Hello, bonjour, hola
Last weekend my lovely pal Laura, who is also on her year abroad, came across from Lille (via Valencia, where she visited another friend!) for the day and I thought it would be nice to share what we did.
On the Sunday night we went to Pizza Hut for dinner and then met with some friends from York, who were also in Paris for the weekend, at the Sacré-Cœur and had some drinks on the steps in front of it. Very cultural and classy, I know. This was the evening when Sam managed to attract a strange man trying to sell roses. The man did not want to leave Sam alone - he was touching his leg, telling him about how he went to university in Middlesex and that Newcastle was in fact his neighbour... It was a strange occurrence but I have to say I'm fairly used to Sam attracting the oddballs. Aside from that, it was a lovely evening!
[Tip for anyone planning to go and see the Sacré-Cœur: before you walk up the 10,000,000 steps, check to see if the funicular is still running. We discovered that we could have avoided the steps which nearly killed us, as it was open still and we could have used our metro tickets. We were not overly pleased about this discovery at the time...]
Our original plan for the Monday was to go to the Musée d'Orsay, but when we arrived it turned out that the museum is closed on Mondays. Well done us for not looking that up beforehand! So instead, we first found a patisserie and got ourselves some food, then sat by the River Seine and ate our lunch.
[Tip for the museum seekers among you: the Musée d'Orsay is closed on Monday but it seems the Louvre is open, don't bother trying to visit the Louvre on a Monday though - the queue was the longest I've ever seen! Also, the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays, just in case you were wondering.]
After we ate, we walked across the bridge and over to the Louvre to show Laura the pyramid in the court, and then we went to the Trocadero to see the Eiffel Tower. The Trocadero is lovely, its a huge viewing platform with an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower, it also has stands which sell hot chocolate, coffee and crêpes (what more could you ask for, really?)
We got really cute pictures of us and the tower taken, and then walked down the steps only to come across the most bizarre thing I've seen in Paris so far (I think it even beats the man walking around Gare du Nord in a hospital gown with a drip). There was a woman doing the 'bridge' or the 'crab' (you know, the yoga-type pose?) and sticking one leg in the air for photos her friend/partner was taking on his phone. She then did a sort of downwards dog pose and alternated which leg she was sticking in the air every now and then. She was doing this for about ten minutes and all I can really think to say is that she's definitely got an original photo of her and the Eiffel Tower now!
After the Trocadero it was time for Laura to get on the Megabus back to Lille - so we spent about 200 years trying to find the bloomin' bus station (it was in the most bizarre place) and then said goodbye!
I really love having visitors in Paris because it makes me do all the tourist-type things that I should be doing anyway, so I'm very excited for my parents to arrive tomorrow so I can see more of Paris (and them, because I am SO ready to see my mum and dad!).
À bientôt!
Bean xx
