Paris in one day

They say 'Paris is always a good idea'. But is it really?

I've been dying to go to Paris for literally years. Well, basically I didn't really take no for an answer. So imagine how happy I was when I found a September sale of Eurostar tickets to Paris (for those who have no idea what Eurostar is - it's a trainline connecting London with both Paris and Brussels via the English Channel or La Manche as the French people would 'prefer'. And it only takes about two and a half hours to get there so very convenient!). Normally, I wouldn't say that but as for Eurostar, a £60 return ticket is nearly for free!

So Damian and I went for one day (luckily I skipped the least productive lecture and seminar ever), literally just to get out of the city, or should I say the country? We left at 7.00am from King's Cross St Pancras International (trust me, waking up at 4.45am knowing your going to Paris is almost like waking up at noon with the difference that you desperately need a coffee to even think about being alive not to mention walking the whole day! ;)) which is the best thing ever because it's in the heart of the city so no need to travel for ages to get to one of the low cost airline London airports when in fact none of them is in the actual London, not even within the M25.

I must say, I had great expectations. I'm one of those people who have a constant need of travelling, exploring, discovering, whatever else new places. And even though I'm not always able to do it, I have a list of places that I imagine are the best places on the planet. Paris was one of them I guess. You know all the movies and books that give you an impression of the romantic city of love with the unique climate? Woody Allen's 'Midnight in Paris' is a great example. Watching the film, I got this impression that Paris is a magical city with little streets and great plazas (I know it all sounds like a one big cliche). So you're going with this perfect image in your head, expecting God knows what and when you get there, you realize that it's just a city, like many others. Obviously, it has it's architecture and people but still, it wasn't indescribeable and breathtaking so I guess I was just slightly disappointed.

Damian was laughing at me because the first thing I said when we got to Gare du Nord was 'Why is there no WiFi and the loos are paid?!'. He calls it 'problems of the first world' :D So we took tube (see, another thing when you're a Londoner. Wherever I go, I always call underground, metro or subway 'tube' because I'm so used to it, I can't help it.) for just a couple of stations to get to Marais and then started our 10 hours walk. Yes, ten hours!

Paris felt slower in life than London (but maybe only because in London everything you need is located in the city so everyone goes there, that's why it's so full of people), but I had to be very careful so I didn't die hit by a car. Parisians literally drive like crazy! And they seem very unfriendly which really makes life more difficult because you won't get a good deal anywhere if you don't at least try to say something in French. If you do, maybe they'll feel sorry for you and laugh at you, but will think that you're cute and eventually give you the damn baguette you'll be walking the city with so you feel more like in Paris. It really felt calm and peaceful in Paris compare to London, that's why I really liked it. A complete opposite.

Laugh at me as much as you want, I'm lauging at myself too, but what I had for dinner was Chinese. Because I like it, yeah. But also because it was cheap (well, not really but the cheapest I could find within a mile). So me, Damian and Cyrille, Damian's friend from Paris, just sat in a little square and ate my Chinese and some fab bread from a typical French boulangerie (which was amazing by the way). Then we continued our little expedition further into the city. I had plans to go see the Fashion Museum but I ended up in Vintage Kilo Shop and Galeries Lafayette (my love <3), I wanted to go get Laduree, I had Chinese, I wanted to see Luvre, I only went to a little Adam Mickiewicz Insitute (very lovely place, go if you have a chance!). Might be funny, but there is so many things worth seeing in Paris and it's impossible to see all of them in one day, literally a few hours.

So after walking the whole day, the last thing we went to see was the Eiffel Tower and sunset at Pont Alexandre III (yes, the bridge from 'Midnight in Paris' again :)). Imagine the surpise when we got out of Metro to see this:

Thank you Paris for this warm welcome, the planks! But we managed this little situation quite well, got there anyway ha!

Back at the station, I eventually got to buy Vogue Paris and US which is what I secretly went to Paris for. Yeah, just to get the mags (no, I'm just kidding). It's been nearly three weeks since we came back home and they're still in the bag, unopen because I had no time at all to read them. I can't tell if it ever felt so good taking my seat on the traing than that moment, after a VERY long day. I slept during most of the travel and was back home at midnight. Thank you Paris, I will be back soon!

NOTE: I'm writing way too much, probably no one is going to get to this bit so I'm just writing to myself woooo!!! I'll just post some pictures (my phone died half day, YES! I love iPhones :/) so you can see my day from the beginning till the very end. Enjoy them if you at least see this! And go to Paris, maybe you're gonna like it! If not, go anyway, why wouldn't you go everywhere in the world! Wanderlust all the way! :)))

Paris said good night to us in this beautiful way: