I went to Paris with my first ever French teacher - my Mother :) it was a bit of a whirlwind weekend but it was lovely nonetheless! When I started writing my 25 before 25 list I asked my mum for some advice on things to add, and was then bombarded with “Do X with my mother”, “Do Y with my mother”, “Do Z with my mother”. My first thought was how on earth are we going to accomplish all of that? So we kept it to ‘go to Paris’ and ‘do a London walk’ together.
It certainly isn't cheap to fly to Paris from Berlin for a weekend, but coming from New Zealand, where you would be spending roughly $3000 in flights and accommodation, it seems rude to call flights that cost me less than 200€ expensive!
As a young thing I was enamoured with France in general, Paris specifically. I studied French for five years and spent a lot of my spare time absorbing all the information I could find about France and French culture. I spent a month living with a French family in Tahiti! which was bliss, but I was too embarrassed to really practise my French.
My parents arrived in Paris before me and spent two days exploring the city. I believe the last time they had seen Paris was in the time they refer to as ‘B.C.’ (Before Children) and my Mother had been very ill with scarlet fever.
I arrived late on Friday evening and - after only one embarrassing French-speaking incident - met them at our hotel, we drank some red wine and went to bed (so glamorous I know!). The following morning we got up early and went to Notre Dame cathedral, which seems to be the first thing I do on all of my trips to Paris (all two of them!).
What I love about Notre Dame is that it is this magical place where fairy tales and reality intersect, you can wander the chapel and look at the saints and see where Esmeralda prayed for help for her people in the stories - it makes some of the fiction seem a bit real. We didn't go up the towers this time because I want to do it on a tour next time (and maybe not in the middle of winter). I lit a candle for Joan of Arc and wandered the cathedral, we went very early so there weren't a lot of tourists there, score! Then we went to a little café down the road called Esmerelda’s where we paid far too much for hot chocolate and croissants (Quelle Parisienne!). Then we wandered the Marché aux Fleurs before we went to Saint Chapelle and had a look at the beautiful stained glass windows. We wandered along the Seine, looking at all the bookinists buying some postcards and trinkets for family and friends in NZ - all the while humming the tune from the Paris scene of An Education in my head :)
It certainly isn't cheap to fly to Paris from Berlin for a weekend, but coming from New Zealand, where you would be spending roughly $3000 in flights and accommodation, it seems rude to call flights that cost me less than 200€ expensive!
As a young thing I was enamoured with France in general, Paris specifically. I studied French for five years and spent a lot of my spare time absorbing all the information I could find about France and French culture. I spent a month living with a French family in Tahiti! which was bliss, but I was too embarrassed to really practise my French.
My parents arrived in Paris before me and spent two days exploring the city. I believe the last time they had seen Paris was in the time they refer to as ‘B.C.’ (Before Children) and my Mother had been very ill with scarlet fever.
I arrived late on Friday evening and - after only one embarrassing French-speaking incident - met them at our hotel, we drank some red wine and went to bed (so glamorous I know!). The following morning we got up early and went to Notre Dame cathedral, which seems to be the first thing I do on all of my trips to Paris (all two of them!).
What I love about Notre Dame is that it is this magical place where fairy tales and reality intersect, you can wander the chapel and look at the saints and see where Esmeralda prayed for help for her people in the stories - it makes some of the fiction seem a bit real. We didn't go up the towers this time because I want to do it on a tour next time (and maybe not in the middle of winter). I lit a candle for Joan of Arc and wandered the cathedral, we went very early so there weren't a lot of tourists there, score! Then we went to a little café down the road called Esmerelda’s where we paid far too much for hot chocolate and croissants (Quelle Parisienne!). Then we wandered the Marché aux Fleurs before we went to Saint Chapelle and had a look at the beautiful stained glass windows. We wandered along the Seine, looking at all the bookinists buying some postcards and trinkets for family and friends in NZ - all the while humming the tune from the Paris scene of An Education in my head :)
That evening we went to the Le Coupe-Chou for dinner and I had boeuf bourguignon which unfortunately wasn't great, but it is the first time I have had a bad meal there so I still recommend the restaurant, just not that dish! The crême brûlée was fantastic as usual!! Then we went to see the Tour Eiffel and the Arc de Triomphe for some night-photography.
The next morning we went to Sacré Cœur and climbed one of the many staircases before looking around the inside of the cathedral. Then we had lunch (French onion soup!) and wandered through the square where all the artists sit and paint and sell their artwork, I regretted bringing such a small bag and having no home to decorate!
Then we took a mandatory trip to the Apple store under the Louvre before I made my way to the airport and back to Berlin.
Paris is lovely, I still have to go there some time when it is not winter! Maybe next time :)
I love sharing my list with my family and friends, I think maybe next time I will come up with a few more activities involving other humans. It’s probably time I ditched my hermit shell.
Part of me still wants to live the dream in Paris for six months, but the rest of me just wants to find a home and feather my nest with artworks bought from Montmartre and play French music sometimes!
HOTEL SLIPPARZZZZ
Only in Paris can the teeniest tiniest courtyards look so romantic!
