Paris City Break – Day Three

By the third day we’d seen all the big things we really wanted to see. We decided to head out for breakfast after the complimentary breakfast at the hostel wasn’t that amazing (can’t expect much when it’s free!) Hayley had found this place called Breakfast in America which was an authentic American diner in Paris. We had to go. When we arrived we had a bit of a giggle at the fact it was right next door to La Favourite where we’d dined the night before. Oh well. The food was fantastic and will be featured in my special edition of Where Amy Ate. After we were full to bursting, we made our way to d’Orsay, the other museum we wanted to visit. To get there we had to switch from the metro to the RER, MEANING we got to ride on a double decker train! This wasn’t a first for me having done it when I was out in the US but it was still really exciting. On arrival at d’Orsay we found that we should of really booked tickets. Despite arriving mere minutes after opening time (okay 15 minutes after opening time) the queue was pretty long. Thankfully once again the weather was blue skies albeit a little cold so the 30 minutes we waited wasn’t too dreadful. Once again we were granted free access by showing our passports, which is always a bonus. 

Museum d’Orsay is an old converted train station and you can tell but it doesn’t take anything away from how awesome it is. I found it to be sign posted and laid out much better than the Louvre and I can’t describe how breath taking it was to see some of the Monet paintings on the top floor. We also saw some Van Gogh paintings including Starry Night Over the Rhone which was just stunning and his famous self portrait. I definitely loved the place so much more than the Louvre. On the top floor there was a fantastic view as well, and I think everyone has gathered how much I like my views. Again, we spent a couple of hours here and it was close to lunchtime when we called it a day. 

After coming out of d’Orsay we popped into a cafe to figure out what to do with the rest of our day. We decided to head out and find the Catacombs as Hayley really went to go. We arrived at the Metro stop but we couldn’t for the life of us find the Catacombs which was a little disappointed. Instead we did some shopping and had a Starbucks. Then we headed off to St Germain so I could see two haunts of my 1920s literary heroes; Cafe de Flore & Cafe le Deux Magots. We didn’t go in but we stood across the road from them which I left me slightly in awe, knowing that 90 odd years ago they would of been there, Fitzgerald, Hemingway.. I admit I would of liked to have gone in but for starters we weren’t hungry or thirst and I’ve heard it’s pretty damn expensive. But at least I can now say i’ve seen them and know where they are should I ever get to go back.

From St Germain we made our way across the city (via the metro of course) to Galleries Lafyette. I have been here before with the school but I barely remember it, well apart from the absolutely beautiful roof that is a must see.. and probably why I dragged Hayley to the second place on our trip we considered hell on earth. It was so hot and so busy! But the roof was as beautiful, if not more beautiful than I remembered. We even found a grotto set up for Santa Claus on the top floor. It was adorable. It’s really just like Macy’s in New York or Harrods in London, a huge department store filled with things we couldn’t afford, that’s probably why we decided to make our way back to Champs Elysee, at least we knew we could afford to buy there.

If i’m honest, the main reason for heading back to Champs Elysee was to go to Laduree. Ever since Gossip Girl I have been obsessed with having some patisserie from Laduree, in particular, macarons. When we eventually found the beautiful pistachio shop we knew we had to go in for one of the famous cakes. Again, I will elaborate more on what I had in a separate post but the experience of eating there was worth every penny. It was definitely a life ambition fufilled. After we finished we decided to also buy some macarons from the shop (as we’d both favored pastries in the cafe). Everything was so beautifully presented and the place itself was so ornate. If I lived in Paris Laduree would be a weekend treat, I loved it so much. 

After Laduree we did some more shopping, including a visit to what was called an English Pharmacy but had very few English or even British products in it. It was cheap though so we didn’t complain too much. And another visit to the Disney Shop to spend more euros on Little Miss. Soon we started to feel hungry again and it was getting cold, so we caught the tube to Bastille for our last summer. Bastille seemed like a fantastic area, full of life. We walked around for a bit before finally settling on Cafe Rey for our dinner. It was our most expensive meal but probably my favourite, even though it was a burger I had. Soon it was after 10pm and we still had to pack for our early departure in the morning. I’d booked us onto the 10:10 Eurostar as I had a 4 hour train journey from London back home on top of the Eurostar from Paris to London. 

Over all, it was a fantastic trip and despite missing Little Miss like crazy, I have the traveling bug bad! Where to next? Berlin? Barcelona?