Showing posts with label france. Show all posts
Showing posts with label france. Show all posts

Top 5 things to do in Paris!

If you happen to be lucky enough to find yourselves in Paris then here is, in our opinion, the 5 must-do's. We lived in Paris last year and we saw our fair share of beautiful places and inevitably, some of the not-so-beautiful places (*Cough* the METRO!). Please feel free to comment your favourite things as everyone's experience of Paris is different!
*Edit - This guide appears to contain a lot of alcohol and we would like to stress that we are NOT alcoholics. 

5: Sit down and relax - Ideally, you'll wait for the rain to come down. Now, all you need to do is sit outside on one of the many heated restaurant patios with a bottle of wine and watch the world go by. Nobody likes getting soaked after all, its the sensible thing to do.

4: Mix Club,  Montparnasse - In our opinion, the best club in Paris. Definitely cannot be missed whilst you're there. On Thursday nights there is free entry for tourists before 12, which is always a bonus as Paris can be expensive. Aside from all that is the fact that there is a SLIDE between floors. we know - we couldn't wait either. Not to mention they host the biggest light-boards in Europe.
- Unfortunately we have no suitable pictures for Mix Club. The majority contain an innapropriate amount of alcohol or are blurred beyond comprehension.

3: Try the local food - We can almost guarantee that on your return back home, people will ask you whether you tried snails and/or frog's legs. Dissapointment will quickly spread if you reply no to either. We were reluctant at first, but once you get to grips with the strange utensils provided with "escargot" you'll find that they look a lot worse than they taste. In fact, they're rather nice! Frog's legs or "'cuisses de grenouille" are equally not as horrible as you might think. Think of a chicken wing and you're almost there!

2: Don't just climb the Eiffel Tower... -  Embrace it. We love the Eiffel Tower, it's by far the most iconic part of Paris. We aren't saying not to climb the Eiffel Tower, you almost HAVE to, what we are saying is climb it (or get the lift) but have a picnic with you, maybe some wine - again, and enjoy the great buzz around the area. There are street performers and ice cream and candy floss (Barbe a Papa in French - literally meaning dad's beard). Lots and lots going on and if you're still mobile after the long climb up, you can walk up to Trocadero for some fantastic views of the area. 

1: See Paris by night - When the sun goes down Paris comes alive, the Eiffel Tower twinkles (actually pretty much the whole of Paris twinkles), Café's and restaurants are buzzing with conversation and laughter, bars are open and playing music and life is generally great. The sort of stuff you imagine when you think of Paris. Walking around Paris at night is easily our favourite pastime and we really think you should give it a go. We guarantee you will not regret it, we were regularly seen wandering around at night like a pair of nomads, drinking in the atmosphere and just generally appreciating life. (We can not accept responsibility for blisters and/or tired legs)



In the entire history of the city, there has not been one single person that hasn't thoroughly enjoyed being in Paris* so throw caution to the wind and go and we promise that you'll love it!
*Fact may or may not be true and has no official citation.





posted on

La Promenade Plantée, Paris, France

One of the lesser known, but by no means less beautiful, attractions in Paris, La Promenade Plantée is best enjoyed on a sunny day in spring. Stretching 4.7 kilometres from Bastille to Bercy, this beautiful little pathway gives you some of the best views of Paris that you're likely to find. Bring a water bottle, comfy walking shoes and don't forget your camera! 

Fun fact: It was the worlds first ever elevated park. 





posted on

Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

Can you believe that the Eiffel Tower was originally a temporary structure made to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution? No? Neither can we. Now one of the most iconic and recognisable peices of architecture in the world, nothing symbolises France more than this 'iron lady'. A hubbub of tourists, locals, street sellers and Romanian scam artists, the Champ de Mars is never empty. The queues to take the lift up can get lengthy, but if you're happy to plod up the first few flights of stairs - you'll cut your wait time in half (if you don't mind breaking into a sweat). 
 One thing to note: The only problem with climbing the old Eiffel, is that - go figure - you're ON the old Eiffel, meaning it won't feature in any of your aerial pictures of Paris. If you want a beautiful view of Paris WITH the Eiffel Tower, we suggest you try Montparnasse tower instead (which is cheaper, and houses the worlds fastest lift!). 

In short: you can't come to Paris and not see this baby, but you knew that already didn't you? It's one to tick off the bucket list.  There's also a pretty swanky restaurant at the summit "Le Jules Verne" - As you can probably imagine, its expensive. Very Expensive.

Once night falls, every hour on the hour, the Eiffel tower twinkles and it really does look so incredibly beautiful and a perfect Kodak moment.


Fun fact: The popular French author Guy de Maupassant ate in the Eiffel Tower restaurant every night. Why? It was the only place in Paris that he didn't have to look at the 'monstrous' thing. 




posted on