And welcome to my final instalment of the Paris Diaries! (*cry*) Today I'm going to talk about my five favourite and most disliked experiences of my trip. This varies a lot from food to attractions to general experiences. I hope you like it and let me know what you're most liked and disliked parts of Paris are.
Worst
5. The amount of armed police EVERYWHERE. To some people, this may not be a bad thing and I'm sure a few did feel more secure in the presence of these police especially since the Charlie Hebdo attack. However, for me, I have never seen this kind of thing. It's not like I'm not use to cities, yes I've seen guards outside Buckingham Palace etc. But this felt a lot worse. The first armed guard we saw was just walking through a car park next to our hotel. They were in groups of 3 outside the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coeur, everywhere. And I for one actually felt less at ease because it was if there was a threat to be protected from. Not what you expect in Paris
4. The randomness of shop opening hours. Once again, this wasn't a massive disappointment but it was just strange. We didn't make it to Galleries Lafeyette because we just never knew when it was open! Some shopping districts were open till midnight, some were closed on Sundays, some were closed in the middle of the day. It was just very unpredictable
3. The price of beer. Now I'm getting more into the things that really angered me. Yes, I do understand that Paris is a city and it is expected for it to be more expensive than anything that I'm used to (bearing in mind that I come from the North of England where I'm not used to paying more than £4 for a beer - and that's in a city). HOWEVER, there was absolutely no need for the cheapest place we found to have a drink to be Hard Rock Café. No. Previously, that was the most expensive place to drink but we were so relieved to see that Belgian Beer was only 7 euros. I'm about to make you all faint right now but Ben actually paid 20 euros for a beer in Le Crazy Horse, not even a pint, 20 euros. No.
2. The queues. Sometimes unavoidable, but some of them were just unnecessary. I'm British. I am used to queuing. Queuing for the Eiffel Tower, yes I don't mind it is the most visited attraction in Paris. Queue jumpers? Oh no. You know why? There is absolutely nowhere for you to go once you get past the person you're jumping, you just have to stand there. But people really didn't care. The queue for Versailles was absolutely insane! It zigzagged all around the courtyard and it just seemed like everybody in Paris was there. Argh. It just bugged me.
1. The scammers. Absolute hands down WORST thing about Paris. And I could sit here and tell you that once you know about the scams, you can avoid them, but you can't. We knew there were ladies with petitions asking for donations, we knew about the gold ring scam (didn't get that fortunately), we even knew about the bracelets that people would try to put on you. But there was no way of knowing that if you refused one of these bracelets, that 3 men would grab your arms and drag you away from the security of the crowds to call you disrespectful and racist Seriously, for not wanting a bracelet. My advice to you - pretend you don't even understand them.
Best
5. The gardens. Yes, yes. 'Why Paris? There are gardens everywhere in the world!' And I do agree, but there's something about Paris in the Spring. On a good sunny day, everything's in bloom and everyone's out. Just strolling around the gardens is like being in a postcard. Jardin du Luxembourg, Jardin du Tuilleries, the gardens at Versailles and next to the Eiffel Tower. Every day we sat in a different one. You can just act like a Parisian. Sit and eat your croissant, read your book and take in the scenery.
4. The public transport system. Once again, this is a love/hate for some people. If you can work it out and at least act like you're confident with it, it's amazing. Ben and I just took the plunge. As soon as we touched down at Charles de Gualle, we headed downstairs to it's train station and just did it. We pretty much got the metro or walked everywhere. The only time we got a taxi was after we saw a mugging so nobody can blame us! The metro is so efficient, always on time, easy to work out and just great.
3. The food - crepes, macaroons, croissants- need I say more? Like oh my god. I know you can get this stuff In England but it's nothing like the food in Paris. I had my first taste of Macaroons from Laduree, which were INCREDIBLE. The crepes under the Eiffel Tower are amazing. And pastries are just mouth watering, everything's so good. Aaaaah. One thing I will say is, it might have been my choice of restaurant but the mussels came in second best to the ones in Brussels, just saying.
2. The architecture. I'm serious when I say this is breath taking. But then pretty much every European city has stunning architecture. There's just a surprise around every corner and I don't know but Paris just feels so Parisian! I can't describe it, it was everything I was expecting and more. There were monuments hiding in the most unpredictable places and beauty hidden extraordinarily well.
1. The Eiffel Tower SPARKLES. Yep, it actually sparkles. Now I hear you saying 'Why is this your number one?!' 'I was slightly underwhelmed by the Eiffel Tower.' But for me, this was everything I was waiting for. I was pretty used to seeing the Tower by day 3 as you could see it as soon as we walked out of the hotel, but on the final day I decided to time it to catch the twinkle lights. Every hour after sunset, on the hour, the twinkle lights come on for about 3 minutes I think. When I saw them I actually cried, it was so amazing and definitely worth timing your outings around!
OK, so there's my top 5 best and worst things about Paris! It was an incredible experience and I would love to return regardless of some of the bad points. I hope you enjoyed this and if you have any good or bad points that I've missed, let me know!
CJ x
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