I fondly remember this trip to Paris because it was my long awaited graduation trip, and also my second time taking a plane, and first flight out alone. I met up with a friend of mine who was living in Paris at that time, and stayed at her place. It was a lovely neighborhood at Bécon les Bruyères, and a rather quaint place to be staying at! I remember waking up early to stroll around the neighbourhood and strangers would greet me with “Bonjour!”, such a simple yet heartwarming gesture.

It was a pretty short trip, and traveling was still a very new thing to me, so I did not plan to do or see much on this visit. I only managed to visit the Notre-Dame de Paris, Eiffel tower and the beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg, and they were all so beautiful and definitely worth a second trip. I didn’t manage to catch the Eiffel at night though. I’ve seen pictures though and it does look so much more mesmerising. Exploring cities like Paris and London after light is something I’d love to do someday.

Eiffel Tower

Notre-Dame de Paris

Jardin du Luxembourg

champs-elysées paris, river seine and streets…

Champs-elysées paris is the main shopping district to go to for branded goods. It’s also where the Arc de Triomphe is. For me, the main reason to be there was to get to Ladurée! At that point in time, Ladurée wasn’t in Singapore yet, so I was really excited to get there!

FOOD – FRENCH PASTRIES, CREPES, DUCK CONFIT

Besides macarons, the typical french food to try are french crepes, cheeses, foie gras, duck confit and of course, super lots of french pastries and desserts!

Transport – Getting around Paris

I got around using the metro a lot (and lots of foot work too). It is convenient, but I got lost once and couldn’t find anyone who knows English for help. Pretty scary at that point in time as I happened to be alone. Should have picked up some basic french before the trip! I remember I couldn’t find the exit out of the airport transit area when on arrival, as the signs were all in french… until the word ‘Sortie’ appeared to obvious not to ignore. Haha.

One thing I found quite amusing were the toilets with auto doors in the metro stations…

There’s so much of Paris I didn’t manage to see on this trip, especially The Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Père Lachaise Cemetery, Saint-Germain-des-Prés and much much more. I’d heard there’s also some interesting artsy neighbourhoods to explore as well, such as Haut Marais and Canal Saint-Martin! Ahh. I’ll be right back.