Today was my first day at work after a 2 week holiday. It’s a Monday and it’s -3°C outside…so I think that you can get an idea at my mood right now.

So to cheer myself up let’s get back to my holiday which was fanbloodytastic and brings me to my 3rd lesson!

Lesson 3: How to have a great (and cheap) time in Paris.

Paris – the city of lights, love and open toilets.

A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life. -Thomas Jefferson

I do have to admit that I’m not actually the biggest fan of Paris. The architecture is beautiful, but is marred by the surrounding graffiti, rubbish bags and various stains.  However the underground is punctual and everything is in quite close proximity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I learnt a lot while in Paris which I am going to share with you. I hope that these wonderful bits of wisdom will help you, so that when you go to Paris, you can also have a great (and cheap) time!

So on that note…on peut commencer?

Lesson 3.1 – Before going on holiday make sure you know your PIN number…

This was a very embarassing and annoying situation. What happened was…when I arrived at Charles de Gaulle my brain just peed with excitement and I promptly forgot my PIN code.

It did eventually come back to me, but then on the end of the 2nd evening – I forgot it again.

It’s not fun having to rely on a friend for money, and I’m never going to forget it again (she says…)

On the plus side – I didn’t spend as much money as I wanted to – thus making it cheap 😉
Lesson 3.2 – Montmartre is the best place to stay.

We stayed at Regyns Hotel in Montmartre – less than a minute away from the Metro station Abbasse and paid a total of €70 each for 2 nights (no breakfast – which would have cost us €8 extra).

You can’t really complain at that can you?

Montmartre is quite central – our hotel was about 5 minutes walk from Pigalle, where you can find all the bars, clubs and massages with happy endings!
Oh and the Moulin Rouge! (Btw I walked 23 km in those boots that day….impressed??)

On the Thursday evening, after walking the WHOLE day and after plonking out for about 3 hours, we decided to look for a place to eat.

Montmartre doesn’t disappoint with the amount of restaurants and bars on offer!! If I could, I’d spend a week just there, trying out every restaurant.

We went to “Le Nouveau Carillon” and ordered a 3 course meal each for – €25 per person and a bottle of wine.  Since it was my friend’s birthday we also got free Cosmopolitans and Tequila (with cinninnimanin and orange peel)

Lesson 3.3 – Disney on a Friday in November is the best time to go!

On Friday we went to DISNEY LAND!

As it was off season, we paid €60 for a one ticket/2 parks .. ticket.

The longest we had to wait for a ride was about 30 mins.

We rode nearly all the rides (deliberately skipped “It’s a Small World”) with my favourite being Space Mountain Mission 2 (flashy flashy flashy).

At 19:00 we fought through the pushchairs, people with kids on their heads and overstressed mothers to get quite near the front so that we could watch the Disney Spectacular Show at 19:30.

Which was spectacular. I must admit, I’m not the biggest fan of Frozen – but yes I was belting out that bloody song “Let it go!”

(Was looking for “let it go” meme…but was not successful)

Lesson 3.4 – If you’re 2 people, check in late – you may get upgraded!

On Saturday it was time to return home :: sad face :: and after arriving back at the ugliest airport in the world (I don’t consider “beton” art…) we checked into our AirFrance flight.

The machine told us to go to check in desk, where the check in guy promptly had to make a very important check in phone call. We were then told that unfortunately there were no more seats together in economy, so we would be moved up to premium.

I have never felt like such a celebrity in my life!

Reasons why Premium Economy was great:

The curtain was closed – it felt cosy!
We got real food (Hot bread / Blue cheese / Salmon / Chocolate Mousse)
The attentive stewardess asked us about 10 times if we were ok.

Lesson 3.4 – Churros are delicious. Technically not French but available everywhere.

Quick stats:
Paris for 3 days
Total amount walked – 61.4 km
Total amount spent – €240 (which isn’t THAT bad)
Total calories eaten – I don’t want to know!

So lovely readers – what are your opinions on Paris? Have you ever been? Do you want to go?

Thanks for reading!

Laura xxxxx