Emma O Donnell

I've had such a busy August. It was my 21st birthday, I went to Paris and I found a place to live in Dublin for September. Its my final year studying English and Film so this time next year I'll hopefully be a graduate!! :)

^^ this is the view from our hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Vaneau Saint Germain which is in a quiet but really pretty district of Paris.We arrived quite late on our first day so we just went out for food. I would definitely recommend booking some kind of shuttle or taxi from the airport because public transport in Paris is a nightmare when you have really heavy luggage :P

We ate in a restaurant next to our hotel called Zero Zero Sevres. It was really nice so we went back of couple of times

The next day we walked to The Tuileries Gardens, we got lost quite a bit but everything is so pretty in Paris that there's always something nice to see

pictures at the Seine

We also went to the Centres Georges Pompidou. It's a modern art museum housing works by artists a like Picasso, Matisse and Pollock. They are also holding a Velvet Underground exhibition at the moment but we arrived too late to see it :( There's such an extensive collection there and I would definitely recommend taking some time out to see it

the building itself was really cool, each level had a open courtyard with great views of Paris

a Picasso notebook that I bought at the Centre Pompidou

On the third day we went to the Eiffel Tower. Its a must see when you go to Paris, it just feels so quintessentially French even if it only ever seems to be visited by tourists. It's also the best place to get souvenirs for family and friends because there's lots of markets selling all kinds of knick knacks

We also went to the Arc de Triomphe. I loved it as much as the Eiffel Tower. I didn't realize you can also also climb to the top of it

walking down The Champs Elysees pretending I'm Jean Seberg

We also managed to fit in the Louvre that day too. We went at around 4pm which is a great time to go if you want to avoid the long queues

Honestly, I didn't enjoy the Louvre half as much as I enjoyed the Centre Pompidou. Its such a big place that you really need to know what you want to see and where it is exactly. Now I understand why it took Anna Karina 9 minutes and 43 seconds to run through the Louvre. Also the Mona Lisa is surrounded by so many people all the time that you can barely see it :L

On our way home we stopped off at the Notre Dame Cathedral

There was a service on when we visited which meant all the tourists were crammed along the sides of the church, it felt disrespectful and we couldn't see anything with the crowds so we didn't stay long

The building itself is so beautiful though

That evening we tried to find the Moulin Rouge but we ended up in a really dodgy area :L so we got the metro back to Notre Dame and had dinner there

On the Saturday it was my 21st birthday and I got the best french related card hehe

We decided to go shopping so we went to the Printemps and the Galleries Lafayette. The Printemps is a department store with brands like Pull and Bear, Cheap Monday and Eleven Paris. While the Galleries Lafayette sells high end designer clothing. It was so busy when we visited, maybe it was because it was a Saturday but I have a feeling its always that busy

The inside of the store is really pretty and I would have went crazy in the perfume section if I had the time (and money) hehe

We took a boat from the Eiffel Tower on our way back to the hotel. It's a lot nicer way to travel to each place because you miss out on a lot of nice sites when you take the metro. We went on the Batobus which allows you to hop on and off all day. We got off at the Saint Germain Les Pres district

It is a really pretty area of Paris and I would love to go back to explore it more

I got dressed up in my new dress from Topshop and went out for my birthday surprise which just so happened to be dinner at the Eiffel Tower (yes I am so spoilt hehe)

We had dinner at 8:30 which is a perfect time because you get to see the sun set over Paris

The dinner and wine was so nice and I really enjoyed it. After dinner we walked around the first floor and looked at the views of Paris at night

I really loved Paris, theres so many things to do and see and I would go back tomorrow

Before I left my parents got me an amazing chocolate cake, three layers with a marshmallow filling. It was a blessing and a curse that I wasn't around all week to finish it

Me and my family went out for food at The Yellow Pepper which is my favourite place to eat when Im at home. I got this dress in Topshop, its really summery and the print is sixties-esque so naturally I love it

I've rambled so much in this post :L I hope you enjoyed my travel diary/life update :)

Emma O Donnell

Lindsey Wixson For Madame Figaro August 2015

Bees

Paris

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