The City of Love

One of the things we can’t really afford to do while we’re saving for the wedding is travelling. However I was lucky enough this year to find a cheap trip to Paris which my lovely dad offered to cover for my 21^st. It wasn’t my first time in Paris; we’d taken a day out from Disneyland when I was 10, and my fiancé and I went together in June 2013. There had been a few things we hadn’t had time to see so I was excited to fit some new things in, as well as revisit some of my favourite places. Personally the art museums have never held much interest for me, and I am a sucker for the romance of the Eiffel Tower, however clichéd some people may find it. Unfortunately the last time we’d been to Paris it had rained during the whole trip and we could barely see a thing from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Well, this time was a completely different story. I can definitely say I won’t be visiting Paris in the middle of August again. 34 degree temperatures are fantastic for lying by the pool, not so great for cramming as much sightseeing into four days as possible. I also hadn’t considered that August is school holidays which meant all the queues were much longer than when we’d been in June.

That said, we had a lovely time, and so here are my favourite places to visit in Paris.

1. My absolute favourite place in Paris actually shocked me. I’d planned everything the first time we went, to make use of our time as efficiently as possible. The Sacre Coeur Basilica wasn’t something I’d put on the list, but one afternoon we found we ourselves with a  few unscheduled hours and decided we’d take a quick visit. I’m not religious or spiritual in the least, but I fell in love with the place. Sat on top of the hilly streets of Montmartre it’s beautiful to look at, and the inside is incredible. But what I fell in love with was the amazing feeling of calm and contentment I felt while I was in there. I was in awe of this amazing place and I actually felt quite humbled by how small but completely safe it made me feel. This year we went back, of course, but this time we also climbed the 300 spiral steps to the views from the top of the dome. It was a killer on the legs but it was worth it.
   
   
   
2. Unsurprisingly, the Eiffel Tower makes it into my favourite Paris attractions. Our first view of it back in 2013 was from the metro. As we emerged from an over ground metro station there it was suddenly in all it’s glory. This year we approached from another direction and we could just see the top poking out above the trees. It’s such an iconic site, I couldn’t help but get that excitement every time I caught a glimpse of it. I think everyone is so used to seeing it in films and television, but it still doesn’t compare to standing there and seeing it looming over you. Not only that but the view from the top (on a clear day) is amazing. This year I felt I was able to recognise more landmarks than before since it was our second visit.
   
   
   
3. This next one was somewhere new that we visited this time around. Again this was somewhere I was surprised I loved so much since it has religious links, but Sainte Chapelle is definitely worth a visit. My fiancé preferred Notre Dame but for me nothing inside Notre Dame compared to the stained glass windows of Sainte Chapelle. For me Notre Dame was a little threatening, which I suppose is to be expected with its gothic appearance, but Sainte Chapelle was this amazing combination of gothic and light. You emerge from a little spiral staircase and you’re encased in light flooding in from the tall stained glass windows lining the room.
   
   
4. Unfortunately, the Pont des Arts started to collapse under the weight of the hundreds  (possibly thousands) of Love Locks padlocked to it, and they’ve now all been removed and it’s been boarded over. However attaching our Love Lock to the Pont des Arts and dropping the keys into the Seine was one of the highlights of our Paris trips. As I said, I have quite a weakness for romance.
   
   
   
5. The Jardin des Tuileries are the gardens than go from The Louvre to Place de la Concorde and one of my favourite moments in Paris was walking through them in the sunshine with my fiancé. They’re so pretty and there are little cafe stands with wrought iron tables tucked into the trees lining the path.
   
   
   
   
   
   Obviously everyone has different tastes and some people could be happy spending their whole trip exploring the museums, but for me these were my favourite places that I’ve visited in Paris.  If you’ve been to Paris, what did you enjoy the most? Or if you haven’t visited Paris, what would you love to include in your trip?
   
   The Future Mrs Love xx