I was lucky enough to visit Paris last week, and having never been before I was SO excited. However, Paris was a bit hit and miss for me. The Eiffel Tower and The Arc de Triomphe lived up to my expectations completely, especially as I visited the Eiffel Tower on Valentines day and the atmosphere was lovely. I also visited the Louvre, The Pompidou and the D'orsay, which I really enjoyed, even though I was suffering from awful pains in my feet (Probably from walking more whilst I was there than I ever have in my life). The second day we were there was the main reason for going to Paris. I went to Premiere Vision & Indigo at Parc d'Exposition. Unfortunately no photos were allowed as the work on show was completely new and they were fashion predictions for 2014, so there had to be absolutely no way that the ideas could be stolen. However I did manage to find this video that gives a little taste of what the event was about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVnEhlFbl98 I really didn't like Premiere Vision, every booth you walked past felt like there was a business meeting happening which put you off going in. I did like Indigo, however I found a lot of the fabrics and prints were exactly the same, and even though they were all from different designers and slightly different, I couldn't help but think they were conforming to what fashion thinks they should be making not what they actually wanted to make. I did find a few vintage fabric suppliers that I absolutely fell in LOVE with. I can only imagine the price tag, but a girl can dream...
After Premiere Vision and Indigo, I visited the Pompidou, that was an experience. Not because of what was inside, but finding the actual way in! We ended up walking around a huge library before realising.. yeah this isn't the Pompidou.. this is a library. Apart from a bit of confusion finding the place, I really enjoyed it. Definitely my kind of thing. I took a few pictures in there, but silly me didn't even think to write any of the artists names down!
After the Pompidou we went to the Eiffel Tower, and I loved it! It was Valentines day and it was such a lovely atmosphere. We only queued to go up it for about 45 minutes, which I thought was pretty good considering the amount of people were there. I must admit I had a bit of a heart attack on the way up, I knew I was a bit worried about heights but the lift going up was awful! Definitely worth it though, it was so beautiful, I went at night so I saw all of Paris lit up, So gorgeous, and my fear went a way instantly. We went all the way to the top, which has 2 levels an inside bit and then slightly above, you can go outside, but it was absolutely freezing and I knew i'd pushed myself to my complete limit! That night We had the pleasure of being taken out for a meal in Champs-Elysees, Cocktails at a 7 Star Hotel, and we then met the Sheikh of Dubai... Wow, writing it down makes it so surreal, but it was amazing.
Excuse my Reflection!
The next day I was literally in so much pain from walking so much, but I pushed through, as I knew I would regret wasting my time there on my stupid feet. We started the morning off by going back to the Champ-Elysees, for a wonder round the shops, and worked our way to the Louvre. Originally we wanted to see a fashion exhibition, but the Louvre was literally the biggest building I have ever seen in my life, and again, couldn't find our way to the right place! We did manage to have a little look around all of Napoleons apartments, which was absolutely beautiful.
The day was finished at the D'orsay, unfortunately we weren't allowed to take some pictures and I had to sit down for a lot of it due to being so dead! I managed to see some Van Gogh, Monet & Manet, which was lovely, but fine art isn't really my thing.
On our last day we visited a Parisian Flea Market, which was quite hit and miss. A lot of it was typical market tack, but after wandering down a few alleys the real treasures were found. There were a few vintage shops, but one really caught my eye, The clothes were absolute beautiful, and I was so torn on what to buy as most of my money was gone by this time, but after a bit more rummaging I eventually found a pair of boots that i fell completely in love with, I spent every last euro I had on them, and they were completely worth it. Fitted me perfectly so that was definitely a sign!
Overall, I had a really lovely time in Paris. However I did find it quite dirty, in all the parts that weren't tourist attraction areas. I know that it's like that in most places, but I did find it really quite dirty. And it's true, it does smell a bit of wee, but luckily only in the underground - Which I also hated. It was so busy that I waited for a metro for about half an hour, even though the metro I was meant to be getting on ran every 4 minutes, I found the french extremely rude and unwilling to help, I know, I know, it's like that in most cities but this was absolutely ridiculous! I would definitely go back, but as i've seen a lot of the things that I wanted to see of Paris, hopefully if i go back it would be a lot more chilled out!
