After feeling a little fed up with various events which are typical to life I decided to take a quick trip to Paris. My friend, Jenny, came with me too when I asked if she fancied it. So we booked a return with the megabus for a measly £45 et viola! Paris here we come!

We arrived at around 7pm so we took the metro to Palais Royal - Musée du louvre to reach our hostel. Of course that was easier said than done and we found ourselves lost with no one wanting to give us directions. Mainly, I assume, because we were obviously English tourists and most assume English tourists expect the rest of the world to be able to speak English too (whichever country they are in)...which is true most of the time. But luckily our French friend came to find us and help us to our hostel.
First night in Paris Damien took us near his home to a little restaurant. Paris is a busy city but it doesn't feel as hectic as London. What I really enjoyed was how everywhere you went to sit and eat or drink you could sit outside and watch the crowd go by. And with people watching as one of my favourite pastimes that is always a good thing, especially in a new place.

After having many French friends and viewing their fussiness with food I'm not really so surprised now after trying the food in Paris. I had a salad (which is normally the least exciting thing I could think to order) but was really so amazing. And filling! I couldn't finish it, so for a salad to do that I say 'bravo'.

Our first full day we went to the louvre. We were living right next to it so it would've been rude not to! It's pretty spectacular, inside and out. The inside is huge and you can't do it all in one go. We went straight to the section with ancient Egyptian artefacts. I suppose it's fairly similar to the British museum. But maybe it's bigger. I'm not sure. But still it was amazing. We missed seeing some things like the Mona Lisa, but I can save that for another visit! Two hours walking around there can exhaust you, particularly when French is not your native language and you're trying to wrap your head around all the information for each exhibit. Phew! At least it's good for us to try and learn more French!

After some delicious early lunch with yummy French rosé wine (it had JUST gone midday so it was fine...) and saying au revoir to our waiter who flattered and flirted with us the entire time, we walked along the river Seine towards the Eiffel Tower. It was so warm and sunny so it was a beautiful day to be taking riverside strolls in Paris!

Along our way we were stopped by an old woman who claimed to have found a gold ring on the floor and tried to give it to me. After telling her it wasn't mine she said I could have it anyway as a souvenir of Paris. How kind! Until she turned around and said she wanted some money for a sandwich. Normally I wouldn't succumb to this kind of trickery but Jenny is a gentler soul than I and gave her some euros. Her charity was at it's limit though when the woman angrily pointed at the 50€ note after clearly not being satisfied with the fact Jenny had handed her ALL her change. But hey; we were left with a gold ring that was too big for either of us and that even if it wasn't no one would wear it anyway, an angry French woman and no change left. But it's all part of the adventure and learning! After that we saw many other fantastic displays of men or women sitting in train stations and making their small children lie very still each time anyone came by while they would pretend to sob for their poor child.

When we got to the Eiffel Tower we sat on the grass before heading into the queue. I know that going up the Eiffel Tower is one of the must do things in Paris, but to be how honest if you're not that bothered about having to do it then I would suggest that looking at it from the ground view is much nicer. That way you can avoid queuing for an hour and a half to see the view for less than 10 minutes. I'm being a whiny so-n-so here, but standing in a queue for something that lasts that amount of time is a little frustrating. It definitely was a lovely view though. I thoroughly enjoyed it for the 10 minutes that I saw it.

The evening was nice. Our friend took us to another place for a drink and dinner which was a pop up bar/restaurant by the river. With it being so sunny it was parfait! We even practiced our hand at ordering in french. Who knows if it sounded any good but we got what we were expecting so can't have been that bad. Once finishing dinner and getting through several more drinks we began walking back to our hostel, only to look back and see the Eiffel Tower shining so prettily that, like too blonde magpies, we were drawn all the way back to it. And of course when we reached it we just had to have a go on the carousel next to it. Alcohol may have fuelled that decision just a little...but I feel it was a good decision! The Eiffel Tower all lit up and coming in and out of view as we circled round on plastic horses was certainly a good one.

So that's it for our first day in Paris! I will write about the second day, but just a little later.