Paris, France

Wednesday 20th March

Our morning started early with a power walk across the small town of Pontorson to go to Paris!

We caught a train to Rennes before transferring to our trusty Flixbus.

It was late afternoon by the time we arrived in Paris and made our way over to our little apartment in China Town with views over the city.

Wasting no time, we headed straight back out to Le Louvre!

I had no idea that the gallery was all through the palace as well as underground so that was so cool to get to go through the palace. It was amazing! We spent at least 5 hours wandering around looking at all the art (literally almost all of it) and were there until closing at 9:45pm!

There was so much more than just paintings as well. There were collections from all around the world, including sculptures from Greece, and artefacts from Egypt.

And of course there was the Mona Lisa! There was hardly any one at the gallery so we got to walk straight up to it and spend a good while admiring the work.

There was lots of works going on in the building so all the other artworks in the room had been taken out, so the Mona Lisa had a massive room all to itself!

We also found some of Monet's work which was such a treat!

It was amazing, just so much incredible art to be amongst!

After a great day we crashed on our very comfortable sofa bed ready for another exciting day tomorrow!

Thursday 21st March

Ooh La La, Good morning Paris!

We started off our Parisian day at the Eiffel Tower. It was a beautifully clear day and we just wandered around the green lawns in front of the Eiffel Tower - well on the paths between the green as it was all fenced off!

We then made our way up to Trocadero gardens to take in the area and the Eiffel Tower from a different angle. On the way over we stopped and sat on the steps leading up to the top to watch some street performers. The whole atmosphere of the place was great! The sun was shining, there were street performers, street sellers, and food trucks everywhere.

We then headed back over and had a Nutella crepe underneath the Eiffel Tower (yummmmm)!

From here we went for a walk along the Seine!

We then strolled along the Champs élysées to the Arc de Triumph. It is such a beautiful wide street, lined with affluent shops and cafes, although due to all the recent protests with the yellow vest movement a lot of the shop fronts had smashed glass and were bordered up. We walked past the newsstand that was set on fire the previous weekend as well.

We arrived at the Arc de Triumph which was amazing! The structure was beautiful and it was so intriguing to watch the madness that was people driving around it.

We then made our way back to the Eiffel Tower timing it perfectly to be climbing it at sunset.

We embarked on the climb which was so much fun (and had a way shorter queue than the lift)!

There was very heavy security to get in. The bottom of the Eiffel Tower to go under it was cordoned off with thick glass and there was bag checks and metal detectors to get through. Then after purchasing tickets, bag scans and body scans, even going to the bathroom required a security check! We felt very safe that’s for sure!

We slowly made our way up this amazing structure stopping at each floor to take in the amazing view!

We made it to the second floor to watch the sunset over the city which was beautiful.

While on the second floor we indulged and enjoyed a citron tart and an eclair while looking over the city!

We then went right to the top!! I can’t believe we were at the top of the Eiffel Tower! I remember standing at the top with Dad when I was only very little and here I am now eighteen years later!

Night had now fallen and the view from the top was so beautiful!! We were looking out the twinkling lights of the city! We had also timed it that we were up there on the hour so saw all the thinking lights start dancing on the tower!