Friday, November 16, 2012

Turning 22 in Paris!

I thought that it would be a great idea to do something exciting for my birthday, and there are many things in Paris that I have been dying to see, so it seemed obvious that Paris was a great place to spend it!
On my wish list was the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and Versailles, alongside picking up another Eiffel Tower keychain after I lost the last one I got when I went to France!
Through some time prioritising, I luckily got to see them all, and more!
On Saturday morning, Lucie and I went to the Louvre, primarily to see the Mona Lisa.


Because it is winter and we were early, instead of waiting in a 2hr line like we did in Rome, we practically strolled straight in, and even got in free thanks to our European residence! A great saving of at least 11 Euros ($20).
We were on a Mona Lisa mission, and stopped briefly to get a photo with a beautiful statue that was mentioned in my guidebook.

But after a few wrong turns, we finally saw her!


And thanks once again to the winter season, we even managed to squeeze in a photo with her! (much to the annoyance of the 20 odd people facing us trying to get a photo!)



We then walked along the Seine to the Notre Dame, but as we were trying to pack the most into our day we just took a nice photo outside!


We then took the Metro to Montmartre, and saw the Moulin Rouge the moment we got out of the station! It's a district that I loved last time I was in Paris, and loved just as much this time! 



I bought another Paris t-shirt (they still had the same ones there that I bought 5 years ago!) and we strolled through the small streets using my very useful guidebook as a map to lead us to the Sacre Coeur, which also gave us a great view of Paris from high up.



After seeing the Eiffel Tower from a distance, we couldn't wait to go and see it! We picked up some couscous and biscuits for a picnic lunch under the Eiffel Tower, and then took far too many photos of us with the Eiffel Tower.. I think it is one of the only places in the world where you have a legitimate excuse to be acting so touristy!


There was some sort of an art exhibition along the park, where (almost) every country had their own bear, which they could paint any way that they wanted. It was amazing to see the different designs that came from each country! New Zealand's one was a bit weird, but I got a photo with it anyway! I was thinking of just hanging around it because I knew I'd meet some New Zealanders before long, but I guess that I can see them any time!


That night we went out to dinner, and I decided that as I hadn't actually tried them yet this time in France, I thought that it was definitely time to order a certain French specialty. Try and guess what it is...


Escargot!! This is me looking slightly apprehensive after just having pulled one out of its shell..


Alongside escargot, I got a roast chicken meal, something I haven't had in a while and it was delicious! The next morning (my birthday!) we had to get up early to get to Versailles, but you will have to wait for the next chapter of my blog to hear about my favourite part of the weekend!

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