. also try and speak french dont be affraid to try as the waiters are going to be rude to you no matter what. and if you get stuck with your french you can always just say “vous-parle l’anglais?” or est-ce-que vous parle l’anglais?” and usually they are fine switching to english for your help. cheese and wine is excellent, just go to a cafe and order that and they come out with so much bread for you as well. also remember not to tip, they get 15% minimum just to be rude! its just the french way, try and be rude back.

after that we decided to get on the metro and head to montmartre and see moulin rouge and the sacre ceour. this is the district where all the artists are. the moulin rouge is expensive to see a show its 200 euros so for a backpacker it is something that you can always do when you come back to paris. at least as a backpacker you can say you saw the moulin rouge and its a great spot to take a picture of the famous moulin rouge and the windmill. if you keep walk in montmatre you will come to the sacre ceour which is the artisan district. the main place around the sacre ceour is very touristy but very quaint at the same time, in front of the sacre ceour there is artist painting pictures of tourist - this is not art. if you want art and and a experience of the old paris you have to go to the back alleys of montmartre there you will find old paris. the apartments are old and classic with deteriorating siding paint and window sills with laundry hanging out, here you will find the real artists paintings, they hang them up on the side of the wall, like you would see in “american in paris” after you explore this area of paris you want to walk down the steps of sacre ceour and look up at the amazing building and the rest of paris. unfortunately for us the mist had come in and we didnt get to see paris and the eiffel tower but on a good day you can.

after that i had to say bye to my new friends as they were heading to gare de nord to catch the eurostar back to london. it was dark so decided to go see the arc de triomphe and the place charles de gaulle where there is a big round about with no traffic directions, they say there is a traffic accident every 30 minutes i was there for an hour and didnt see one. (i couldnt drive in france - i am surprised they live so long with the nerves with driving). i went to the top of the arc de triomphe as it has an awesome view of the champs elysees. if you are european you are golden in paris. the arc de triomphe which normally cost 10 euros just to go up to see the top is free for those with european passport. i then walked down the champs-elysees looking at all the theatres and shops all of which i could not afford. and turned down boulevard de la tour maubourg where there was nothing but top designer shops. also along this street is the hotel des invaldes which is a famous hotel where all the stars stay. apparently if you walk in to the hotel and then walk out again wearing a hat and sunglasses and carrying a bag or and umbrella over your head you will be mobbed by paparazzi (warning if you do this the paparazzi will be really pissed). from here i walked to the eiffel tower which was all lit up the same as the arc de triomphe and the champs elysees. the eiffel tower look beautiful lit up against the seine. i went up to the first level of the eiffel tower as it didnt cos anything when i took the stairs (even that is a climb - you can do the stairs to the top for free - but judging how tired i was by the first level i wouldnt recommend doing that). i went for cheese and wine and to see the skating rink and the best view of the eiffel tower in paris at the place du trocadeo across the seine river - this is a must for any visitor to paris. 12 at night i got back to the hostel tired but excited for another packed day in paris.

woke up early the next morning to get to the louvre early so i could see the mona lisa and the rest of the paintings and art work in the louvre. got there at 10 am at the pyramid entrance which is usually the busy entrance but could hardly be called busy this morning. i found out again that because of eu citizenship and because i was between the ages of 18-25 i could get in free. this was amazing to get in place for free and saved me a lot of money. go straight for the mona lisa cos then you dont get people getting in the way of you viewing the picture then travel everywhere else in the louvre. you will get lost in the louvre, because of the sheer size, poor map of directions, and also because they close certain exhibits during certain days of the week. it is best to go twice to the louvre as you will miss stuff and it takes a day just to explore half the museum. after the louvre go to the second best museum which is the musee de l’orangerie which is located at the end of the jardin des tuileries. the orange museum as monet’s waterlillies which is impresive as that paintings span two rooms. it costs to get in unless you have eu citizenship as then you get to go in for free :) this museum also has other paintings like da vinci and other famous artists. also other featured galleries for your exploring. a whole day can consist of just these two museums.

if you want a cheap lunch go to a local market to get some bread and cheese, very cheap and very dellisous, at least then you can save your money for an expensive dinner.


me and my new friend noel went to find the best falafel in the world according in amie but couldnt find it anywhere. i was bitterly disappointed so i will have to find it tomorrow. after hours of searching we gave up and went to go get a reservation to the moulin rouge show for the night. after making reservation we found out that you need nice dress shoes unfortunately i didnt bring mine on the trip so i was going to go look to buy some cheap ones but couldnt find any decent pair that i would actually wear again so we decided to black tape by shoes :) turned out pretty good. during the day we also went to the notre dam (its free to go inside), an amazing cathedral in the heart of paris. took lots of pictures and also went inside to look at the cathedral. i lit a candle for my relatives. outside is also a statue of Charlemagne which looked sweet. we also had a really nice lunch in this area. i managed to get seated, order drinks, and food for both of us and ask for the bill all in french with out him noticing that i spoke english :) i was really proud of my self. took lots of pictures today. after the notre dam we tried to find a book store that amie told me about which was shakespeare and company i could have loved to have been in the book store all day as the books and the atmosphere was so unique. it was really snowing at this point as you will see if you read this along with my photos. we struggle (umbrellas breaking and going the other way) to get to the sorbonne (university of paris) and the pantheon ( to go inside is nice as it holds the burials of the curies ( it cost money if you are not a european residendent between the ages of 18-25). after traveling along way we tried to find the phantom of the opera theatre but go lost so we left it so i can see it another day. after not finding shoes for the moulin rouge, taped my shoes and went at 7 to see the 9‘o'clock show. we had okay seat got a good view at least but the waiter staff that seated us were really rude so i wasn't to please about that seeing how i payed 90 euros to see the shoes. you are not aloud to take pictures in the moulin rouge even if your not going to take pictures during the show. the show was okay, i will give it that there was some good dancing and good performances but it started off really bad. it turned around eventually went a woman was swimming and wrapping herself in live python snakes in water. it was so cool. and some of the dances were really awesome they had wonderful costumes and great songs. but i was disappointed that the person that did the choreography was crap and that some of the people that were performing couldn't dance or sing and were always out of sync with the other performers. i probably seen enough “tits”, “boobs” to last me a life time! got out at 11 o’clock and headed back to the hostel. for a quiet evening. as it is christmas eve tomorrow and the christmas in paris. what to do???? i am assuming everything is going to be closed but i can definitely live in paris the rest of my life.

christmas eve and in paris so i decided to treat myself today. i got up extra late after having a sleep in. had a okay breakfast today, first time the breakfast didnt run out of cereal. got changed. i was the only one left in my room today. but i am guessing more are going to fill that today. i went out first to the phantom of the opera theatre. it is not the real phantom of the opera theatre (the story is fake) but the opera house that the story is based on is the opera theatre in paris. so you have to go see that just to say you saw the phantom of the opera theatre. next i walked to go have high tea at the ritz :) just to say i had high tea at the ritz. it was good but a bit pricey. then i went to go see the grande colbert, which is the restaurant in the movie “somethings gotta give” = so it is infamous for the final scene. then i found a nice wine shop and two bottles of expensive bordeaux - one is a gift thou. and went to have the best falafel in the world as l’as du falafel. it was an amazing falafel, the establishment is really small and hardly noticeable, definitely recommend it to anyone who wants the best and cheapest. my next visit on my stop was this french bakery that is owned by gerard mulet who is this famous french pastry chef and he only has 3 establishments all in different parts of paris but this one is the first one. so it is the best and i bought 9 macaroons for 14 euros so they better be good, the wrapping and the presentation was amazing. i am going eat some tonight and some tomorrow night.

christmas day everything was pretty much shut. i went around mortmontre with two other new friends ellyse and alex and then met her friends from australia at an apartment they were renting in paris for the holidays, which i thought was pretty cool. so we had a big lunch (dinner) at their flat, we had brought wine, vodka, and cake to add to the festivities of a weird christmas. so it was me and 5 girls, he i cant complain for not having a good christmas. then tonight we are going to a club in paris, so this should be interesting as i leave for catching my train to berlin at 5 so i dont think i will be getting any sleep tonight. my train leaves paris at 6 in the morning and i get to kohn in germany at 9 am then i have 30 minutes wait in kohn before heading off to berlin until the 29th when i go to prague for new years.

i will definitely come back to paris as soon as i get more money and if had anyone to go with. it is amazing place and there is so much stuff i would want to do. and more time i would like to spend here. next time i came i would go in the spring as the trees and weather would be better, and flowers would be blooming and it would still be paris. i would not come here in the summer due to amount of tourists. it would ruin paris for me if i did that.

i always loved the song “i love paris” but now i actually realize what those words mean.

love Paris, oui je t'aime
Mon vieux Paris des beaux jours
J'aime tes faubourgs et la Seine
Qui s'promènent
Aux bras des amants qui s'aiment
Toute la semaine
J'aime tes jolies arcades
Et les pavés de Bercy
Où l'on flâne
Avec le ciel pour camarade
Lorsque l'on aime aussi

Même à l'autre bout du monde
On n'a qu'à fermer les yeux
Pourquoi danser à la ronde
Dans un petit bal de Grenelle

I love Paris, oui je t'aime
Mon vieux copain des beaux jours
Auprès de toi, vis toujours celle que j'aime
Voilà pourquoi
Je n'aimerai que toi


ENGLISH VERSION:



I love Paris in the springtime.
I love Paris in the fall.
I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles,
I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles.

I love Paris every moment,
Every moment of the year.
I love Paris, why, oh why do I love Paris?
Because my love is near.

I love Paris every moment,
Every moment of the year.
I love Paris, why, oh why do I love Paris?
Because my love is near.
She's near