Travel Diary : A Weekend in Paris | Day 1

If you're an avid reader of mine or follow me on social media, I have no doubt that you will know I spent a weekend in Paris (21st-24th October) with my boyfriend as my 18th birthday present. All I've been doing since I've been back in England is thinking about being in Paris, uploading loads of pics and re-watching my Paris vlog over and over again. It was so lovely having time away just us two, getting a nice break from school work and enjoying ourselves. Originally, I planned to make a mini travel diary explaining a little bit about what we did each day but I've decided to dedicate a post for every day. This was simply because ended up taking way too many photos so thought it would be best to split them up. I hope you enjoy joining us on our first holiday abroad together...

DAY 1

Waking up at 2am you may think was a struggle, but knowing I will be in a different country in less than 12 hours was way too exciting for me. Aidan's dad kindly drove us to London St Pancras, where we travelled via the Eurostar. It was rather cold and we were feeling a bit peckish so I had a lemon and poppy seed muffin and tea from Cafe Nero, and Aidan got a cheese panini with a fruit juice. It wasn't long before we were allowed to board the train so travelling went pretty swiftly, arriving at the Gare du Nord at 9:30am. Walking to the hotel wasn't too much of a struggle with our bags - it took us 40 minutes but it felt like less as I was just obsessed with the aesthetics of the french streets. I WANT TO HAVE A BALCONY WITH CUTE FLOWERS HANGING OFF!! Unfortunately, we couldn't check into our hotel straight away so we decided to go for an explore after dropping our luggage off. Just up the road from us was the Moulin Rouge so we decided to have a look around there as well as sit in a cute park by this beautiful church. This gave my tired feet a little rest before heading back to hotel to check out our room. We stayed in the Atlantic Hotel, a 30 minute walk from the centre of Paris. To be honest, we got such an incredible deal which completely inspired me to do a 'Paris money saving and travel tips' video or post. The room was equipped with all the essentials and much bigger than expected - Paris hotel rooms are rumoured to have small rooms but ours was the perfect size. We weren't too bothered about getting a plush 5 star room because we were rarely spending time there but it was absolutely beautiful; I couldn't fault a single thing! 

After checking in at 1 O'Clock, I changed my outfit, redid my makeup and made myself look a lot more presentable and 'Paris' ready. Walking the Parisian streets was one of my favourite things to do - getting to see all the beautifully designed exteriors of the houses, buildings, hotels and restaurants. Our first sightseeing stop was the Arc de Triomphe - we ended up getting in for free and had such an incredible view of the Champs des Elysees from the top. It was so lovely seeing the streets from above and from a different perspective - I'm a sucker for views and aesthetics!! When we visited the gift shop inside, Aidan and I decided we wanted to collect bookmarks each for the different tourist attractions we visit to remind us of the trip. After walking down the spiralled staircase and feeling rather dizzy, Aidan and I went to an Italian restaurant for dinner - Vesuvios. My pizza was delicious and from what I remember, Aidan loved his too - one thing I didn't love as much was the price. The food in Paris is SOOOO expensive! After dinner, the evening was drawing in so we decided to have a slow walk down the shops and have a look at the Grand Palais at the other end. Our day closed with me moaning about my aching feet, finding a little supermarket to buy some nibbles for the hotel and having a chilled, early night in so we were ready for our big, dedicated sightseeing day the following morning. 

Check back on my blog tomorrow for Day 2...

Lots of love

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More Paris Related Posts : 

PARIS VLOG
PARIS HAUL
MY PARIS OUTFITS