A stroll through Paris

I will start by talking about a new journey and the truth is that it has been quite good, but I suppose I will travel much less this year than I did in my Erasmus year.

I will be talking about a little trip I made to the different parts of France. I am lucky enough to have a sister that lives in Paris so I didn't have to worry about accommodation because it was completely free :)

I have to admit that even thought I was just staying on the sofa in my sister's apartment, it was much more comfortable than other places that I had stayed. I don't know if you remember reading about my first stay in Prague...

From where I live, the best way to get to Paris is to fly from Porto, not the easiest option but certainly the cheapest. When it isn't the height of season, (especially July and August) you can find flights from 60 to 100 euros. So that's what I did, I flew from Porto and landed in Paris Beauvais.

Paris Beauvais is the furthest away airport from the city. Paris actually want to sell mor tickets from here, because there is a direct buses almost every hour that drops you off right in the centre. The bus takes about an hour and a half and costs 16 euros.

I was lucky that my sister picked me up in her car so the trip wasn't as long although it is 90km from the centre and it was late at night so there wasn't much traffic and we got to hers in 1 hour.

I will break it up and talk about what we did on the different days, although it might be a bit boring.

Day one

My first day in a big city that I didn't know, I was on my own because my sister and her boyfriend were working. So I decided to visit the most famous places that they are tired of visiting. Yes yes, it is quite weird that people that live in Paris don't like doing all the tourist activities...

So I took the metro with all the instructions from my sister in mind, and set off to visit the city.

I have to say that the metro is pretty simple, there is also a website that tells you which is the best route depending on where you want to go. If you are lucky enough to have internet on your phone, you can download the application. I haven't met anyone that has lived in Paris for over a month who doesn't have this application.

So at first, after two metro changes, I made my way to the Eiffel Tower. And can I really say something that you don't already know?

When I arrived at the Eiffel Tower, and I could see it from afar, it didn't really impress me until I was stood right underneath it which was incredible. Given the length of the queue, I didn't go up it. Despite being told it was worth it, the thought of waiting for 3 hours in a queue and paying 16 euros wasn't the most exciting idea, so I decided I would prefer to do something else.

From there, I headed for the Opera House and passed the Galeries Lafayette. To be honest, this quarter surprised me a little because all the buildings were just so beautiful and of course the Opera House, all the gold detail was just dazzling.

I'm not going to say any more about these buildings because they are very well known and everyone knows their history.

After taking the metro, I arrived at the Arc de Triumphe and Champs Elysées. I have to admit that this wasn't my favourite area. The Champs Elysées is a strange mix of tourists, rich and poverty. In my point of view all three are related. Tourists like luxury and it encourages people to borrow money and be deceived on. But this is another issue that I would have to talk about in another post.

Anyway, I liked walking past all the luxury shops such as Cariter, Luis Vuiton and others, watching lots of couples spending their money there.

My sister recommended that I went for a walk through the Luxembourg Gardens so as I was on my way back, I stopped to see them.

It is interesting to see that as soon as the sun comes out in the city, everyone goes mad and goes to the parks. I have even been told that in the summer when the weather is hot, there are people in their bikinis near the Seine or in the parks. It surprises me because the only time people from my city put a bikini on is when they go to the beach.

As for the Luxembourg Gardens, I have to say that they are very impressive. It is so peaceful to breathe in a quiet location after spending the day in a busy city, the statues too... although don't buy anything from the surrounding bars unless you want to pay 6 euros for a coca cola.

After the whole day visiting, I went back to my sisters house and waited for them to get home from work. The day wasn't over yet, they still had plans to take me to Montmatre.

Monmatre is in the north of Paris, to get there, you just have to take the line 2 and get off at the Pigalle metro station. There are other ways to get there but I don't know what they are.

Once we arrived we stopped in a little street full of souvenir shops. Here, is probably the cheapest you will find all the little presents you want to take home for your family.

It is weird how the prices of souvenirs change depending on which area you are in, as if they are made from another material, it's the same in all tourist cities.

Once you pass that street, you get to what is the bottom of the Basilica of Montmartre. It was different from the architecture that I had seen so far but I really liked it.

Once there, you can either climb thousands of stairs up to it, or you can get a cable car that costs the same as a metro ticket.

Of course we decided to climb all the stairs.

Once we got to the top, the views of the whole city were very impressive. This basilica is in fact at one of the highest points of the city (if not the highest, but I can not say for sure) so you can see all the different parts of the city and, with a little focus, many of the famous monuments.

Something I enjoyed doing that I would also recommend, is to walk through the back streets of the Basilica, the square of painters, and all its narrow streets. They are so beautiful compared to the great streets in the centre full of traffic.

We went to eat in a crepe house, I can't remember the name of the place to recommend, but it is located a little back from all the tourist hustle. The less expensive, well known restaurants are definitely the best for French delicacies.

This place we went only served crepes so we had a savoury one and a sweet one, topped off with some ice-cream. You know how much I love desserts!

As it started to get dark, we went to visit the Moulin Rouge and Pigalle street and we just had to take a picture outside the front of it (for which you can see in this post). It is full of sex shops and strip clubs. Although I must admit that I didn't really like the atmosphere there, it was so weird.

It is quite a famous place for Erasmus students to go out, but I don't really recommend it because of the atmosphere and I have also told you that is not very safe.

And that was the end of the first day. Now I will tell you more about the next few days.

Second day

I wasn't alone for the second day, my sister and her boyfriend were able to guide me around the city.

The truth is, is that there is nothing like visiting a city with someone who lives there. I wouldn't have seen half of the interesting things I did if it wasn't for my sister knowing the city so well.

In the morning, we decided to go to the Louvre. Despite my sister saying it was a waste of time, I could not leave Paris without seeing the Mona Lisa.

And it seems that I was not the only tourist who thought that. It is amazing how once you're near it, you know you're in the area where the Mona Lisa is because there are more and more people. And then you have to listen to people that don't understand art. "It's very small, the picture opposite is more impressive", surely you have heard people say this. And also, because there are so many people there, you can't even appreciate it properly.

Anyway, we continued along the long corridors and admired other paintings and sculptures. I have to say that the museum itself is beautiful both inside and outside but after a couple of hours staring at paintings, you will get a bit bored.

As an art expert, you would probably have to spend 4 days there to really see all the paintings and sculptures, which gives you an idea of ​​how huge it is.

Something that caught my attention was the building from the outside. It really is beautiful and there contrast against the glass pyramid and the old building is very interesting.

Once we left the Louvre went to see the Cathedral of Notre Dame and despite the queue, we joined it without even thinking. A little tip, even though the queue might look long it goes down really quickly and it really is worth going inside. I was amazed by all the details both inside and outside of the building. We were lucky because when we were there, they were playing the organ which is such a beautiful instrument to listen to.

Then we went to eat lunch in the Latin Quarter, somewhere you have to go before you leave. It is full of tourists but it is quite cheap if you don't eat too much.

That night, we went to watch a rugby game because my future brother in law is a big fan and then we were invited for a drink on a barge on the Seine. So I was excited to experience my first night out in Paris.

I have to say that I didn't know what it was at first. It is a barge anchored on the edge of the Seine that has been converted into a bar. We paid 30 euros to get in, for an open bar and some snacks. Apparently, it is a really cheap night compared to the prices you normally pay for a night out in the city of light. Spanish people organized it so I had no problems with the language.

When we returned home, I realised that there must be so many different lifestyles in different cities across the world.

Despite not being that far away, the taxi cost 30 euros.

The metro runs only until 2:30, and it depends on which line you need to take. There are night buses too which are a good option if you don't want to pay for a taxi.

The advantage is that it costs the same as a metro ticket, but the downside is that you will be travelling late at night and you never know who is around during these hours. My advice is that if you decide to do this, don't travel alone.

Third day

The third day we were all a little tired so it was a bit more relaxed.

We went to the Marais. This quarter is known for its numerous bars and its gay culture. It is considered to be one of the most cosmopolitan quarters in old town Paris. It is located between the 3rd and 4th quarter. It is also famous for being a Jewish quarter in Paris. You can see this as you walk through the streets and see many restaurants selling Jewish food. It is definitely the best place to go if you want to eat a good falafel, and it is quite usual to bump into famous French actors and presenters here.

Some of the best places we saw were the Sens hotel, the Place de Vosges and the Saint Merri Church among other places.

What I liked about le Maris was being able to get lost in its back streets and visit the cute boutiques.

We then visited the Montparnasse Tower. It is a tower full of offices and is the tallest office building in Paris (not including those in the Defense). There isn't really anything that special to see inside the tower but at the top there is a viewpoint.

Listening to my sister's advice and because I didn't go up it on the first day, we decided to go up the Eiffel Tower and pay € 18. They told me it was the best view of Paris but I didn't think it was worth the price. And the truth is that they were right, you can see all of Paris so clearly, there is also a map locating different landmarks across the city.

That night we went to dinner at a restaurant that I talked about in another post, and it was just delicious. At dinner my sister and her boyfriend were talking to me a little about what it is like to live in this city. I would be happy to tell you more about their adivce if you were thinking of spending an Erasmus semester there. It is just one point of view but I guess everyone has different opinions.

Paris is not as big as I thought and despite it being so famous, it only has two million three hundred thousand inhabitants. But the metropolis has about twelve million inhabitants.

Most of these people come from the outskirts of Paris of which the vast majority work in the city, so transport is chaos. Despite improvements made in recent years, the transport at rush hour is totally crazy.

This makes day to day life in Paris much harder than in other cities.

If you are thinking of doing an Erasmus placement in Paris, I hope you've already started saving. Rents are extremely expensive. A room can easily cost 500 or 600 euros and it all depends on which area you want to live in. It is also quite difficult to get a apartment, There are queues of people wanting to visit certain flats, and there is so much paperwork involved. The advice I would give is to try and find somewhere online or someone looking for a room-mate, without having to declare or sign a contract.

As well as this, the cost of living is quite expensive, especially if you like going out. Many people organize parties at home to avoid having to pay for expensive drinks in the bars. It's funny because between 8 or 9, you see a lot of people on the metro carrying a bottle of wine or beer. Which probably means that they're going to someone's house to have a party.

Otherwise it is a great city for students, yes, do not worry if the French are a bit reserved at first, you just have to give them some time and if you make the effort, you'll make some really good friends.

Day 4

On the morning of my fourth day we went shopping. You cannot go to Paris without going shopping.

Since we were pretty tired from doing so much over the last few days, we decided to go to a mall so that we didn't have to walk so much. I had read that you can find the largest shopping centre in Europe in "La Defense", and it certainly was.

"La Defense" is the business district in the city and it is full of great buildings, a little like Manhattan but with shorter buildings, no skyscrapers. In this mall, it had every brand imaginable, some from Spain, France and international brands. I didn't get chance to see all of it because it was just so big!

The mall is called 'Les quatre temps' and it has a website that you can visit. It has more than two hundred and fifty shops and it has lots of restaurants and cinemas. You can spend a whole day without realizing it.

After shopping for the whole morning, we took a train to the South of France to go to the town where my future brother-in-law was born.

I would like to note that the train system in France is called SNCF. It may be because we we're in the capital, but you can get to so many places through this company and in a short amount of time. The ticket prices are like plane tickets, depending on the time and how far in advance you book them, they can vary a lot. We were lucky because despite booking it in advance, we got a special offer and it cost only 30 € each way.

It is around 750 km between Paris and Beziers and it took only three hours. So we left the capital and headed to the south of France, where I had never been before.

We stayed at the house of the parents of my brother so I can't give much information about accommodation here.

The first day we spent in the village where he had spent his childhood. It is a town with a population of around 3000, and has a lot of history involved in the World War. Many of the few monuments in the village refer to this terrible moment in Europe. The truth is there isn't much to say about the town but I doubt you will ever visit it.

But I left feeling that I really discovered a new culture and I feel like I actually belong there. Honestly, the town is so peaceful and calm, and there are some magnificent landscapes.

After spending a day in his home town, we went Carcassonne. It is an hour and a half drive and is one of the most touristic places in southern France. It is a city built within a fort. It was built in the Middle Ages but it was restored in the late nineteenth century.

It was declared a World Heritage by UNESCO in 1997. It is also considered to be a national interest site and its castle and ramparts are historical monuments guarded by the French government. It is one of the most popular tourist cities in France, excluding of course Paris.

The city's walls are 3km long and you can walk along them and enjoy the views that it boasts. In its inner streets, you can find the cathedral and various other typical houses from the Middle Ages. There are also various medieval horse shows and comedians that you have to watch.

I 100% recommend going to visit the city. It's a bit complicated to get to if you don't have a car, but if you get the opportunity, you should definitely go.

Honestly, my visit to the South of France has made me fall in love with this country. The people are much more open and the landscapes are similar to those in Northern Spain.

On this trip, I wanted to see so much more, but luckily it will not be the last time I visit. So, here's to next time!

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