The most romantic city in the world… or not!!! Me and the girls hit Paris for a true girly weekend and banned all talk of love, boyfriends and romance. Paris wasn’t the most obvious choice for our single girls weekend break but it has a short travelling time and didn’t cost the earth! My personal choice would have been a city in a warmer climate as December has been harsh and I could do with some sun. But one girl hates flying and the other could only get a sitter till the Sunday night so travelling to an exotic city was out of the question.
We took off from Newcastle in the blistering cold on the Friday night and landed in Charles De Gaulle airport an hour and a half later and it was still blisteringly cold! We got dropped off at Beauchamp’s hotel which is right in the heart of Paris and near the big shopping centres. The hotel was very classy and elegant which I what I expected given the price!! We were cold and quite tired after travelling so we went to the room quickly got changed and went down to the hotel bar for a few cheeky drinks before an early night. The hotel bar was expensive but to be fair you are in the centre of Paris in a nice hotel so I didn’t expect it to be a pound a pint!!! The room was lovely and very comfortable. It was posh! But it was only somewhere to rest our heads for the 2 night we were there!
The next day we had breakfast and went to explore Paris! We went to straight to the Louvre as it was something we were interested in but didn’t want it to be the whole point of our weekend. It’s a stunning building and you don’t have to be the ‘arty’ type to appreciate just how fabulous this art gallery is. The Mona Lisa was a disappointment. We could hardly get near her and from where we were stood she looked the size of a stamp!!! We tried to limit our time as it wasn’t everyone’s thing which was difficult but we seen the main parts and left just before lunch.
Eating in Paris is such a treat. Every meal we had was delicious. We didn’t do the pretentious restaurants so avoided much of the hefty priced gourmet stuff and stuck with nice cafes and smaller restaurants. I tried escargot which was interesting! Not something I would order again just because they are fiddly (think Pretty Woman “slippery little suckers!!!”) but it’s nice to say I’ve tried them. Be warned if garlic is in the name of the food it will be very garlic-y!!!
The afternoon on the Saturday we hit the shops. An absolute dream! There are some really good finds out of the major shopping centres and the quieter boutiques are fab. The bigger shops don’t really offer anything different than the same shops in London and New York but it’s nice to browse. After shopping we went back to the hotel and changed.
The night out was brilliant. Prices vary depending on the bar but with all the girls together we had a brilliant laugh and wasn’t the least romantic! If anything you could really paint the town red with a big group! We tried not to over indulge because we didn’t want to be rough the next day but as the tequila flowed we forgot about our headache worries and got trashed! The walk home was fun but take flats with you because my feet were in agony after!
The next we forced ourselves from our beds and because we’d missed breakfast we went straight out for a wake up coffee and to the Eiffel Tower. No trip is complete without this and it was interesting to see it close up. None of us had a head or stomach for the height to go up so we swiftly moved on to the Notre Dame. I could have spent all day here. It is so gothic and interesting you could quiet easily loose a day exploring. But as we were on a tight schedule we took the mandatory holiday snaps and went back over on our selves to Sacre Coeur. Which brings me to another good tip: buy a map!!! I was too hung-over to appreciate it as it was the second historical thing we had done that morning! But if I ever go back to Paris I will make much more of an effort to see this building properly.
We went to see the Moulin Rouge but we didn’t go to see a show. Some people on our return flight said the shows are quite saucy but have a west end kind of censored feel! Again if I do go back ill make more time for this attraction! My friends really wanted to do a river cruise which didn’t appeal to me in the slightest. I had an image in my head of loved up couples dining on some cupid style boat while being serenaded! However it was a pleasant surprise! Don’t be put off if you’re not with a significant other! The diner cruise wasn’t at all intimidating for us single girls and took us round the famous landmarks from an entirely different perspective. The city is really stunning at night and I would do this time and time again.
We sleepily headed back to our hotel to grab our suitcases and make our late night flight home back to sunny Newcastle that night and landed in the very early hours of the Monday morning. I slept for the best part of the Monday and I was still shattered on the Tuesday when I returned to work! The best advise I can give is that you’ll need more than 2 days if you want to see most of the bigger attractions and don’t go if it’s a nice relaxing break your after because it took me to the weekend to feel 100% again! However just as I found Paris isn’t just for the honeymooners, anniversaries and engagement proposal style holidays. A group of 5 girls had the best laugh we could have possibly had! Forget Magaluf, Paris is the singletons heaven!!!
