Paris Day 3: One day more

We awoke on our final morning in Paris ready to explore more of the city and, after checking out and storing our bags we went for a stroll towards the Pompidou Centre.

We stopped at a local bakery and picked a pastry up for breakfast before wandering down the winding streets towards the river.

We stumbled across this gorgeous market that sold anything and everything Parisian/food related and it took everything in me to stop myself from loading both myself and Michael's arms down with bits and pieces to take home.

Having managed to resist making any purchases we walked on through the city until we found the Pompidou.

As we were a bit short on time and wanted to see lots of other things we didn't actually venture inside, instead just checked out the sculptures outside and took a few photographs.

The Boy was in his element.That is, until he stepped in a large pile of dog poo. Ahhh, how romantic.

Next we got to do something that I'd been dying to do all weekend: we put a lock on one of the love lock bridges.

I've been aware of the love lock phenomenon for a while and really wanted to do it when we were in New York but Paris seemed like the perfect spot.

Strangely enough, it was really romantic, which seems weird to say considering how many other people were doing the same thing.

We put our lock on the Pont des Arts which is the bridge for your committed love, and then threw the key in the river, as is tradition. It was amazing and was one of my favourite moments of the whole weekend.

I'd bought us tickets to the Musee D'Orsay on the recommendation of a friend so we skipped the Louvre and checked out some other impressionism instead. 

The space was fantastic and The Boy absolutely loved it, even venturing off on his own for a while when the craziness of the weekend caught up with me and I needed to rest my feet for ten minutes.

Having worked up an appetite we went to a gorgeous little cafe for lunch. I went for salmon tartare and The Boy had duck, all washed down with a delicious bottle of white.

On the way back to the hotel we realised that we were actually staying really close to the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery so we decided to take a stroll in the afternoon sunshine before going to pick up our bags and making tracks to the train station.

It was a magical place and although it was pretty touristy near the entrance, when you got into the cemetery itself it was often almost as if it was just the two of us.

The weekend was amazing and really rounded off my birthday celebrations in style.

I was a wonderful introduction to a city that I know I will visit many times in the future - I'm already planning my next trip as there's so many other areas I would like to explore.

Paris Day 2: Food glorious food...along with a spot of sightseeing

Saturday dawned and I was exhausted, which wasn't ideal as we had a full day planned. I dragged my ass out of bed, hopped in the shower and before I had even woken up properly The Boy had me on the bus ready for a tour of the city.

The Hop On, Hop Off bus tours had been recommended to us by Zsa as a perfect way to see all the sights in a really short space of time and as we had planned to spend Sunday wandering, Saturday seemed like to perfect time to cram in some sightseeing.

We started at Montmartre and Sacre Coeur which, as Sophie mentioned in her post on Wednesday, seems to be the hotspot for dodgy men trying to steal your valuables. The gangs of men can be quite intimidating, even leading me to respond to the question of "Hey lady, where you from?" with "London. So f*** off".* 

Once you get past them the site is quite magical with fantastic views of the city. Sadly for us it was a bit drizzly but it was still incredibly romantic. 

We hopped back on the bus and headed back into the main part of the city for lunch and a walk along the river.

It was a lovely morning and we actually managed to fit a lot in; the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the locks at Pont de l'Archeveche, it was amazing.

Believe it or not the image above wasn't lunch, it was an afternoon snack. It's amazing how easily the fat girl in me comes out when I'm on holiday! Fondue and wine in the afternoon with The Boy, it was so romantic.

After a whizz around the Eiffel Tower we went for a stroll around L'Hôtel national des Invalides where there was loads of military personal taking part in a ceremony of some kind. It was awe inspiring, and the uniforms were pretty fantastic.

It was getting late so we decided to head back to the hotel and get ready for dinner at Unico, an Argentinian restaurant nearby.

They specialised in steak and it was delicious. The Boy was in his element. 

Although I enjoyed it, white wine is more my thing but I couldn't fault the food, it was a lovely evening of good conversation to round off our Saturday in the city.

*Apologies Mum, I know you don't like the swearing but on this occasion I think even you would have been alright with it.