Paris

Paris was a top destination on my too-see list, and I finally got to go in February last year. 

WARNING: February in Paris is colder than words can describe. 

After seeing New York, Paris was next on my to-do list.

The week was great and Paris was not how I had imagined it. Unfortuanly I was pretty ill whilst I was there, and the freezing cold temperatures did not help. But I still had a brilliant time.

On Day 1 we spent the day site seeing. As I can imagine most tourists do, we visited the Eiffel Tower first. The whole process was a lot smoother than I thought it was going to be. The tickets were a reasonable price (an adult ticket is €17 and a youth (12-24) is €14.50) and the queue moved fairly quickly. And once you were up it didn't seem that busy. We only went up to the first and main viewing point, but the views were incredible!! 

After picking our next route from a height, we then made our way to the Champs élysées where we visited the beautiful Arc De Triomphe. Fact of the day - the Arc de Triomphe is so big that in 1919 Charles Godefroy actually flew a place through the middle! I never realised that it was quite so big in the pictures. 

We spent the rest of the day strolling around the area. Visiting a few shops on the way including Mac, which I have the ability to find wherever I am in the world! 
We made our way down to the Louvre, but decided not to go and see the Mona Lisa as we weren't really feeling the queue, or the price. In hindsight, I really wish I had gone in to see it as I think it is such a big part of the Paris sight-seeing. 

We decided to then take the subway to find the Moulin Rouge, of course the film had been prep for our trip. The actual place was not what I imagined at all. The area looked a bit seedy and we didn't want to stay long. I'm not really sure why the Moulin Rouge is even a tourist attraction, because there's not really much to see.

The following day we continued our sight seeing. Our first port of call was Notre Dame. I was particularly excited about this trip as The Huncback of Notre Dame is my absolute favourite Disney film - also it's a lot darker than you realise when you watch it as an adult! 

It was incredible to see the real life building in front of me, and it was one of my favourite moments from the whole trip!

As the sun was out and it was a bit warmer than the previous day, we decided to get a city tour bus. This made sure we covered all the main sites of Paris, most of which we had seen but it was a nice relaxing way to see the city. The downside was the the sun was misleading, and after a few minutes on the bus we were starting to lose feeling in our fingers and toes and were regretting our desicion. Nevertheless we had paid for this tour so we were going to see this tour. We stuck in it out for the whole journey, and by the end we could barely move. In hindsight we probably could have just sat in the warm on the lower deck, but staying on the top I felt like I achieved something.

We ended the day by seeing the Eiffel Tower at night. Which is way cooler! If you get there on the hour it sparkles for around 5 minutes, which is one of the most beautiful things you will see whilst in Paris.

Our final full day was the most exciting. We went to Disney Land!! The day was very cold again, but we wrapped up warm. The park was surprisingly busy for a cold February day. I had thought it may have been quiet but I was wrong. We had a ticket that included a bus from central Paris to the park. I was a little confusing as to where we had to go, as there were no signs up in the area. The bus was also fairly late. Luckily there was a french lady (who also spoke english) waiting in the same area, and she said we were at the right address and she had got the bus before, so we didn't panic too much.

One of the bad things about going to Disneyland at this time of year was that a lot of the attractions and resturants were closed whilst they 'made improvements'. This was particularly gutting as I had prepped myself to take on Space Mountain, as on my previous Disneyland visit, aged 7, they had turned me away due to my lack of height, but no, it was closed.

We had lunch in Planet Hollywood, which looked like it hadn't had a makeover since I was 7. Let's bear in mind I'm in my 20's now.  The foods was average, nothing to rave about unfortunately.

 Towards the end of the day we watched the Main Street parade, which was magical. It's amazing how it still gets me emotional at my age, but it was worth standing out in the cold for. I stocked up on numourous Disney gifts from the gift store.

If you're planning on visiting Paris for yourself in February make sure you take warm clothes! 

My essentials also included - scarfs, ear muffs, leather gloves, thick socks and lip balm. It was the coldest I think I have ever felt! I did end up getting a nasty cold from my trip so try and make sure you keep warm, as it's not great fun going on a plane when you feel like death warmed up!

If I returned to Paris, I would like to visit some of the museums, as that was something we didn't really have time for. But if I'm completely honest I don't think I will be rushing back - although maybe a summer visit would change my mind. I was glad we had the Disney Tickets, as other than museums, I'm not sure what else we would of done due to the weather, as it was far to cold to explore and get lost.