Paris on a budget: Day Two

After falling asleep almost as soon as we got back to the hostel, we were up bright and early on Tuesday morning. Once we were up and dressed we headed downstairs to the bar for our free breakfast which neither of us really ate. We then headed off towards the Eiffel Tower for when it opened at 9:30 to avoid the queues.

 We still had to queue for about thirty minutes, however that was nothing compared to the queue we saw afterwards! It cost €13 for me to go up to the top as I'm under 25 but it was only €1.5 extra for Amy. We were extremely lucky with the weather. We had clear blue skies which meant that we got an amazing view of Paris from both the second floor and the summit. It was a little chilly at the top but that's to be expected when you're so high up. I thought it might be a bit scary in the lifts going up but it wasn't at all. I managed to get some amazing photos. My favourite is the one where you can see the shadow of the tower - it really shows just how high up we were!

After the Eiffel Tower, we decided to head to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Élysées as Amy wanted to find a Disney Store and we were both desperate to find a McDo with a McCafe! We eventually found one and were served by an English girl who lives just a few miles away from me when she's in England. It's a small world! We both ordered a caramel macchiato and six macarons (yes, in McDonald's!) and had a look around some shops. Neither of us were impressed with Sephora, there wasn't much that we can't get here in England and the prices were all so expensive as it's all imported from elsewhere. We did find an Yves Rocher shop though which we loved!

It was then time to get the metro over to the Café des Chats where I'd made a reservation the previous day. I was so so excited as I'd heard so much about cat cafés in other countries and had been dying to visit one myself. It was like heaven. They have twelve cats there, just sleeping or walking around doing their own thing. The café is based on ronronthérapie, or purr therapy which is the idea that stroking cats is relaxing and calming and a great benefit to you. I definitely agree with that! We both had a cold drink and I wandered around looking at all the cats. My favourite was a black and white one called Oreo who was the baby of the group. She was adorable!

After Café des Chats we headed to Montmartre to see Sacre Coeur and the Moulin Rouge. Montmartre is a very touristy area with lots of souvenir shops which we both enjoyed looking in and we purchased a few things as well. We had lunch in a little bistro called Le Ronsard (not the one from the night before, it's just coincidence that they had the same name!) and then climbed the steps up to Sacre Coeur. I was pleased to find that there were a lot of cats around there too! There were also a lot of men who were trying to tie bracelets around our wrists (and were going to ask for payment afterwards) who wouldn't take no for an answer. I don't know why the police weren't around but it was horrible!

After Sacre Coeur we walked along the red light district to the Moulin Rouge. The red light district was amazing and I couldn't believe the things we found, France really aren't as strict on beastiality as they are in England. We were both so shocked. We went into a couple of shops and then popped into a bistro for a cocktail as it was happy hour before we finally found the Moulin Rouge. It was now dark so it was all lit up and looking pretty.

It was then time for dinner and we knew we wanted to go to La Favorite so we caught the metro to Concorde and walked down rue de Rivoli looking for the restaurant. It ended up being right at the other end (3.2km away) so we had a good 40 minute walk looking for it. We were so grateful to finally sit down! After we'd eaten we were both completely exhausted again so we headed back to the hostel for a shower (or a douche) and then went to bed.

Keep an eye out for Day Three!