After a long flight we finally arrived in Paris and caught a few trains to our accommodation in Caulincourt, Montmartre. The area of Caulincourt has French village charm with its curving streets between belle époque buildings which make a lovely walk up to the Sacre Coeur. Our Hostel- Hotel Caulaincourt Square is very boutique and quaint- we had our own room which has a drain pipe from the rooms above us running down the inside wall, a little annoying. We went to bed as soon as we got in as we were exhausted from flying. We woke and had our complimentary breakfast of croissants, toast and cereal then walked to the train station to start our day of sightseeing. We bought a day pass for 3.55 Euros each. With train map in tow we began our day. We caught the wrong train- this ended up to be perfect as we ended up by the Champs Elysees not the Louvre but getting lost can lead to the best adventures. We came out of the train station into the Jardin des tuileries which has a fountain surrounded by chairs that are slightly reclined, which provide a perfect invitation to relax- don’t mind if I do. We took a seat around the fountain and just enjoyed being in Paris- living the dream, while we people watched and enjoyed the sun. Once we peeled ourselves away from the relaxing seats we walked to the Arc du Triomphe which looked a lot closer than it was. On the way a crazed black French man started yelling aggressively at Steph and I and then started coming at us as we were trying to get out of his way- he pushed us. It was very intimidating and very frightening as we thought he was going to rob us. Our hearts were racing; we were in shock about what had just happened. Apart from that encounter we enjoyed our walk along the Champs Elysees as we window shopped and wished we could afford to buy anything from along that stretch of road. The Arc is huge- which is why it looked so deceptively close from the park. We took our tourist photos but didn’t go up as the line was quite long and we had a full-on day planned already. From the Arc we caught the train to the Louvre. The square outside the Louvre was full of people all getting their shot of their hand on the top of the pyramid. We joined in and got our very own. The square has a nice feel to it with people out and about enjoying the sunshine. So once again we sat and enjoyed the atmosphere before lining up to go in. The line through the pyramid entrance took 10minutes which was very quick. The Louvre is huge- such a maze, we were overwhelmed so decided to start with finding the Mona Lisa along with everyone else. It took us a while to maneuver the different floors of the Louvre and find her but we got there eventually. The crowd around the tiny painting was huge. It’s funny watching people walking back and forth in front of the painting to see if her eyes truly do follow you. From the Louvre we caught the train to the Notre Dame cathedral- we didn’t go in this visit as the line was very long and we were coming back to Paris. From a little French bakery we got an amazing ham and cheese Panini and ate it by the river Seine. After eating our Panini it was time for home. Thinking that we had mastered the train system, we caught the train home. But when we walked out of the train station we didn’t recognize anything and very quickly realized that we were at the wrong station. After a little panic we finally figured out the name of the station we should have gone to so two trains later we made it back to the hostel. yay successful day!! After our busy day at 8.30pm we walked up the winding streets into Montmartre. Paris is amazing, quaint and very pretty with its cobbled stone streets. There are so many small streets with little cafes and restaurants. We found a cute French place and got a three course set menu for 23 Euros. I got ham and cheese on bread for starter. As dad says OMG!! Soooo delicious, I never thought I would say that about a toastie- but the salty ham and mozzarella was amazing. For main I had rump steak and potatoes. Dessert was so good - dark chocolate mousse- did I say yum!! After that we walked down to see the Moulin Rouge and take photos- the street is alive with people. Paris is everything I thought it would be, I love the area we are staying- such a good feel to it.
