Paris

We started Saturday by grabbing breakfast at a cafe in Montmarte, the neighbourhood where we were staying. Wanting to try some French food, we ordered Croque Madames for a brunch-style meal. Once we were well fed and fuelled for the day ahead, we headed to our first activity of the day, a river boat tour along the Seine. It departed from the pier just below the Eiffel Tower (which we obviously stopped to photograph). On the cruise, we got to see lots of other different monuments along the river bank, as well as plenty of palaces and churches! As Lee hadn't brought any headphones, I had to share mine with him, so we could both listen to the audio guide describing the sights and their histories.

As an afternoon snack we decided to try some more French food, opting for baked Camembert drizzled with honey this time. Most of our group enjoyed this one, although Lee seemed to think it was a dessert, so was a bit confused to start with!  

Next, it was off to the Arc de Triomphe. Will and I took the bus there, but Lee and Matt had to walk due to technical difficulties with the bus ticket app. To be fair to them, it's a confusing app! We passed the time whilst waiting for them by doing some souvenir shopping and I came away with a cool t-shirt (Will, as per usual, did not buy anything!). 

After reuniting at the Arc de Triomphe, we explored the area around and beneath the archway as a group, looking at the numerous engraved scenes. Then we decided to walk down the famous Champs-Élysées, drawn in by the beautiful Christmas decorations on all the shops and trees lining the avenue. Unfortunately the glamour of the street soon wore off as we were jostled in amongst the shoppers. I guess it's even more busy than usual at this time of year with all the pre-Christmas purchases to be made! 

For dinner, we ended our French-food tasing day with onion soup for most of us and snails for some (Will!).  Then it was time to explore the Christmas markets by the Louvre. This was one of the main reasons we had decided to visit Paris at this time of year, to see the city's festive decorations and explore the numerous Christmas markets. From the market we also got a great view of the Eiffel Tower lit up at night and we made sure to catch the famous 'Eiffel Tower Sparkle' that happens every hour!

On Sunday we had an early start, having booked a guided tour of the Eiffel Tower. As part of the tour we had to climb all the stairs to the first viewing platform, where we were given 15 mins to recover and enjoy the view before starting the climb again to the second level! It rained heavily the entire time and it was way too windy to use our umbrellas once we'd climbed about two storeys worth of steps, so we all got pretty wet. The views across the city were still 100% worth it though and we even had a birds eye view of a 10k run that was happening. Lots of the roads around the tower had been closed for the run and there were streams of people passing by underneath us. 

Luckily we could take the lift back down to the ground once we were done exploring and taking our photos, because by then my legs were very tired and I didn't fancy walking down all those steps (although Will was still full of beans, of course!). Once we were down, we walked over the bridge by the tower and headed to the Trocadero area opposite, for yet more views of the Eiffel Tower! I think we must have seen it from every angle by this point! 

We had lunch slightly further down the River Seine, at a traditional French Brasserie and it was Croque Monsieurs and Croque Madames all round! Delicious! 

Despite the persisting rain, we decided to walk to Notre Dame from our lunch spot. Will took the opportunity to use his much loved umbrella and was very happy in the drizzle. The Notre Dame looked great after its post-fire renovation and we spent time reading all the billboards giving information on how the work was achieved and which skilled workers were required. 

As the rain still wasn't letting up, we packed in our exploration by foot and boarded a bus tour. We were able to view all the sights, with an audio guide, from the covered area of the bus- a perfect rainy day activity! 

The final thing on our itinerary for the day was the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. Having already climbed up the steps in the Eiffel Tower earlier in the day, I was not looking forward to plodding up Montmartre hill to reach it. Will (always the ideal travel companion) very kindly had already offered to carry my stuff for me, which made the trek much easier. 

From the hill we enjoyed the views of the city below and by this it was dusk so we got to see the lights of the city as they came on. Sacré-Cœur looked very imposing from its position on the hill and the inside decor was just as impressive as the exterior architecture. We didn't spend too long here as some of us were getting tired by this time but it was worth the quick visit.

After a long day, with lots of walking, we opted to make dinner at home in our apartment and had a chill evening for the rest of the night. 

No trip to Paris is complete without a trip to the Louvre! So on our last day, we made this our only activity before catching the Eurostar back to London. We had to queue for 45 mins to get into the museum, but once we were inside we couldn't wait to explore. 

The group spilt up, with Will and I heading to the Ancient Egyptian Artefacts to do some research for a potential future trip we're considering (spoiler alert?!). After we'd had a quick look at the Mona Lisa, we met up with the others. Lee likened seeing the famous painting to going to a musical gig, a sea of people all with their phones out and trying to get to the front barrier for the best views! 

Once we'd had our fill of paintings, sculptures and artefacts, we left the Louvre and made our way back to Gare Du Nord, where we caught the Eurostar and headed back to the UK. We made it home with a smooth trip, apart from a brief panic, when they threatened to evacuate the Gare Du Nord station due to an unattended bag being left at the security check. Luckily the owner went back for it and we were able to relax for the rest of the journey!