From Paris With Love xxx

Having been in France for three months, we decided it was about time we embraced French culture at its best and booked a weekend in Paris (all in aid of our degree of course). Thus, on the 3rd of December 2010 Claire and I got up obscenely early and set off to the beautiful Paris, to then be joined the following day by Ellie, Liam, Lauren and Livi.

After discovering we were in the wrong seats and being directed to the right ones and having a woman fall asleep next to me (very awkward when I needed the toilet) we finally arrived and bought our tram tickets for the weekend. We got to the Young and Happy hostel in the Latin Quarter (definitely got quite lost), dumped our bags and headed off to explore Paris. SUCH A BUSY DAY. We must have walked miles. We saw the Moulin Rouge, Palais Royale, about a gazillion wedding shops and, of course, went shopping in Les Halles. We then went for a few drinks and met two lovely American guys before heading off to the Louvre to pretend we were cultured. I hate to sound horrifically uncultured, but if I saw one naked baby flying round in the sky or feeding off it's mother, I saw a thousand. They are big on their nakedness in the Old Louvre. I was rather shocked I must say! Some of the paintings are so beautiful but there are others that are just so weird!

By 8pm we were dragging our feet round the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, absolutely shattered, only to get lost trying to find the exit. However uncool we sound saying this, we were glad to get to bed at about 11pm, both absolutely shattered. We were quite content until the Brazilian girls we were sharing with decided to make as much noise as possible until about midnight. SAAAAFE.

The others arrived bright and early the next day, we went to meet them and then dropped their bags etc off. First stop- FOOD. We decided on crepes and paninis in a little cafe in the latin quarter. It had started to snow and Ellie took this opportunity to launch a snowball at Liam (and surprisingly didn't miss) hitting him square in the ear. *Cue Liam's Promise Of Revenge.* Next thing we know, random questions such as "Ellie, what do you think about Titanic?" "Wasn't it such a shame about the iceberg?" led Ellie to finally discover she'd been walking around with a HUGE snowball in her hood. All fun and games.

 

 "No Ellie it's fine." ...*thinks so self* "definitely going to shit on your pillow!"

Next we went to look around some of the Christmas markets along the Champs Elysées. They were so beautiful! However after walking so far in the snow, all our feet were freezing to the point where Livi couldn't walk properly- a perfect excuse to stop for hot chocolate. At the café we were joined with two more girls from Cardiff uni, Amy and Kathryn before we wandered through all the shops, only venturing into H&M because we couldn't afford anything else.

We then headed back to the hostel to change before going for a meal and out in the evening. It was then that I came up with such a bon plan- to wear plastic bags on my feet to keep them dry under my boots! It worked so well! If anyone ever gets stuck in a similar cold-feet-sitch you now know what to do, and I intend to sue if I ever see plastic bag linings in shoes on the catwalk.

All dolled up and ready to go, we found a lovely restaurant in the Latin Quarter where we decided to eat (mainly drawn in by the 15 euro 3-course-menu- yummy). Once we had all finished, and Ellie had hoovered up most of the leftovers (she'll kill me for that- "you're giving me a complex!"), we decided to go to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up. We got on the tram, and after a few jugs of wine at the restaurant, it was SUCH a good idea to buy a cheap bottle of wine in an off license to drink in front of the Eiffel Tower- Class birds. The man at the till was less than impressed when we asked for his cheapest bottle of wine and then "Avez-vous un screw-top?" Funnily enough, they don't do easy-open cheap wine in France, you know because they are all cultured and don't drink in the streets, but luckily he had a bottle opener. We obviously weren't the only ones who had ever bought wine to drink en route. Either that or he drinks his profits...
 

 

So, with wine now in tow, we headed to a place near the Eiffel Tower where you could see it best and it looked SO beautiful. We had our fair share of photos and managed to avoid the crazy merchandise sellers before wandering through the gardens to it. Obviously couldn't walk past the carousel without a cheeky go though! Eight 20-22 year old students all so over excited sat on gigantic and ornate carousel horses, shrieking like hooligans whilst swigging from a bottle of wine- that was a site for the Parisians I must say!

Next stop- Notre Dame. Even more beautiful at night and when surrounded by Christmas trees and lights. 

We then caught the last tram back to the hostel to sleep off the wine before another day of tourist attractions the next day.

Day 3- Sacre Coeur, Moulin Rouge and La Défense Christmas markets. As it was our last day in Paris we wanted to squeeze as much as we could in. We headed towards the Sacre Coeur as it is renowned for having one of the most beautiful views in Paris. This view, accompanied by the questionable voice of the guy singing the Beatles, was a bit much for our Liam, who came over all emotional. Larmes au Sacre-Coeur.

So after an emotional half an hour at the stunning Sacre-Coeur, we then dropped down into the sex district. The Moulin Rouge is a must see when in Paris, however the sex shops, we soon discovered were so disturbing! Literally the most terrifying objects I have ever seen. We went in to have a look around for a joke but all came out absolutely traumatized. *SHIVER*

Having recovered from the mental scarring in the sex district, we made our way to La Defense to see another Christmas market. La Defense has been described as a mini Japan in Paris apparently, which I thought was ridiculous, but is in fact a reasonably good description. Compared to the rest of Paris, it's HUGE modern buildings make it unique. However, as the French are never afraid of a bit of mismatching, in amongst all these futuristic buildings were lots of little huts that formed a traditional Christmas market. It was so lovely! Ellie and I had a lush tartiflette which was absolutely amazing, however, having had a glimpse of modern/more familiar surroundings, some of the others couldn't resist a McDonalds. When in Rome...

As our trip drew to a close, we went back to the hostel to get our stuff to get the train back to Nantes. Livi ended up having to book an earlier train home (I think it was cheaper), so off she scarpered. Lauren Claire and I booked together so were all sat together on a table which was all well and good, until the stupid bloke opposite me took up ALL my legroom. Literally my knees were under my chin! Stupid man! And to make things worse, he spoke English and French so I couldn't even have a good bitch. About half way through the journey Liam appeared in a fluster as he's had to sit next to a fat smelly guy- nice. It was then we found out that Ellie had managed to get into first class! Lucky sod.

It was so lovely to get out of Nantes for a few days, and we had such a fabulous time! Young and Happy through and through. "So much banter" as Liam would say. Really going to miss these guys :(