European Adventure: Part Three

I've had so many lovely comments and emails about my Europe posts - you are all too kind! I'm really pleased you're enjoying them. It seems almost a shame that we've made it to the final instalment :P Today's post features Frankfurt and Paris :)

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We only stayed in Frankfurt for one night. It was an ideal stop off location, as it's pretty much halfway between Munich and Paris. Going directly would have cost us more than staying over in Frankfurt, bizarre isn't it? We stayed in the best hostel of the trip, it was welcoming and very well organised. If we weren't both looking forward to Paris, I think we might have stayed on an extra night. Frankfurt is a plain city, until you reach Römer. It's the traditional area of Frankfurt and has stunning architecture. I'm not quite sure of the history of the place, we weren't there long enough to find out! Lawrence is quite keen to do a trip focusing on Germany, so maybe we will be lucky enough to return one day.

In Frankfurt we:

• Took a long walk around the town.
• Visited Römer.
• Shared a huge banana split sundae!
• Did laundry :P We wanted to be fresh for Paris!

Fantastic buildings in Römer.

Lawrence in front of the stunning church, Römer.

I'm afraid I haven't formed much of an opinion on Frankfurt, as we didn't have time to see much. I'm not quite sure it has as much to see as the other German cities we visited, but it would be worth returning to if we were ever in the area again.

Ah, Paris. Right from the start, I wanted to go to Paris. As soon as we started organising the trip and choosing places to visit, Paris was at the top of my list. I have visited before, on a school trip but I wanted to explore more of this city with Lawrence. We stayed for two nights and three days, before heading back to Blighty on the overnight coach. The hotel we stayed in was a little bit out of the way, but there were Metro stations nearby. Paris is understandably very expensive, but at this was the last stop on the journey, we did have a few treats. I loved just being in Paris, walking around and taking in all of the sights. When we first arrived, we wandered around the centre just as the sun was setting. It was very romantic and a true highlight of my trip :)

In Paris we:

• Visited the Louvre, used our elbows to see the Mona Lisa and promptly left. It was horrendously busy in there and not enjoyable. It seems most people are there to take pictures of the art and not enjoy the art itself.
• Visited the Musée d'Orsay, which is round the corner from the Louvre and a much better gallery. It was free entry, as we are both under 25 and held EU passports. You weren't allowed to take photos in this gallery, so we viewed the Van Gogh and Lautrec paintings undisturbed. It was wonderful.
• Took an evening stroll to the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomph and the down the stunning Champs-Élysées with all the beautiful shops and displays.  
• Found a gluten-free patisserie shop and enjoyed a strawberry tarteflette.
• Drank wine.
• Ate well.
• Recollected our glorious holiday memories and vowed to do it again :)

Yours truly in front of the Eiffel Tower.

One of the many delicious bistro meals we enjoyed.

 

Lawrence in front of the Arc de Triomphe.

 

Paris is beautiful, there is no two ways around that. I feel like we have done most of the sights now, especially as we had both already been up the Eiffel Tower before this trip. I don't think we'll return soon, but I know I will visit Paris again.

 

Our trip was incredible. We saw so much and did so many things and took so many pictures! There were a few grumpy days where lack of sleep spoiled it, but we soon cheered up. With careful planning, it is possible to travel and enjoy your travels. We had to save for a long time and stick to a budget, but the memories are priceless. I think we would travel in this style again, spending at least a couple of weeks moving from place to place. But not for much longer than that. By the time we got on our coach, we were both looking forward to the stability of home. It sounds clichéd, but the best part of travelling is coming home :)

 

I hope you've liked travelling with me through my photos. I bought this gorgeous scrapbook from Paperchase last week and I plan on getting some photos printed and making up a few pages. I collected tickets, passes and various bits and pieces along the journey, so I'm going to display them all in here.

 

 

 

It might take me a while to complete it, but I'm sure this scrapbook will become a real treasure :) Thank you all for visiting today!

Best wishes,