Walk around Paris with me
Bonjour! Paris has always been on the top of my travel list if I was ever to travel to Europe. Luckily in July this year during my work trip to the UK I had some time to travel to Paris. Before I begin I just want to warn all readers that this post will contain a lot of photos because Paris is beautiful and I was lucky enough to have really nice weather which made the photos look good so I can't help not to share them with you all :)
I took the Eurostar from London to spend the Euro Cup Finals weekend in Paris. It was my first time travelling alone which was a great experience but also very stressful! I visited the major attractions, did some shopping and tasted some French cuisine, it was a quick trip but it was enough to say that I've traveled alone in Europe before!
I arrived at Paris' Gare du Nord around 9AM after a two hour ride from Kings Cross in London. The first stop on the itinerary was The Lourve!
The Lourve
75001 Paris, France
The architecture outside and inside of The Lourve was very detailed and amazing, with the weather being great the whole place just seemed like a painting. You can also do some shopping inside near the entrance of The Lourve or enjoy lunch with friends or by yourself at the green grass outside near the entrance. There's a little food truck near the grass area that sells delicious pastries and drinks. If you walk further up towards the direction of the Eiffel Tower you'll see a little pond where people are enjoying the sun or reading their books.
Since I was travelling alone and didn't have too much packed on my itinerary I decided to walk the rest of my trip! I walked from The Lourve to my next destination, Arc de Triomphe. The route was actually quite easy to follow where the majority of the journey was walking down one main road.
Along the way to the Arc de Triomphe you'll see the river where the Eiffel tower is on the other side, the view was amazing and the route to Arc de Triomphe is quite a popular route for couples to take a lovely stroll on. The bridges you'll see along the way also contains some very pretty and detailed statues that you can admire. The whole journey from The Lourve to Arc de Triomphe took approximately 60 minutes as I stopped a few times to take photos along the way.
On the way to the Arc de Triomphe I stopped by to enjoy some French cuisine at George V Cafe.
George V Cafe
1 Avenue George V
75008 Paris
I ordered Assortment Fromage and Orange Pressee which came to a total of EUR13.50. The menu is extensive and it's quite a popular hang out place on the weekend. I saw many other locals enjoying burgers, desserts and some even having escargots! I wanted to save my escargots and French desserts for later on so I chose a cheese platter (Assortment Fromage) and a glass of fresh orange juice (Orange Pressee). The meal also came with complimentary French Baguettes.
When my platter came I knew I was definitely not going to finish this and I had people giving me weird looks probably thinking "Oh my god, is she going to finish all that?". The bad thing about travelling alone is I want to try so many different types of dishes but I can only eat so little and I don't want to waste food!
I only took a few bites of the baguette so I could save my stomach for the cheese! French baguettes are definitely a lot better in France! The baguettes were crispy and easy to eat, I've had baguettes in the past where I felt like I could break my teeth but this wasn't the case this time! The cheese I had were blue cheese, brie and camembert which were all my favourite!
After my meal I walked up Champs-Élysées to get to the Arc de Triomphe. As most of you may know the Arc de Triomphe is in the middle of the road which made it super hard to take photos with!
Next stop was to get some good French crepes! I did some research and decided to visit Crêperie Framboise which is on the way to the Eiffel Tower.
Crêperie Framboise
10 boulevard Delessert 75016 Paris
Crêperie Framboise has a few stores across Paris, they serve savory and sweet crepes. I ordered the Nutella and banana crepe (quite typical).
The crepes are made fresh at Crêperie Framboise. The outer pancake is hot, thin and a little bit chewy. Inside the crepe they served a generous amount of Nutella with banana. The whole crepe itself felt very light. When you finish the crepe it doesn't feel like you've eaten a tonne of sugar. The crepe is not too big either so you won't feel very bloated after eating it.
After having my crepe I proceeded to the Eiffel Tower which was approximately a 15 minute walk from Crêperie Framboise. I suggest if you want to take good photos with the Eiffel Tower then you should go to somewhere further away that's higher up. I was right under the Eiffel Tower so I took a lot of shots over two visits to get one decent photo with the Eiffel Tower.
For dinner I walked to Le Suffren, which is quite close to the hotel I was staying at.
Le Suffren
84 Avenue de Suffren
75015 Paris
Le Suffren can get quite busy so make sure you go early! I arrived at Le Suffren at around 6.30PM and most tables were already occupied. Since Le Suffren was going to be my only proper French meal in Paris so I ordered quite a bit. I ordered half a dozen of escargots, half a dozen of raw fresh oysters and also a hamburger.
Like most restaurants in Paris, Le Suffren served complimentary french baguettes, again they were crispy and very easy to eat.
The escargot were cooked in garlic and chives, each of the escargot were juicy and big. When I took a bite into it, the escargot was actually quite chewy and the garlic flavour was very powerful. The oysters they served were really cold and big and it didn't have any fishy or salty taste either. Overall the oysters were light and refreshing. Lastly the burger (apologies for no photo) came served with veggies and chips, the serving was huge! I thought the patty of the burger was quite juicy however the bread itself was a little dry. The total price for dinner was EUR41 which I thought was decent given that I had ordered raw fresh oysters, escargots and a huge burger.
From Le Suffren I walked back to my hotel called Hotel de la Paix Tour Eiffel, which took approximately 10 minutes.
Hotel de la Paix Tour Eiffel
19 Rue du Gros Caillou, 75007 Paris, France
The hotel is situated in a street away from the main streets, it's quiet and quite small however it's clean and provides all the basics you need. It's considered quite cheap for a 4 star hotel compared to other hotels around Paris, I paid around HKD1,000 for one night. The hotel is also quite convenient as there are bakeries, fruits stores and cafe's nearby. I grabbed a bite from the bakery across the hotel for breakfast the next morning. The bakery had a lot of choices which all looked very yummy!
I spent my next day shopping at Champs-Élysées. There are lots of luxury brands as well as popular clothing brands for the younger generations. I almost missed my train back to London because of spending too much time shopping, make sure if you're a shopper that you keep an eye on the clock!
I really enjoyed Paris even though it was quick and stressful as I was travelling alone. I was also very lucky to visit during the Euro Cup Finals weekend because it made the atmosphere in Paris very lively! Paris is vibrant and beautiful, it's definitely a city not to be missed when you're travelling in Europe.
Au Revoir!
