Throwback Thursday:
My boyfriend booked return flights for us both for a weekend away for my 22nd birthday, which is on the 16th of February. He told me we were going to London, so as we arrived at Newcastle airport I did not question this one bit. When he had returned with our boarding passes tucked into our passports, he nudged me and asked me to open my passport. At this point I was confused; I didn’t know why he was asking me to look at my boarding pass when I knew where we was going, or so I thought. Once I opened it and realised that we were not travelling to Heathrow Airport, London, we were actually travelling to Charles De Galle airport, in Paris!
I couldn’t believe it, I cried whilst I stood in shock in the middle of Newcastle International whilst strangers were staring at me, probably wondering what was wrong with me, but I didn’t care, I was going to Paris!
I couldn’t believe how romantic and thoughtful my birthday surprise was and couldn’t stop questioning how I didn’t know, when everyone else, including my family knew the whole time!
We flew to Paris on the 14th of February and landed back on the 17th of February, it was the best Valentines Day and birthday present anyone could ever wish for!
I couldn’t believe it, I cried whilst I stood in shock in the middle of Newcastle International whilst strangers were staring at me, probably wondering what was wrong with me, but I didn’t care, I was going to Paris!
I couldn’t believe how romantic and thoughtful my birthday surprise was and couldn’t stop questioning how I didn’t know, when everyone else, including my family knew the whole time!
We flew to Paris on the 14th of February and landed back on the 17th of February, it was the best Valentines Day and birthday present anyone could ever wish for!
I’ve compiled a list of the places myself and my boyfriend visited in Paris and would recommend anyone who is thinking of travelling to Paris to do so, it is an amazing city!
Our trip to Paris:
The Arc de Triomphe.
We passed the Arc de Triomphe when our transport from Charles de Gaulle airport was driving us to the hotel. It is a truly beautiful monument which honours those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Unfortunately, it is basically a roundabout for frantic Parisian drivers, so it is very noisy and hectic when driving round the monument, other than that it was beautiful!
Valentine’s meal.
Once we arrived and had changed into our night time attire, we walked to the restaurant my boyfriend had booked for Valentine’s Day. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant but I will edit this post if I find out!
The restaurant was very quaint and cosy, the staff were lovely and we were greeted with a glass of champagne, olives, bruschetta and hummus. There was a set menu, so we could only choose between two options for our starter, main course and dessert, which was a bit annoying but I loved the food that was on the menu so I can’t complain.
We shared a huge selection of meat, which included salami and ham, along with crusty bread with tomatoes, garlic and olive oil, it was gorgeous. For our main courses I chose mushroom tortellini and my boyfriend chose smoked salmon pasta. For dessert we both had a light strawberry mousse with a fresh strawberry and a thicker mousse with raspberry coulis on the top. All of the food was so good, I especially loved the tiny detail of the heart and an arrow on the desserts especially for Valentine’s Day.
The restaurant was very quaint and cosy, the staff were lovely and we were greeted with a glass of champagne, olives, bruschetta and hummus. There was a set menu, so we could only choose between two options for our starter, main course and dessert, which was a bit annoying but I loved the food that was on the menu so I can’t complain.
We shared a huge selection of meat, which included salami and ham, along with crusty bread with tomatoes, garlic and olive oil, it was gorgeous. For our main courses I chose mushroom tortellini and my boyfriend chose smoked salmon pasta. For dessert we both had a light strawberry mousse with a fresh strawberry and a thicker mousse with raspberry coulis on the top. All of the food was so good, I especially loved the tiny detail of the heart and an arrow on the desserts especially for Valentine’s Day.
The Musée du Louvre.
On our second day in Paris we decided to try and see a lot of tourist attractions in the city. The first stop was one of the most famous art museums, the Musée du Louvre. One thing I would advise anyone who wishes to visit any museum around Paris is to bring your passport with you wherever you go, as you may gain free or discounted admission to the museums if your within a certain age! As you can probably gather, me and my boyfriend left our passports in the hotel and were rather annoyed we had to pay where ever we visited. However, the Musée du Louvre was worth the money you paid to enter (€12 each), I don’t think it was that expensive and the museum is huge, it took us at least two and a half hours to get round everything. I was honestly blown away at the sheer size of the museum and how beautiful the architecture was, especially the murals on the ceilings.
The Eiffel Tower.
We decided to visit one of the most iconic landmarks in the world, the Eiffel Tower. It is situated outside of the main tourist attractions and myself and my boyfriend walked for quite a while to reach the landmark because we refused to pay the taxi fares and wanted to appreciate the Parisian scenery walking down the river Seine, which was rather romantic… until we had to hobble all the way back to the hotel!
We reached the tower around 3pm on a Saturday and it was heaving, you could either walk all the way up the Eiffel Tower or get the lift, I’m not sure how much they charged because we decided not to go up to the top because the queues were ridiculous and we had so much more to see in Paris that day. However, if we ever go back I would love to spend a week there and visit the Eiffel Tower properly.
We reached the tower around 3pm on a Saturday and it was heaving, you could either walk all the way up the Eiffel Tower or get the lift, I’m not sure how much they charged because we decided not to go up to the top because the queues were ridiculous and we had so much more to see in Paris that day. However, if we ever go back I would love to spend a week there and visit the Eiffel Tower properly.
Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Notre-Dame was one of the most beautiful Cathedrals I have ever seen, not only is the architecture out of this world but the atmosphere inside was so surreal; there was soft music playing as you walked throughout the Cathedral which sounded like a male choir, it was a very numinous experience and made me feel very emotional.
Myself and my boyfriend both lit a candle for our loved ones who had passed and continued our way through Notre-Dameto appreciate the incredible stained-glass windows which surrounded the Cathedral. It was an amazing experience and I would recommended anyone who is visiting Paris to go here!
Myself and my boyfriend both lit a candle for our loved ones who had passed and continued our way through Notre-Dameto appreciate the incredible stained-glass windows which surrounded the Cathedral. It was an amazing experience and I would recommended anyone who is visiting Paris to go here!
The Pont de l’Archevêché lock bridge.
Not only did my boyfriend pay for Paris, but he also gave me a birthday present as well. My birthday is on the 16th of February, but we decided that we were going to visit the tourist attractions on Saturday the 15th, so that’s when he gave me my present. He had customised a lock for the Pont de l’Archevêché lock bridge for me and it is the most romantic and thoughtful gift I have ever received. He knew that visiting the bridge was something I had always wanted to do in Paris so he presented me with the gift which was in a small, translucent black bag and we went to the original lock bridge the Pont de l’Archevêché; there is also the passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor and the Pont des Arts bridge, which you can also place your love locks on.
Musée d’Orsay.
We visited another art museum, this time it was the Musée d’Orsay which was another beautiful museum in Paris!
The bottom floor houses the works of the early Symbolists and Realists, whereas upstairs contained the impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces. It is a truly spectacular art museum as we saw works from Van Gogh and Monetwhich were incredible. You weren’t allowed to take photos but I managed to sneak a few in!
The bottom floor houses the works of the early Symbolists and Realists, whereas upstairs contained the impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces. It is a truly spectacular art museum as we saw works from Van Gogh and Monetwhich were incredible. You weren’t allowed to take photos but I managed to sneak a few in!
Disneyland Paris.
On Sunday the 16th of February, we decided that we would go the Disneyland Paris for my birthday and yes, I did just turn 22! We decided to take the underground train to get to Disneyland, which was a mixture of the tube and a double decker bus… the train routes in Paris were so confusing as we didn’t understand which train to get on at first, but they have lights on each of the stations when they arrive so we managed to work out which one to get.
My boyfriend didn’t know whether or not I wanted to go to Disneyland Paris for my birthday which was why he didn’t book any tickets, but I would hugely recommend that you book tickets before you go as we had to pay a lot of money for both of us to go to the Disneyland Park; you could also choose to go to the Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios instead of just one option.
We arrived early in case there was a huge queue and although it was February, it was rather long. Once we were inside we attempted to visit Space Mountain first, as it was one of the more popular rides but couldn’t get access to it because we didn’t have the Extra Magic Hours pass which allows you to visit the park before others from 8am-10am, whereas regular customers are allowed access on the rides from 10am-6:00pm. Once we had waited and were allowed onto the rides, we ran to Space Mountain to be some of the first people in the line; the ride was amazing and would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves theme parks. However, because the park is more orientated towards children and families, Space Mountain is probably one of the only rides which is really fast, although the other rides are really great too. There are a lot of places to eat, drink and buy souvenirs, but as you would expect they are quite expensive!
Overall, it was an amazing day and I am so glad that I spent my 22nd birthday there, I don’t care how old I am, I am still be a child at heart!
My boyfriend didn’t know whether or not I wanted to go to Disneyland Paris for my birthday which was why he didn’t book any tickets, but I would hugely recommend that you book tickets before you go as we had to pay a lot of money for both of us to go to the Disneyland Park; you could also choose to go to the Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios instead of just one option.
We arrived early in case there was a huge queue and although it was February, it was rather long. Once we were inside we attempted to visit Space Mountain first, as it was one of the more popular rides but couldn’t get access to it because we didn’t have the Extra Magic Hours pass which allows you to visit the park before others from 8am-10am, whereas regular customers are allowed access on the rides from 10am-6:00pm. Once we had waited and were allowed onto the rides, we ran to Space Mountain to be some of the first people in the line; the ride was amazing and would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves theme parks. However, because the park is more orientated towards children and families, Space Mountain is probably one of the only rides which is really fast, although the other rides are really great too. There are a lot of places to eat, drink and buy souvenirs, but as you would expect they are quite expensive!
Overall, it was an amazing day and I am so glad that I spent my 22nd birthday there, I don’t care how old I am, I am still be a child at heart!
La Sainte-Chapelle:
La Sainte-Chapelle is a royal, medieval Gothic chapel, which was built between 1242 and 1248 by King Louis IX of France and has the most extensive collection of 13th Century stained-glass anywhere in the world. It is truly a spectacular chapel and the stained-glass windows are incredible, I have included a few pictures from La Sainte-Chapelle below to show you just how beautiful it was!
Overall, I had the best Valentine’s Day and birthday I have ever had! The amount of thought and preparation for the trip was incredible and I am such a lucky girl!
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