Paris - Day Two

Bonjoir mon amis!
I'm writing to you from my electric blanket heated bed on a Sunday evening with Family Guy playing in the background. #Goals.
Feeling pretty crappy as I read over and post this now that it is gloomy Monday! Figuratively and literally - someone sort this weather out please?!


Onto business...
We started day two of our visit to Paris with a slightly fuzzy head following some intense cheese dreams due to all the tastiness we consumed on Friday evening! We set out early in the direction of Montmartre and made the short climb up hill towards what was expected to be a breathtaking view of the city. The cathedral itself is a stunning display of an off white masterpiece showcased by the wonderful blue skies we were treated to! Unfortunately for us, it was a little foggy, obviously due to the fact that we were visiting in early March and in the morning. However, even with the mist Paris looked beautiful and I was surprised to realise how vast it actually was.
The only thing that spoils the cathedral is the hoards of men cashing in on the opportunity to sell mini plastic gold and silver Eiffel Tower's and selfie sticks to the inevitably large amount of tourists in the area. This was an even bigger problem at the actual landmark which was to be expected, they can be very persistent!

We had a croissant and a coffee in a nearby cafe and then set off for the catacombs. Once off the metro, we were slapped in the face with the shit heap, awful British reality of queuing for an obviously very popular tourist attraction. Once in the queue armed with macarons (obviously) for the wait, we were told to be expected to queue for around 1 hour 45 minutes. If you are planning a trip to the catacombs, my advice is to prepare yourself for a long wait as it took us just over an hour to get in. Also go to the toilet before you start queuing! This is an important one (especially for me as I have the bladder the size of a pea) as there are no toilets anywhere once you are inside and it's about a 2km walk around the one way tunnels. Finally the whole of the queue is outside, so prepare for whatever weather you may be facing. Luckily we weren't queuing in Britain as it would have almost certainly rained!

If I'm honest, the catacombs didn't leave me entirely impressed, as once you're inside it's really just a load of bones all organised in different ways (in my opinion!). I think I may have enjoyed it more if I could read French, but that's just my own ignorant fault!

After the catacombs we went in search of wine! We walked towards the Eiffel Tower to have a look around, we didn't have intentions to go up the tower as we had already seen the view from Montmartre, so we settled on a floating bar on the Seine with a bottle of red and drank it all in. (Marvellous pun if I do say so myself)

Once suitably wined up, we had a lovely walk down the Seine towards the Place de la Concorde and requested an Uber back to the Air bnb as we decided that was enough walking for one day! Plus the fact that we had a bottle of Prosecco in the fridge....

We had booked a table at a restaurant for the evening called Cafe Des Abbatoires on the recommendation of a friend. The focus was MEAT. Obviously.

We were greeted by extremely friendly staff (our waiter was easily the nicest person we had met all weekend!) and given the low down on the procedure for ordering. We were to choose a main each from the set tiered menu along with an appetiser if we pleased. We obviously did want one please, so we chose a black pig air dried sausage accompanied by a freshly baked baguette. The starters were decided before each service and we were brought one of everything. My memory doesn't quite serve me so well on the starters, partly (fully) down to the amount of wine consumed that day!! For our mains we chose to share the 800g (!) French beef sirloin, 3 weeks dry-aged. Two words; Fucking. Delicious. Excuse the French. I haven't had meat sweats like I had after that steak in years. Obviously, the leftovers went home with us that evening in a doggy bag for sandwiches for the Eurostar back to London the next day. We finished off the whole meal with a creme brûlée each, cause everyone knows you have a separate stomach for your pudding. Duh.

Paris was everything I wanted it to be and wine. 

But seriously, we had a wonderful weekend and we still had so much to explore when it came time to leave. The city is beautiful and so much bigger than I expected it to be. Can't wait for our next trip away!

Love to you all!

Talia x