Travel // Paris in December

It turns out Audrey Hepburn was right when she said Paris always is a good idea. 
What a place!
The hubby and I went to Paris for a long weekend at the beginning of December. The hubby wanted to go see a Tigers vs. Racing rugby match so we said we’d make it a longer trip and explore Paris. This is the first time we’ve been together and we had a lovely time!

After work on the Friday we got a train down to London and stayed in a Travelodge for the night before getting the first Eurostar of the day out of Kings Cross. Since the Thursday I had been feeling absolutely rotten – I had to leave work at lunch on the Friday because I was so ill and slept all afternoon until we had to leave for the train at 6pm. It wasn’t until the Sunday that I felt much better but we still had a fantastic time!
In the run up to the weekend there had been a lot of chatter about the Yellow Jacket protestors. We were a bit apprehensive but decided we would just steer clear of the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysees. We later found out from our Airbnb host that the protestors only protest on a Saturday. When it came around to the Sunday it didn’t feel like there had been any protesting! We even popped across to the Champs-Elysees and there were only a few boarded up shops – apart from that it was like nothing had ever happened which was surprising!
By now you’ll have gathered that the hubby and I love an Airbnb… so Paris was no different! The hotels in Paris were coming up fairly pricey so we checked out Airbnb. As neither of us had stayed in Paris before it was a little tricky picking an area to stay. We ended up staying in the 11th Arrondissement which was just under a 10 min walk to the Bastille. When we booked we hadn’t realised that it had 2 bedrooms so we had a choice! The bathroom was definitely the nicest part of the apartment which a huge rainfall shower 😊. I love it when an Airbnb strikes gold! (See link here)
Walking around Paris was lovely… I mean it was freezing and raining a lot of the time but that didn’t mean the view wasn’t as lovely!
Late afternoon on the saturday we made our way to Notre-Dame and had a look around. I’d say its my favourite Cathedral in Paris. It is so grand but then has an understated grandeur. The history of Notre-Dame is a long one and the outcome is a glorious place of worship/ iconic city landmark. 
I loved all the Christmas feels!
After leaving Notre-Dame we made our way over the Seine and had a wonder around the streets. We eventually settled in a place called Mulberry Street. We stayed there for a good 3 hours having some tasty cocktails and pizza. Both were delish! It was happy hour whilst we were there so I had a ‘royal’ Mojito (made with champers) and then a normal Mojito while the Hubby stuck to the beer. It was nice to just sit down and enjoy each others company – work can be so manic for us both, it’s nice when we can both just unwind, eat yummy food and properly catch up!
The hubby added all the GIFs to this pic!
After dinner we then had a slow stroll back to the apartment and had an early night. We slept for 10 hours which never happens! The dream!
Sunday morning started with yummy croissants. One of my favourite things about France is the pastries! No where does them better… It was a fairly early start as we were booked into the Louvre for 9am. Because we got there so early we got some amazing pics without any tourists around! The que also wasn’t too long which was perfect.
We hadn’t realised how large the Louvre is… it’s massive!!! We spent a good 3 hours walking around and managed to see the Mona Lisa (and get a selfie as you do!) without having to wait too long. On the hubby’s list was seeing all the Ancient Egyptian artefacts – I hadn’t even realised these were in the Louvre. There’s so much to see… paintings/ sculptures/ artefacts and even stately rooms. It’s definitely a must see if you’re in Paris.
The next stop for the day was the Eiffel Tower which we walked to from the Louvre. Now this wouldn’t have been too bad if it hadn’t been chucking it down! And I only realised I had an umbrella in my bag when we only had 10 mins of the 50 min walk left… Oops! Best to say the hubby wasn’t best impressed – my bad!
Anyways… the Eiffel Tower is such an impressive landmark. We’d booked a ticket to go right to the top, but because it was so windy and rainy we were only allowed to go half way up. Luckily we’d booked the lift tickets which meant we had some respite from the awful weather. The views were still amazing…
Sunday was a jam packed day! After the Eiffel Tower we made our way up to the Racing rugby stadium – we were a bit early so grabbed some crepes before – another great French food! I had my favourite Lemon and Sugar – soooooo good…
The rugby match was a great watch. I mean it wasn’t a great score but a great show was put on. It’s an indoor arena and there were lights/ bands/ fireworks – very impressive! I was a little disappointed that the only alcohol they serve is beer so good for those that like beer (not me!)
We finished off the evening locally at a cosy restaurant called Le Bastille (it literally is just off the Bastille roundabout!). We had a delicious meal over a bottle of white. I had scallop risotto while the hubby had a yummy burger. We then had a little stroll over to Amorino for a late night ice-cream. (This was the same ice-cream place I went to in Venice so knew it would be super tasty!) I had strawberry sorbet with caramel mmm!
I love how the ice-cream in a cone come like a flower!
The Monday was a more chilled day which again started with croissants – yum! Montmartre was on our list as the final thing to do this trip so we jumped on the Metro and made our way up to north Paris. After walking up sooooo many steps to get up to Sacre-Coer we went around the corner to grab some brunch at Hardware Societe. I’d done a little research and this came up highly rated. We popped in and were given a table straight away (the last one!). The food was very tasty! The place is Aussie-inspired and the food shows. I had brioche with pineapple, passion fruit and a coconut panna cotta. The hubby had baked eggs 😍
I was well and truly stuffed afterwards so we had a slow stroll up to Sacre-Coer, wondered around inside and then admired the amazing views over Paris…
The rest of the day we spent strolling around Paris and grabbing pastries from different patisseries mmm 😊
For our Eurostar trip back we grabbed some eclairs in case we got hungry… and we did 😛
We took a bit of Paris back with us… we stumbled across a cute little artists shop in Montmartre and picked up a canvas painting – I love it and its now hanging at the top of our stairs 😍
I’ll definitely be going back to Paris! On our list is:
  • Top of the Eiffel Tower
  • River boat cruise to see the Eiffel Tower 
  • Visit the Palace of Versailles
Anyone else been to Paris and loved it? Think I’d like to go back and experience it in the Spring… What do you think is the best season to visit Paris?
Until next time,
Cathers x
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