Lost In Paris Day 4

Bonsoir Friends,

Here it is my final day in Paris. After a not too good night of sleep, I woke up, took a shower and decided I would have a decent day of eating. It was off to breakfast. We went down to the buffet, and it was quite the spread. It was just a shame we got there so late, so much of the stuff was gone. However, I still managed to get a few things to eat. We both agreed if you came down earlier enough you could really fill yourself for the day. I did have a cup of tea and coffee, a bowl of corn flakes, a croissant, yoghurt, scrambled eggs, and a glass of orange and apple juice. I should have had some toast, but it was quite the meal to start my day.

Once we were done for breakfast it was time to get the last of our things packed, to make sure we made it out in time for check out. I double and triple checked the room to make sure nothing was left behind. Then it was time to say goodbye to our home for the last four days. Pay for all the services we used, just the breakfast, then it was off to the station.

Before we went we found out Gare du Nord offers storage lockers for cases, at a fairly decent price. The task was to go there and get a locker so we didn't have to worry about cases all day. Which is exactly what we did, a medium locker was big enough to take both of our cases and a couple of the things from my bag to lighten the load. Then I went to find some water for the day, and over paid for a bottle, when another shop just across the way had one cheaper. Then it was back on the metro to go to the Louvre.

Would it have been nice to go inside? Yes, it would have, but when we were booking all our tickets, it was sold out for the entire week we would be visiting. Then when we got there and the line to buy tickets was just insane, it really wasn't worth our time. Instead we walked the gardens, then went underneath to check out the boutique. Where I was able to get my mum a Eiffel Tower, and a few other things to help remember my trip. Once we were done the weather changed again.

While we made our way back up, the rain had decided to descend on us. It wasn’t as bad as Monday, but it was pretty annoying. As we walked the streets, I really did get how grand the Louvre used to be when it was a palace. We were making our way toward this cafe, I had seen on Intergram Angelina. Sadly the line for this place was another one que that was far too long for my liking. Instead I stopped in a lovely book shop.

Librairie Galignani was a French/English book shop. They had books in French as well as English language imports. It was quite the shop. It had books I already owned, but it was so nice seeing the British and American versions of the same books. I was so tempted to buy them, just to have them. But I think I’ve covered my love of books already. However, as the shop displayed the books in a very interesting way, it did give me a few ideas of what books I could ask for christmas.

As it was getting on to 2 we decided this would be the time we would go and find something to eat for lunch. Since we couldn't go to the fancy restaurant, as when we came out the line hadn’t really gone down, we decided to find somewhere else. Just behind the bookshop there were so many different restaurants to choose from. One or two of them were very expensive. So we continued to find something to our taste. Then we found a lovely place with a British menu, which we liked the look of and we had lunch there.

Cafe De Paris, is the little spot where we had lunch. It's a restaurant split over two buildings, and we sat in the little part of the restaurant where the waitress was a little overwhelmed by all the customers. Eventually we ordered while I went to the toilet, and it was quite a scene, I'm not even going to mention it here. It was just nasty. I ordered a handmade bacon cheese burger, with salad and chips. It was great, it had that real authentic taste. Another great choice to eat.

After lunch we made our way down the street to head toward the big shopping centre i had heard about. One the way we passed, Colonne Vendôme and continued to pass a lot the big luxury brand shops. Dior Paris anyone? Till eventually we stumped on a sex shop I had booked marked. You know, I just like to have a look in, Espace X. Which had a lot of the normal things you expect in a sex shop. While also having a cinema in the basement. I was a little curious to know what the basement was like, but I didn't want to spend 10€ to see a bunch of older French guys jerking off.

From there we made our way to Galeries Lafayette, but stopped in Lint beforehand to get some chocolates for christmas. Then we crossed the road to check out the shopping centre. Where everything was designer, and everything was expensive. It was all fabulous of course and I liked a lot of it, it’s just a shame I couldn't get anything. Even when we checked out the Lego it was well over priced. Then we got to the main reason why I wanted to go there, the terrace.

It was nice to have one last sky high view of Paris, seeing some of the landmarks we weren’t able to get on this trip. What else helped sell it was the fact that there were no clouds in the sky and it was a clear view. It gave everything a nice perspective on everything. It was like a little reflection about where we had been and what we had done. It was a nice way to end things. However, it wasn’t.

Seeing as we had another 2 hours before we had to go and check in, we did something I thought would be fun, we went to la tête dans les nuages. A little indoor arcade, with little rides as well. It was a cash free arcade, so I got 10€ worth of credits for the pair of us, but since most games took 5 credits a piece. It didn't really spread too far. However, we took a whirl on Mario Kart, The House of the Dead (I miss that game). Played a game of pinball and a reaction game. Then we checked the time and it was time to head back towards the station.

We got back to the station around 7, but we got lost, as we accidentally crossed into another part of the station. Finding the exit was hard, but eventually we found the way out, and luckily didn't get trapped behind any barriers. Then we could relax as we were out on the main station. With even more armed guards around.

As for dinner, I said we would check out something across the road from the station. Right outside there are so many chain restaurants. As I already had McDonalds, I thought about Burger King, but seeing as there was a Popeyes, and I've never had it before, I thought, let's check it out. Once again it was easy to order, and I paid and got table service. Somehow there were issues in the Ex’s order, and they gave him an extra piece of cheesecake, which I took for later, as I was going to order one later. Then at 8 we crossed over the road to make our check in.

Getting back the suitcases was easy, just scanned the barcode on my receipt and the door opened. No issues, no fuss, it was super easy. Let me be honest, I did think something might go wrong, but it didn't. Then we headed upstairs to go. Sadly, going through security wasn’t so easy.

First my passport wasn’t approved by the machine, so I had to go to a person to let me through. I don't know if it was just because I had my glasses on, all I know it didn't help matter. Then going through scanners, I tried to put all my stuff in the carrier bag I was holding, for that to only get away from me, so my stuff went everywhere. Then eventually I was on the other side, with my stuff together. Then it was waiting for the train. Then before I knew it was back in London, super tired, but happy with my execution.

There you have it, that has been my account of my journey. I will do one more post talking about my overall experience of Paris, but it has been great sharing my experience with you. I hope you enjoyed it.

Xo FabEs