I’ve never actually been abroad during the winter to experience the Christmas festivities and traditions of other countries. But having a month off from university for the Christmas period provides an ideal opportunity to get out of England, so my boyfriend and I took it with both hands and nipped across the channel to France. I was super excited to go to Paris as it’s always been somewhere I’ve heard so much about, but have never actually had the opportunity (or money…) to go across there myself. Until now!
We travelled across (/under) the channel on the Eurostar. Unfortunately we had trains booked both ways in the evening so the view out of the window was pitch black- I only knew we’d actually passed through the channel tunnel when my phone switched onto roaming data, so any idea of the channel tunnel being this crazy experience of ‘OH MA GAD WE’RE UNDER THE SEA’ kinda didn’t happen! Once we arrived in Paris we had the task of navigating the French streets to find our hotel. Remembering which way to look on the roads took a bit of getting used to (and a lot of my boyfriend and I yelling at one another to stop crossing the road), but not getting killed before our holiday had even really started was definitely high on the priority list. We stayed at Perfect Hostel and Hotel about a 15 minute walk from Gare du Nord in Montmatre (would totally recommend it to anyone looking to stay in Paris on a tight budget but in comfort!), and after walking around in circles for about 20 minutes, the look on our faces must have been priceless when we arrived at the hotel to find that the lift was out of order… and our room was on the 6th floor. Let’s just say every day was leg day when it came to any form of exercise occurring that week!
Although the city wasn’t overly decked out with Christmas decorations, the Champs Elysee was decorated to set the perfect Christmassy vibe, with markets selling crepes, mulled wine and little gifts going for what felt like miles down the street, which you could easily spend hours scouring. In the evening the trees lining the road and pavements all were lit up with fairy lights. The only way I could really describe it would be to say it looked pretty magical.
We managed to squeeze in just about every monument and sight in Paris city centre into a matter of days, and I slept for about 48 hours when I got home, but all in all it was a lovely week, and I’d definitely love to go back one day!
As its Christmas eve, and this being my final post before the big day, I’d like to take the opportunity to wish all of my lovely followers, and readers of this post a very merry Christmas- whatever you choose to do with it!
xoxo
thatenglishrose 