Bonjour mes amis!

Oh it does feel good to be writing a blog entry! It means school is done and dusted for a while I'm out exploring again. Paris has always been a place I've wanted to visit ever since I had my first French lesson with Madame Maclean in year 9. People have given me mixed reviews about the city and I guess you can't say for yourself until you go but I have had the best first day here and am already in love with Paris.

Before my trip I did a lot of research online and reading reviews on trip advisor to find a suitable place to stay for a single female and really hit the jackpot with the place I found. It's called Hotel Glasgow. I got it at a reduced price as well (less than half price) and it is in a good neighbourhood that I can easily walk around in at night feeling safe. When I got off the metro last night, an elderly couple noticed I looked a bit lost and walked me halfway to my hotel on their way home, that shows you the type of neighbourhood it is.

Sweet room at Hotel Glasgow

Got snap happy I was so impressed :)

I spent my day today hoping on and off the metro and it's so easy to use, even easier than London! At the Eurostar terminal in London last night I bought a 3 day metro pass and I already think I've had money's worth with all the times I've hoped on and off today. My day started with a trip to Les Champs-Elysées to see the Arc de Triomphe. As I hoped off the metro and started heading up the stairs to the street I played Joe Dassin's song 'Les Champs-Elysées', something I always envisaged doing after hearing and falling in love with the song when I heard it a movie a few years back. It was a perfect moment, listening to that tune and seeing the street, it was a real 'wow' moment. The arch is similar to the victory arches throughout the Roman Empire and was commissioned by Napoleon in the early 1800s after he declared to his soldiers; "you will return home through arches of victory". It really is a dominating monument and by that I mean it is HUGE and very beautiful. I nearly died running across the busy intersection to get a closer look and when I got over to it I found that there was a safer underground route I could have taken... I also found out that you could climb to the top of the Arch and luckily for me the 2 day museum pass I had covered the entry fee. It was a long climb to the top but it gave a fantastic panoramic of Paris.

You can get some idea of the scale when you look at the little people across the road

Arc de Triomphe

Street sign in pic

Les Champs-Elysées

Eiffel Tower in the distance

I then spent some time looking in the designer shop windows down  Les Champs-Elysées until I found a metro station that would get me to the Louvre. A cool thing about catching the metro in Paris is that there will often be people playing music on them. For my journey to the Louvre I was lucky enough to have an accordian player, very French!

Musian on the metro

As you can imagine, the Louvre was teeming with people and the lines were crazy. I was almost tempted not to go at all because the idea of waiting in line for hours was so horrid but it was when I was about to turn away I remembered that 2 day museum pass I'd bought and I vaguely remembered the lady telling me it could help me skip the queue. So I found it in my pocket, went up to the barrier, showed them my pass and I got in straight away. So I'd highly recommend the pass after that experience.

Impressive!

Quite a few people milling around

Thank you Paris Museum Pass!!!

Even though I got in easy enough it was still hard to move once you got in there so I followed the signs to get to the Mona Lisa and it was definitely an experience seeing that. I finally found the room it was housed in, well, I followed the crowd, and it was people had gone crazy in there. I took some pictures to help illustrate this point more clearly;

Everyone waiting to get close

The barrier holding the people back

I finally got to the front and I liked what I saw

The collection at the Louvre is extensive and it would take a very long time to see all of it. One piece I particularly liked was Nike of Samothrace and that is on the bow of a ship as you enter the museum.

Nike of Samothrace

I guess I looked around for a few hours and by the time I left my tummy was a rumbling. I was looking forward to lunch because I was hanging out to dig into some real French food. I found a cute spot near Notre Dame Cathedral (line was too long so will try get there early tomorrow morning) and feasted on an ham, potato and cheese omellete. Miam Miam!!! Delicious!

Was nicer than it looks!

The Eiffel Tower was next on the list but on the way I got a bit side tracked at Musee d'Orsay, again I got to jump the huge queue, where I checked out some Monet, van Gogh and many more. Unfortunately, I was prohibited from taking pictures but a lot of the pieces gave me goosebumps as they were just so stunning. I think my grandad will be happy by how cultured I feel right now.

Everywhere in Paris was packed today and the Eiffel Tower was no exception. I had no desire to go to the top, especially since I'd gone up the Arc de Triomphe and seen such a good view. I'm happy I saw it and can cross it off the list. I liked walking around the parks surrounding the tower, really felt like a movie set they were that pretty.

Hehe this is what happens when you ask strangers to take your pictures...

Police on bikes, CUTE!!!

Top shot!

Park by the tower

Remember how I said there are often musicians on the metro? As my metro left the Eiffel Tower to take me back my hotel and the tower was out the window, a man an accordion started playing 'What a wonderful world', talk about perfect timing! That made me smile and think what a wonderful day I had.

I'm in for the night now and am going to have an early one so I can try get up early and beat the crowds for Notre Dame and then I want to get up to Montmarte and see Sacred Heart Basilica and try out some of the food dad's boss has recommended to me. Hopefully I get to one of the cemeteries too.

Bonsoir mes amis x