Travel: Paris Day Three

On our third day in the French capital, we got up bright and early and headed over to the Eiffel Tower. Although I only went up it in October, Chloe had never been and it was the one thing she wanted to do while we were there. The tower opened at 9:30am but unfortunately we didn't get there until around 10:30 so we ended up queuing for three hours which took up a big chunk of the day. Luckily, the views at the top more than made up for it. I'm glad I've been to the top in both autumn and summer now as Paris looks so different in each season. It was also nice to see that people had put their padlocks on the tower too - I'm not sure how long they'll last before they get taken down.

After the Eiffel Tower, we headed over to the Catacombs but unfortunately, once we made it there we were too late and we wouldn't have been let in if we'd queued. I was gutted to say the least as it was the one thing I wanted to do on both Paris trips. I guess I'll just have to take another trip over there next year. 

Our next port of call was Notre Dame, as I wanted to go up the towers. The cathedral itself was closed for an event, so I didn't get to have a look inside - that's on the list for next time but we were still able to go up the towers. The queue was only around half an hour or so and after climbing up 400 steps in 28 degree heat, I was so grateful to be at the top. The views were absolutely beautiful and the bells were ringing as we were up there. If I closed my eyes I could imagine Quasimodo being up there too, showing Esmerelda the view of the city. 

We then walked back along the Seine and came across another of the love lock bridges where we took some photos. We also passed a lot of stalls selling everything from little Parisian souvenirs to comics, to portraits. While we were looking for a metro station we walked past the restaurant that Amy and I ate in on our first night in Paris. We caught the metro back to Gare du Nord and had a rest back at the hostel (and I hah my first ever nose bleed thanks to hayfever which was horrifying) before going out for dinner with a couple of other girls who were also staying in our hostel. 

While I was In Paris I tried not to spend a lot of money as I'd bought souvenirs in October and spent a fortune then. MyVoucherCodes have recently done a survey which showed that the most popular places to shop abroad for bargains are the USA (31%), Turkey (29%), Dubai (25%), Spain (18%) and Tokyo (15%). It's a good job I didn't go mad with my spending in Paris as it's actually quite expensive. A lot of people like to take half empty suitcases away with them so they can buy more things while they're abroad - I certainly did this last year. The most popular items to buy abroad are electronics, clothing (guilty!), handbags, jewellery (guilty again!) and alcohol and cigarettes.