Europe Paris Disneyland- Day 9

Day 9

Today I had pre arranged to go to Disneyland to be taken there by a tour bus. I was so excited about it. I got up and had breakfast and caught a taxi to the head office of the tour centre. I got there around the 7:30am mark and waited to be put on the bus. When I booked this tour I was a bit skeptical because I get travel sickness and I hate buses. The round trip was from 8am-9pm and cost me about $120.00 Australian.

When the lady was escorting us to the bus I walked right at the front of the line so I was the first one to get on the bus. Than I asked her if I could sit at the front of the bus because I get travel sickness. She said this was find but after everyone else was on the bus.

The bus trip took about 45mins to get to Disney Land from Paris and the scenery was beautiful. When you first arrive at Disneyland you will go through these massive gates where you are asked to show your tickets. Well in the tours case he just flashed his id badge.

The tour dropped us off at the car park and told us to meet them back there at 8:45pm or we will get left behind. Than you walk roughly about 15mins to the where your bags are checked then you get in the front gate. But your not in yet. You then have to get your ticket out and go through another lot of gates to get in the park. Disneyland and Disneyworld are right beside each other and depending on which ticket you have you can go into both. Most tickets allow this. But it would be a good idea to check.

TIP: Big tip. Check the weather before you leave. If you pre book your ticket you may not be able to exchange it to another day. But if it is raining wear a water proof jacket and shoes. Some rides will not be running if it rains.

So I did the stupid thing of not checking the weather before I left in the morning so I just wore a normal coat, jeans and boots. It rained the entire day. It wasnt heavy which was good it was just drizzly and constant enough to make sure I had so much water in my boots that when I walked water was sloshing over my feet. I ended up buying a very expensive Disney  poncho for 15euros and I was the only one wearing one.

Tip: Get a map when you walk in the both parks are quite large. This will also let you know what parades they have on during the day.

I started off by walking to the haunted mansion from the movie the haunted mansion that starred Eddy Murphy in it.

 It was not what I expected. The line took roughly 15mins to get in and then you stand in this room and it takes you down a couple of levels to the train. When you get on the train you get into these individual carts which is short of like a haunted ghost train. The one thing I noticed that differs from Australia is that Disneys Graphics are much better.

I than headed along. Yes in the rain. To the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

The park was quite busy but I think the rain kept some guests away because out the front of the ride it had a sign saying wait from here 2hours plus. I was lucky I walked straight through the cave all the way to nearly the front of the line. I only waited about 15mins to get on the boat.

When you do get on the boat the ride will take you around this sound stage that is dresses up to be the Caribbeans. It has pirates swinging from the roof, sword fighting, amazing graphics and you do get wet. There  was a dark bit where you go down a little slope and I got shot in the eye with water. After the ride you will walk out through the gift shop. I brought a pirate minnie mouse ears.

Alot of the larger rides were closed so I walked around having a look at everything.

Food. Disneyland has 3 different levels of food to try and cater for everyone. They have a fancy restarunat near the pirates of the Caribbean ride which cost about 30euros plus a meal, the have a buzz light year buffet which cost rough 25-30 euros and the usually cheap food stores. At lunch time I walked into the cheap food store and got a hot dog, water and some chips. I'm a celiac so I didnt have much in the way of choices for food. This meal cost around the 10-15euros. Being celiac I thought that I could take off the bread of the hot dog and just eat the sausage. Turns out when I got the hot dog they had the can cheese sauce all over the hot dog. The cafe was so packed I walked with my lunch down behind these shops until I found a bench which was undercover to eat my meal. Turns out alot of people had the same idea. I scrapped of the cheese/bread and ate the chips. Wasnt impressed at all. But I'm sure if you are willing to pay the big bucks pirates of the caribbean diner would be nice to have lunch at.

I than proceeded to walk around the shops and buy souvenirs. I had honestly seen everything I had wanted to see by about the 1pm mark. And I didnt realise that I could go into Disneyworld as well. I walked over to Disney World and had a look around.

Walt Disney Studios have a few more rides. But they more have attractions where you can watch car stunts ect. I ended up going on a behind the scences tour which was pretty amazing. They stop and show you how special effects work. I would recommend going on the behind the scences tour. I waited about 20mins for this ride.

After exploring for awhile I realised how wet and cold I was from the rain and decided to go back to the hotel earlier. I walked out side to where the taxis were and asked how much it is to get back to Paris. He told me 80Euros. So I jumped in the cab and proceeded to take me back. I watched the meter all the way back to the hotel. I couldnt believe how fast it was going up. It was going up a minute a second. Then he pressed a button and slowed it down when we got into the city.  The taxi driver speed all the way into the city. He was doing 140 in a 100 zone. I think that it was the fastest I have even been in a car in my life.

Tip: Drivers are crazy in Paris. Even if you have the green walk sign when crossing the road. Double check for cars anyway because they wont stop.

Disneyland has an amazing fire works display. I decided not to stay and watch it because of the weather. But if you get the chance to stay and watch it you should

Europe Paris- Day Eight

Day Eight

I got up early and went down to the hotel for another amazing breakfast.

Tip: Make sure when booking your accommodation in Europe to check if breakfast is included. This will save you spending 10 or more Euros a day on breakfast.

Breakfast in the hotel

Some people asked me before I left how I would go eating all my meals alone. It can be a bit daunting going to a restaurant alone. Especially in Paris when every body is in couples. But I found if you have sometime to do you feel less uncomfortable. And honestly its all comes down to the time you go to the restaurant as well.

Tip: If you are freaked out by eating alone the best thing to do is take a map or a guide book and read it or plan your day while you eat your breakfast. Lunch is another meal that can feel awkward but again if you get your guide book or map out and go over what or where you are going next you wont feel so bad.

I got the ladies at the reception to order me a taxi as I thought it would of taken to long to walk to the Lourve. I left just when the sun was rising at about 8:30am and got to the Lourve at 8:40am. And there was allready a massive line waiting out side. 

Tip: If you want to avoid lines in any attraction or museum in Paris buy the Paris pass. This will help you skip the lines and work. This pass will also give you a hop on hop off bus tour and a book full of discount vouchers.

You hear about the Lourve all the time but until you see it you do not realise how HUGE it is. I skipped the line and went straight in the door with my pass. When you get inside you can choose which direction you would like to go. They have different exhibitions in each section. I started off by going to the right to see the Mona Lisa smile (or not smile) at me.

The Lourve is amazing and I would recommend if you are going to Paris to go and see it. It took me roughly 20mins to walk to the Mona Lisa from the entrance. And believe me you will know when you find it. You walk into this room with all these amazing paintings on it and you will see this wall infront of you with roughly about an A3 size painting of the Mona Lisa with millions (well maybe not millions) but alot of people around it. There is a painting straight across from the Mona Lisa that takes up the entire wall. If you stand beside it you will only take up and inch of the painting. Realistically if you love seeing art and paintings you could spend hours here. I roughly spent an hour and a half walking around gazing at the beauty.

Look how small the people are compared to the painting on the left hand side

Tip: Pee here. This attraction is guaranteed to have clean toilets. Strange tip I know. But your never sure when you will see another toilet in Paris.

I walked out of the Lourve the way I came in and headed towards the river. Being totally lost I got out my map and began to plan my where I was going to go next.

I ended up walking along the river and going to the Notre Dame. So beautiful. I pretty much walked straight in. It took me about 15mins to walk to the Notre Dame. Before I walked in there were these little bushes out the front with hundreds of sparrows on them. People were feeding them bread and they were landing on them to get the bread.

While you are at the Notre Dame be aware that there will be people trying to scam you out of your money out the front. I walked out of the Notre Dame in a bit of a daze from its beauty and this lady smacked me on the arm. I was a bit baffled by it and turned around to say no. And she smacked me on the arm again and shoved a piece of paper in my face. It looked like a petition. So I said nodded and signed my life away which she was very grateful about. And I've gone to walk away after I signed and she smacked me on the arm again and pointed at the money column. I got out my wallet to give her some coins as I wasnt carrying much money around with me. And I handed her some coins. She started shaking her head and pointing at the note that was in my wallet. By this point I was about ready to smack her in the head after she smacked me so many times. So I gave her my coins and legged it out of there. 

Tip: There are alot of scammers, homeless, thefts out there. Some of them work in pairs while one of them gets you to sign the other one might pick pocket your bag. It is ok to say no and be rude and walk away. Some people genuinely need the money which I understand. Be wary and wear your bag to the front of you. Do not keep any valuables in your pockets as they are pro's and you will be an easy target.

 I had lunch at the restaurant overly looking the Notre Dame again as it was so fantastic the day before.

And then hopping on the hop on hop off bus and went to the Champ Elysess to catch up with some friends. We caught up and had some hot chocolate and walked along the markets again. I may or may not have got some more macaroons. Yum. Don't judge me I was on holidays 

Saving Tips for your Trip to Europe Solo (Female)

Need to save money to go overseas? Here is some tips to help you be a tight ass.

Budgeting

• Making a budget plan of whats bills you have coming up and what income you have coming in for the time coming up to your trip will help you realise how much you need to save and can save.
• Once you have looked at what you have coming up and the figures work out how much you can spend on your trip and how much you want to spend when you are away.
• Make sure that you allow your self to have money in the bank for bills while you are away and when you get back.
• Make your self a target of how much money you will budget your self a day while you are on your holiday. This will help if you have a long trip and do not want to be making a long distance call to mummy and daddy to send you over more funds. (Embarrassing)

Below is a rough excel spread sheet I used in prep to go away. (not my real figures but you get the point)

		1-Jul	8-Jul	15-Jul	22-Jul	29-Jul	5-Aug	12-Aug
Pay		600	600	600	600	600	600	600
TAX								500
loan		90	90	90	90	90	90	90
Petrol		30	30	30	30	30	30	30
Hair							200
Phone				50				50
Spend		50	50	50	50	50	50	50
Gym		15	15	15	15	15	15	15
Rent		100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Bdays						50		50
Rego/insurance
Savings		315	315	265	315	265	115	215
BANK		$5,063.00	$5,378.00	$5,643.00	$5,958.00	$6,223.00	$6,338.00	$6,553.00

• If you start out by going through opening an blank excel spread sheet and writing your pay date at the top of your sheet all the way to a few weeks after you come back from your holiday.
• On the left hand side write down all your bills including if you have a doctors appointment or a hair dressing appointment or a birthday. This will help you to set realistic goals to what you can save.
• Than if you put the figure of what your bills will cost you and than what your pay will be every week coming in. If you do not just guess. 
• If you than take away your bills from your total income a week this will be the amount that you can save a week. 
• Put a column of your current bank account balance and then add week by week how much you will save from what you just worked out.
• You can then also put in when your travel payments are due and a week before transferring what money you will take over with you.

This may seam extreme but this will help you get a handle on how much you need to save and what your bank account will be looking like when you get home. 

What do you need to buy before your trip 

• Write a list of what you need to buy before you leave.It may be that you need gloves, poncho, bag lock, a new bikini or medication but there are cheap ways to buy these items. Make sure you include if you need to buy travel insurance, or pay for any activities before you leave. 
• How will you be contacting your family and friends while you are over there? There is this free application called Viber. If you are connected to the internet either 3G or wifi (ideally wifi so you do not have to pay for anything) you can send free text messages and calls as long as the person you are trying to contact has viber and is connected to the internet.

Little tips that will help you not spend money (some may be a bit lame but bare with me)

• You will want to research for your trip as much as you can before you get there. So first if you have a limited cap on your internet you may find it useful that some libraries will lend you their computers and internet for free. They may include a charge to print anything bare in mind.
• If you before books- like lonely planet go to your book store and look into the books you might be interested in to help you research. If you write down the names of these books and head to the library and borrow them out for free. Most libraries will allow you to borrow out the books for a month. 
• Set your self a spend limit each week in your budget eg. $50.00 this will allow you to be able to get things you need and also still do things with your mates without going crazy.
• Swap movies with friends. I'm a movie fanatic and love having them in my collection but doing this will avoid spending unnecessary money at the amazing JB-HI-FI.
• When you meet your friends do something cheap. Go for a walk by the water, window shop or catch up for a coffee. 
• When eating at restaurants go and have Japanese. Cheap and very filling. Main meals can range from $8.00 to $15.00. Or sushi rolls. $5.00 for two rolls. Alot of these places offer free water with meals. And not buying a drink and having water will make you feel healthier also... win win...
• Go to a travel agent and get travel brouchers. Make your self a pin board of the places you will be going. Filled with pictures of the places you would like to see (This helps when your thinking about spending extra money by ordering pizza you can look at the picture of Italy and say "I'll be eating the worlds best pizza in Italy"
• Have a movie night with friends at one of your houses. Get your friends all to bring something different over. Either for dinner or snacks. Pop your own pop corn. A bag of pop corn cost $1.50 at the super market. And this will last you a few different times you decide to snack.
• If you do have to shop, shop cheaply. Check on ebay or online for deals. Shop the sales eg. end of financial year or boxing day sales.
• Have a clean out of your wardrobe and sell interesting items on ebay. You could also clean out the clothes that no longer fit any more and swap clothes with your friends
• If you are paying for a gym membership and not using it (lets face it most of us are) put it on hold until you get back from holidays. This could save you a few hundred dollars before your trip. You will be doing alot of walking while you are over there, the gym can wait.
• Do your own hair. Buy a dye from the super market to do your hair until you come back from your holiday.
• Get some of your items for your Holiday from discount shops. Soaps, deodorant, socks, suitcases, locks for your bag, neck pillows, tooth paste, tissues, carry bags are very cheap from the discount shops. There are even discount chemist that you can buy your travel sickness tablets or pandol from.
• Borrow some of your friends CD's, or CD's from the library to put on your ipod before you go away.
• Do you know any friends who have travelled to Europe before? They might allready have suit cases, locks, carry bags, backpacks that you could borrow.
• Spend some time writing an itinerary. Especially if you are travelling alone so your family and friends know where you are or how to contact you.
  

Hope these little tips help. Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions or I can help in any other way.

Europe Paris- Day Seven New Years Day

Day Seven Paris- New Years Day

People say that Paris is the City of love. Obviously these people have never been to Paris. Paris is the city of stinks of poo in spring which people spit and urinate in the streets. I could not believe how dirty Paris is. In saying that I did enjoy the tourist sights.

On day seven I text the friends I caught up with the night before and they were still in bed. Since I wanted to make the most of my day I went down to the hotel for breakfast. And WOW... The breakfast selection was amazing. They had croissants, danishes, breads, cereals, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, yogurts, fruit, juices, coffees and alot more.

Breakfast at the hotel

I pinched the apple to put in my bag for my day of adventures. I pre arranged Paris Pass which included a hop on hop off bus ticket while I was planning the trip in Australia. They told me I had to get to the hard rock cafe to be able to redeemed. Which was well and good. But the hard rock cafe was really far away from my hotel. I ended up catching a taxi to the Hard Rock cafe.

Hard Rock Cafe- Paris

It took roughly 20mins to get to the Hard Rock Cafe and being New Years Day it was so quite. I went in a got the Paris Pass. Tip: The Paris Pass lets you skip the lines to major attractions such as the Lourve.

After walking around trying to find to find where the hop on hop after bus stop was, I got fed up. Since it was New Years day no one was on the streets and it was after 9am. I ended up asking a local man working at a newsagents where it was.

TIP: HARDLY ANY ONE SPEAKS ENGLISH IN PARIS. Make sure you learn before you get there how to say "Hello, do you speak english?" In french before you get there. These words were my bread and butter in Paris. When you make an attempt to speak french to the locals they are more willing to help you. Even though like me my french... or the line I knew of french was horrible and probably didnt sound anything like what it was meant to.

I found the hop on hop off bus stop next to the ballet theatre. The bus was fantastic. It took you around to all the top tourist attractions and left every 15mins from 8am. It was really worth getting. And if you are an information junkie like my self they give you headphones that give you a guided tour when the bus is driving along.

The first stop the bus stopped at was the Arch de Triomphe. The Bus sat there for awhile so I jumped out and took some photos and jumped back in. I was lucky enough to get a photo with no cars at all.

Arch de Triomphe

The bus roughly took half an hour to drive past all the major tourist attractions. The Effiel Tour, champs elysees, Arch de triomphe, opera, notre dame, the lourve and many more. I took the loop once and jumped off at the Notre Dame. It was beautiful. I ended up having lunch at the cutest restaurant over looking the Notre Dame.

Tip: Around the major tourist areas there are gypsy's, scammers and alot of beggers. So people honestly are asking for money becuase they do not have any but others will try and scam you out of your money by doing random things. Beware of people offering you flowers.... so strange I know. But if you take the flower off them then you will have to pay them for it and they are very persistent. People asking you to sign petitions. (I got scammed by 2 people doing this one.) They come up asking you to sign a petition but you dont realise that they want money until they point to a money column. This lady out side of the Notre Dame actually smacked my arm trying to get money off me. I wasnt carrying alot of money around with me so I dug into my coin person to give her a few Euros. Than she smacked my arm and shock her had and pointed to one of my notes in my wallet. I put some coins in her hand and legged it. There are scammers who will ask you if you dropped a gold ring (which will actually be their own) and if you take if off them they will ask you for cash. People also use their animals to get money off you. They say that there dog is sick and they need food.  Some situations are very sad. If you go on the trains stand and have things in your pocket stand with your back to the wall. People aim for tourist when they are pick pocketing. Also make sure you carry your bag to the front of you. 

After lunch I jumped back on the bus and headed to the Champs Elysess. They have shops and restaurants on either side of the road and amazing markets.

One thing you do not realise until you need to is how little toilets are in Paris until you need one. Being out all day my bladder got very full. In Paris some parts have public toilets that you must pay to use them and other attractions have none at all. Being in the Champ Elysess where there was shops and restaurants I thought there must be one. I looked and I looked and I couldn't find any. I was starting to get desperate. You can always count on free toilets in most countries in the world. I walked in and apparently alot of other people know this too. The line for the loo was soooooo long. There was even a guy directing people to go into the toilets. He was directing ladies to go into the male toilets to make the line go quicker. This was a bit strange but when you gotta go you gotta go. I got to the front of the line and walked into the toilet. I was so disgusted. I wont go into details. But you don't want to touch the seat. So I just held my breath and went. 

Tip: Mcdonalds has free toilets and Wifi. The toilets were unspeakably not clean. Pack tissues in your bag help when you use a public toilet and there is no toilet paper. Like your mother always told you go to the toilet before you go out. 

Markets- Champ Elysees

So when I walked out there I vowed never to be unprepared again. I carried on down the street and went to the markets. The markets were one of the highlights of my trip. They sold freshly made macaroons,  strawberries dipped in chocolate, wheels of cheese, clothes, hats, food, candles, jewelry ect. I recommend going. Paris was very different to what I thought it would be. Walking through the markets there was beggers and soliders walking through with guns. It was a bit of a culture shock almost. Because people do not tell you that before you go to Paris. They talk about how wonder it is. 

Necklace-  Brought at the Champ Elysees

It started to get dark so I took my macaroons and my trinkets back to the hotel via a taxi. 

TIP: Most taxi drivers do not speak English. To make it easier on you and them if you cannot speak french take a hotel business card which is written in french and give it to the taxi driver. This will be able to direct them to your hotel easier than you trying to explain where you are staying.

When I got back to the hotel I walked across the street and brought some supplies. A few bottles of water, a wheel of brie and crackers... You know the essentials. Later on in the evening thinking I might be able to meet some other travelers I went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner. The dinner cost about 20Euros. 

Tip: If you ask for water you will have to pay for it. And make sure you specify if you would like still or sparkling. They also do not open most restaurants in Europe until roughly 7pm. Also some places may have a surcharge on New Years Day. If you do not want to eat in your hotel, ask the receptionist if there are any good restaurants or bars around the area. It also wouldnt hurt to ask if the area you are staying in is safe. If you are not sure if you want to venture out there is also nothing better than room service.

Steak dinner at the Hotel- 20 Euros

There ended up only being a elderly couple and my self in the restaurant which was a little bit disappointing but thats ok I had my macaroons waiting for up stairs... YUM

Europe London - Paris New Years Eve - Day Six

Day Six: London

On day six I woke up early and went down and had some breakie at the hotel. Tip: Sometime if you have a breakfast buffet included with your accommodation you may be able to pinch a few whole pieces a fruit to take though out the day on your adventures. Since today was the day I needed to check out I went and packed my bag and my carry on bag to get ready to leave.

The night before my phone died and I did not have UK electrical plug for my Australian charger. I honestly thought my ipad external battery case would of lasted that long. Apparently not. I ended up asking the hotel receptionist if they had a plug, apparently they have heaps of them and they lent one to me for a 2Pounds. And when you return it you get the 2 Pounds back.

After I was all packed ready to go I went down and waited in the lobby for my transfer to the airport. My transfer arrive (that I had prearranged when I was back in Aus) and it took roughly half an hour to get to the airport. We made a stop and picked up this lovely Chicago lady and her son. Once I got to the airport I checked in gave them my bag and went through customs.

London air port is pretty crazy. It took me about half an hour to get through customs. When you got to the body scanner, you have to remove your shoes, jackets, belts, jewelry, take anything out of your pockets and put it on the tray. If you have a bottle of water or any liquid over about 30ml it has to get thrown out. Than when you get through customs they have alot of designer shops, cafes, restaurant and news agency so there is alot to do there. Since I was about to board a plane to Paris where the currency changes from Pounds (London) to Euro's (Paris) I changed over any excess money I had left over from my stay in London.  Tip: They do not exchange coins. Try and get rid of your coins before you leave for your next destination.

Tip: At London airport (Heathrowe) they will not call you to your gate until about 45mins- 1 hour before you depart. And when they call you to your gate all it will be is a gate number that will appear on your screen.

You will wait at the gate for awhile until the attendants than call you up and put you on a bus to take you out to your plane. Weird... yes I know. The bus doesnt have many seats so your quite possibly will be standing. Try and get on last so you get near the door to be first off. I traveled on British Airways. They werent to bad. The flight took about 1hr and 15mins. Which was nothing and they served us a packet of chips and a soft drink. Tip: If you can book your seat online the night before because they are a popular airline and get very full.

When I landed in Paris they put us on another bus and took us to the terminal. I then walked through to customs and collected our bags.

This is probably the biggest tip I can give you if you are travelling to Paris: Learn some french. Nobody spoke English. I had pre arranged when I was in Australia my transfer for the airport to my hotel in Paris and called them up the day before to confirm. When I called them they gave me a point to meet them. I came out from collecting my bag to see no body waiting with a sign with my name on it. I walked around for 30mins trying to find my transfer car, asking people who couldnt speak English. There is alot of taxi drivers who stand in the airport asking if you want a ride. Its a little bit intimidating. I ended up ring the transfer company and asking where my transfer car was. Turns out the guy was not waiting there but was waiting out side with the transfer company sign and not a sign with my name on it. Seriously I was pretty pissed off at this point. You would think it would be pretty simple. But I jumped in the mini van with the driver. I tried to make small talk with him but it turns only spoke two words of English.

We were driving along in the van to the hotel and it was only me and the driver. When you think about going to Paris you think of beautiful scenic drive in. And that you can see the effiel tower from the air port. Biggest lie. We were driving along past all these old gratified buildings. And because it was my first time to Paris I started to panic. Looking for the Effiel tower out of the window. Flash backs of the movie taken were running through my head. I started to think about if he stops at the lights I can jump out of the car, that I could replace everything in my suit case if I had to. Yes it was probably a bit dramatic my thinking. But I was alone and it was nothing like I expected.

It took us about 45mins of a panic filled drive until we reached the hotel. As I jumped out of the car I kicked my self for being so stupid.

I arrived just before the sun went down...around the 3pm mark. Hotel Montparnasse was beautiful, modern and clean. The receptionist spoke English. Not fantastically. But they spoke a bit of it. I checked into my room.

 I got up to my room and it had ajoining doors to the next room and it was unlocked. Travelling alone as a female I called down to the reception desk to ask them to lock it. It took me 15mins until they finally realised what I meant. They started by saying "We cant open the door you have only paid for one room." I than would reply with "Yes, I understand this but the ajoining door is allready open can you please send someone up to lock it?" Than they would reply with the same thing. But than they finally worked out what I said after they handed me on to someone else.

After that I had a shower and got ready to catch up with some friends I went to school back in Aus because it was New Years Eve. I text my friends on viber. Tip: Viber is a free app that you can buy for your phone. If you are connected to wifi you can send free text messages and make free phone calls off your phone. You just have to make sure the person you are trying to contact has it too. And this app will only work if you are connected to the internet either by 3G by your phone (note this is expensive) or via wifi (your hotel may offer  wifi for free)

Being new years eve we thought that there would be alot of activities going on like fire works at the effiel tower or bars, or clubs pumping. Apparently Paris shuts down on New Years Eve. NOTHING was open. So we ended up heading back to their hotel and having dinner and cocktails in their restaurant. Another friend who was also staying in Paris on New Years Eve celebrated it near the Champ Eyeless. They had no count down or anything. After midnight soldiers told them to go back to their hotel.

If you are going to spend New Years in Paris. Make sure you either are heading on a tour or just have some drinks in your hotel. Boring I know. But seriously nothing was open

Miss C xx