Valentines Weekend In Paris

I had never been to Paris before, but this weekend my husband Isaac surprised me with a trip to the city of romance to celebrate Valentine's day in the most lovey-Dovey way possible! 

I use the word 'surprise' lightly because he actually told me a week earlier which I am SO glad about because his original plan was to say we were going on a spa weekend, so as you can imagine I would have packed a very different set of outfits and probably end up being preeeeettyy cold in Paris.

Anyway, Isaac booked our Eurostar and an incredible Air BnB, and I sorted the itinerary.

We set off on Friday evening at 8pm. Due to it being valentines weekend and the beginning of half term, St Pancras was CRAZY busy! They said there would be an extra 20,000 people taking the Eurostar that Friday. It meant our train was slightly delayed but nothing too drastic.

We arrived in Paris at about quarter past midnight and jumped in a taxi to take us to where we were staying over the other side of town by the Eiffel Tower. This was much cheaper than we had anticipated at around €16.

Staying in an Air BnB rather than a hotel was SUCH A GOOD DECISION. The man who owned the property was lovely and super helpful and easy to get hold of. It was a beautifully clean studio apartment with a lovely little balcony, kitchen, and bathroom. It was also nice and warm which I've heard is quite a rarity in Paris.

On Saturday morning we set off reasonably early at about 10am for a day of sight-seeing and exploring. The moment we stepped out of the apartment the heavens opened and it rained consistently for pretty much the whole day. But it didn't dampen our spirits, we just bought an umbrella and went on our way!

First stop was the Eiffel Tower, obvs. 

We had originally planned to go up it first thing that morning, but it was so misty and rainy you really wouldn't be able to see much from the top at all. We then wandered over the bridge to Trocadero. From here you get an incredible view of the Eiffel Tower and can take nice pictures. There is a pretty water fountain too.

By this time we were getting hungry so the search for food began, but we didn't have to look very far. If you've been to Paris before you'll know I'm not exaggerating when I say there is somewhere to eat on every corner. 

We chose a little place called Café Kléber and I couldn't resist trying their seafood pasta. It was delicious, however, rather pricy and the drinks for some reason are extortionate everywhere in Paris! This Peach Ice Tea will set you back €6. I drank it really slowly. 

Our next landmark on the itinerary was the Arc De Triomphe which is about a 10 minute walk from Trocadero. What made this experience a bit more entertaining than just looking at a big statue in the middle of a roundabout was that there was a wedding photoshoot going on in the middle of the road with the cars still zooming past. The bride was terrified but the pictures would look ah-maaaazing. 

One of the exits from the Arc De Triumph leads you down the Champs Elysées, the famous shopping street of Paris. Kind of like Oxford Street but with all the luxury stores like Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Mercedes. 

It was raining quite heavily by this point so it was time for another pit-stop. I managed to convince Isaac that we HAD to go in to Ladurée for a macaroon or two. He had never had one before so there were the expected comments like "why is it so small?" "It costs HOW MUCH!?" But he soon got over it and he was won over by the vanilla flavour and wanted to get more! Success!

The decor in Ladurée was beautiful, it felt like I was in a fairy cave. 

We headed back to our apartment to get ready for dinner and then made our way to the restaurant back at Trocadero. We really wanted to see the Eiffel tower when it was all lit up at night too so that's why we decided to come back to the same area. Earlier in the day we had made a reservation at a restaurant called Le Coq and my tummy had been looking forward to the meal all day long.

It was beautiful inside and the service was great albeit rather pricy. I ordered steak but I'm not sure if that was the best decision I could have made. The French cook their steak slightly differently to the way I am used to so I spent the majority of the meal poking it saying "I'm sure this is rare" but on the whole it was a lovely evening. 

We discovered that every hour the Eiffel Tower lights up with sparkles for about 10 minutes. It's really pretty! So we had an evening stroll, crepe in hand (only since writing this have I realised how much we ate!), surrounded by the beautiful lights of Paris.

Valentines Day!

Check out was at 11am so we aimed to be out of the apartment by this time, slightly later than the day before but it was nice to have a lie-in. 

Today's agenda was to see the sights over on the other side of the city. We decided to get the metro because it took the same amount of time as getting a taxi and it was a fun thing to do! It only cost €1.80 for a ticket, Bargain! 

Our first stop was Notre Dame. Embarrassingly, neither of us had any idea what this looked like so we thought a few buildings might be the famous cathedral until we walked a little further and the hoards of tourists taking pictures confirmed our hunch (get it!?....HUNCH back of Notre Dame!)

We saw what was the old Love Lock Bridge with now only a few padlocks left in tact (RIP) and then walked for what felt like forever with our huge back-packs on, to find the Louvre.

I've got to say, the Louvre was the most disappointing landmark of them all. I had seen pictures of it before as an incredible, shiny glass architectural beauty, but instead it just looked a bit dirty. The weather was way better on this day but by this point it had started to rain a little so it may have looked more dull than usual because of this.

With our stomachs rumbling yet again it was time for us to stop for lunch. After filling ourselves up on chicken, duck and the most delicious 'pommes frites' we made our way to sight number 3, Montmartre. Our backs were almost broken by this point from the weight of our bags so we opted for the metro rather than another 30 minute walk. 

Montmartre without a doubt exceeded my expectations. 

Once we had climbed up the stairs to get to the top the view was breath-taking. I would say this is a must-see (along with all the others I've mentioned) if you're a Paris newbie.

Our time in Paris was coming to an end so we made our way to the Eurostar station and had one last snack stop before boarding the train back to London.

As a Paris-first timer I had the most wonderful time and I am so grateful to Isaac for taking me to such an incredible city! 

I hope you enjoyed this post! 

Au revior,

Emma

   xx