B R E A K F A S T   B Y   T H E   W I N D O W .

At 9am on the dot, on our second full day in the city, a knock on our door signalled the arrival of my very favourite thing in all the world- a breakfast tray! Or, in this case, a breakfast table!

We filled ourselves up on fruit, toast (thick with salted butter + liberal amounts of Bonne Maman), yoghurt, eggs, and, of course, a pot of strong coffee, before heading out for a new day of exploring.

Since neither Jo or I had ever spent any proper time in the city before, we decided to make the obligatory pilgrimage to the Eiffel Tower. We hopped on the Metro at the station just outside our hotel, and only got lost twice on our way over to the Champ de Mars station!

A sidetone, whilst we’re on the topic of transport- we found that getting around in Paris was much cheaper than in London. Taking the Parisian equivalent of a black cab cost about the same as an Uber would in London, and the Metro was only a couple of euros for a return journey.

It made London prices seem pretty eye-watering!

The area around the Eiffel Tower was crowded and pretty touristy, so after snapping a few photos, we jumped back on the train and headed North, to our main destination for the day- Montmartre!

Montmartre was quaint and picturesque- a muddle of wide boulevards and tiny alleyways, ornate ironwork and panelled doorways.

We decided to stop at a little restaurant down in the village for a ‘quick bite to eat’, before tackling the steps up to the Sacre Coeur. But that quick bite turned into a lengthy two hour dissection of our lives, accompanied by several courses, an almost revolting quantity of cheese, and a glass of wine to boot!

But if you can’t linger over lunch in France, when can you?

The Sacre Coeur was the most spectacular sight. It’s set high on a hill overlooking the whole of the city, with the village of Montmartre sprawling out from its feet.

I kept turning round as we climbed higher and higher up the steps, thinking ‘The view can’t get any better than this, surely!’, and yet as we reached the top, sure enough, the view beat all all.

 ^^ Isn’t it something? ^^

I couldn’t get over quite how far into the distance we could see- all of Paris’ distinctive grey roofs blurring into a haze.

We stood and watched as the sky grew darker and thick grey clouds rolled in, and ducked inside the church just as the first few drops of rain began to fall.

The church itself was the most incredible sight- well worth a visit, if you’re planning a visit to Paris and are in two minds as to whether or not to go.

The architecture is stunning, and the windows inside are worth a visit all of their own. There’s a strict ‘no photography’ rule inside, so you’ll just have to take my word for it, I’m afraid :)

We came out to a Paris that’d been refreshed by its brief showering, and was left bright and warm once again.

With our final hours in the city ticking away, we hopped into a cab to head back to the Renaissance for a pre-dinner freshen up. Angelina caught us on the way through though, because for goodness *sake*, if any of you have the ability to walk past an urn of molten chocolate ready to be taken away and drunk through straws, then you’re a stronger person than either Jo or I!

That hot chocolate is something special though, truly. It’s kind of like liquid praline, and I’m pretty sure it’s possible to hear angels singing whist you drink it. Like 99% certain.

That evening dinner was eaten, wine was drunk, long, life-arrirming discussions had (the type that put the world to rights but also manage to be completely ridiculous at the same time), and very early the following morning, two sleepy but contented travellers caught a flight back home to a shockingly cold England.

Paris? You were magic. I’ll be back soon…