Paris, France || December 2018

S.M Fraser

January 4, 2019

December 23, 2018

Another driving day, so we settled in for a long day to Paris. Our arrival was delayed due to a bad car accident, so our night was rushed as we had dinner at the hotel with our first taste of escargot and cheers with champagne.

After dinner, we all hopped back on the bus for a quick tour through the city. We saw the Arc de Triomphe, Louvre Museum, Avenue des Champs-Élysées and Musée d’Orsay. Our original plan was to head back to the hotel, but as we got closer to the Eiffel Tower, our tour guide mentioned that at the start of every hour, the Eiffel Tower would sparkle. Priscilla looked at me and said, “we are getting off!” It was the best decision we ever made.

We headed off the bus and stayed to watch the sparkly lights. And then we stayed some more. The decision to leave was hard. We all marvelled at the enormous structure, the lights shining in the night, it was hard to walk away. Eventually, our hunger took over and we made our way to a cafe around the corner for crepes (Nutella!) and rosé.

Sometime after midnight, we asked far too many people which train to take and headed back to the hotel.

December 24, 2018

It was going to be a short day in Paris, so we got up early and headed out with the tour. Instead of joining the perfume workshop, we got dropped off outside Palais Garnier and wandered our way through the streets.

We headed towards the Louvre Museum, by the Carrousel Arc de Triomphe, over the Pont du Carrousel, past the Institut de France, over the Pont Saint-Michel and headed into the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris. We got tickets to walk to the top, so we hung around for an hour until it was our time.

We walked up the 387 steps to the top to see the expansive view of Paris, the large bells and famous gargoyles. It was breathtaking.

We didn’t have much time left, so we headed to Pont Alexandre III and the Army Museum for some last minute sightseeing. Eventually, our free time was up and got back on the bus back to the hotel to get ready for a fun night out.

Before dinner at a little French restaurant, we hiked up the stairs to Sacre Cour. Dinner was delicious and with, obviously, more wine! Afterwards, we went to Moulin Rouge for a Christmas Eve show with some champagne.