A Guide To Paris

Paris: the city of love, fashion and the wine and cheese combination. In August, I visited the most beautiful city in the world for the 3rd time with my boyfriend. I adore Paris and everything about it, from the couture fashion stores to the cultural art galleries. I wanted to share my time in the city with you all so I thought I'd compose a guide to Paris to help those who are considering or are visiting Paris in the future.

Where To Stay
We stayed 5 nights in the Relais Saint Charles hotel, situated just a 10 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower and just a few metro stops away from the Champs Elysees. The hotel was located amazingly, right next to Dupleix metro station. There were also a number of boulangeries and restaurants nearby. The hotel was 3* but decorated beautifully and more than we expected for the price.

What To Eat

Being a vegetarian, eating in Paris was quite difficult for me as they don't quite grasp the idea of not eating meat so it limited my options, although I did manage to find some tasty things. Cheesy pasta was a must.

France is known for its cheese so what better to do than buy a cheese board to immerse yourself into the Parisienne culture. Not going to lie, I devoured this. French cheeses are the nicest I've ever tasted and 100000x better than British cheeses. So, if you get the chance to go to Paris, try the cheese!! Don't forget the wine to wash it down, too.

Boulangeries (bakeries in English) are to be found on every street. Each morning, I liked to start the day with a pan au chocolat, a croissant and some orange juice. Pastries are very cheap in Paris, unlike anything else so bag yourself as many as possible.

Of course, me and John chose to go to the Champs Elysees on the hottest day of our holiday, where it reached 32 degrees celsius. We were dying for something cold and refreshing so we stopped off at the Hagen Daaz Cafe. THIS IS A WARNING... the treats may look tempting, but the prices are not. These simple desserts were ridiculously expensive. Tasty, but not not tasty enough to be worth it. 

What To See and Do

Galeries Lafayette/Printemps: The Harrods of Paris. The gorgeous department store boasts concessions from Saint Laurent to Chloé. Definitely worth a visit if you want to do a spot of shopping or if it's a rainy day.

Chanel, Rue Cambon: The original Chanel store. This store is a heritage site for lovers of la mode. It's the store in which Coco Chanel lived herself. 

Champs Élysées/Arc de Triomphe: if you want a wider range of shopping choices including high street stores such as Sephora and Abercrombie and Fitch, then the Champs Élysées is the area for you. The street stretches on forever until finally reaching the Arc de Triomphe, one of Paris's most popular attractions.

Musée de L'orangerie: home to Monet's Waterlilies. Very large waterlilies in fact. 

Palais Galiera: I visited the Palais when the Jeanne Lanvin exhibition was taking place. It was very outstanding and beautiful. Exhibitions are showcased here all year round so check on the website to see what's on when you're there.

Le Louvre: probably the most famous art gallery in Paris, home to the Mona Lisa and famous for its glass pyramid architecture. It was great to see such famous artwork, however, be prepared to be squashed by angry tourists trying to get to the front of the crowds.

The Seine: take a boat trip or just a stroll along the river Seine. Perhaps place a lock on one of the many bridges. I'd definitely recommend a Seine boat tour at night, as the lights are beautiful and you can get a view of the illuminated Eiffel Tower.

Eiffel Tower: this is also something to visit at night. We went at about 10pm when it was completely pitch black so we could see the lit up city below us. Of course, we went to the top floor but it was quite scary to say the least. On the hour in the dark hours, the Eiffel Tower sparkles. Not something to be missed.

Montemarte/Sacre Coeur: many famous artists and writers live in the area of Montmarte. It's a dainty little town full of markets and cute café's. Salvador Dali's exhibition is also here which is amazing to visit and see the sculpture recreations of his work. After walking through Montmartre, you'll reach Sacre Coeur. This area is high rise and looks out over miles and miles of Paris. They're very romantic areas to visit and me and John placed a love lock here as it was so lovely.

DISNEYLAND: and of course, leaving the best until last. Disneyland is a definite must when in Paris, whether you're 3, 18 or 90. Disneyland is situated about an hour away from central Paris but the RER (which is double decker and super cool) takes you straight there for around €7.50. It was the most fun day in Paris and definitely not one to forget. I wish we could have stayed there forever because it was just so amazing and I've never been so happy.

I hope you all enjoyed this post and I hope that I've inspired you to visit Paris! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave a comment below!

Jordan x 

What I Ate Today | Vegetarian

Hi everyone, so today's a bit of a different blog post but I thought I'd mix things up a bit and show you the kind of things I eat in a day for all of you who want some vegetarian meal ideas or are just super nosy. I've been a veggie just over 2 months now and I'm loving it. There's actually so many choices and it's super easy. I'm not trying to preach here but cutting meat out of my diet has made me feel so much better mentally and physically, and it's helping the world. I'd love to go vegan sometime soon but for now, I'll stick with veggie.

So for breakfast I had a smoothie packed full of fruit and veggie. So, in the smoothie there were 2 bananas, 6 large strawberries, a handful of frozen raspberries, a handful of spinach and a tsp of organic matcha powder. This powder is great for boosting your energy levels and can help boost your metabolism. So I cut up all my fruit and popped it in the blender.

Alongside my smoothie, I like to have some lemon water for refreshment and to detox my body.

For Lunch, myself, my Mam and my sister walked over to a pub because who doesn't love pub food? They actually had quite a lot veggie options which made me super happy. I opted for the Mexican-style pasta boats filled with beans, sweetcorn cheese and other stuff. Surprisingly this was part of the healthy menu despite being super carby and cheesy and it only came in at 475 cals. It also came with a side salad and I pinched some of my Mam's chips.

I got a bit peckish around 3pm so I snacked on some strawberries. Here's me really enjoying a strawberry, apparently.

Unfortunately, I had work that night so that meant tea had to be a packed lunch. I was feeling lazy so I threw together a Quorn sandwich with some salad. I was a bit naughty and put some crisps in too. I also took a big 1L bottle of water to work because I'm always so dehydrated. Of course I had to put it in my fave Fiji water bottle.

After work I was so sleepy and my feet hurt so I just wanted to get into bed. I quickly made myself a cup of peppermint tea and had a low fat muller rice as I was a little bit peckish, and hopped straight into bed.

So that's what I ate today (well yesterday but that doesn't have the same ring to it)! Let me know if you liked this post and if you want me to do more of these or I could post some recipes and cooking posts/videos. 

Don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin to keep updated with my posts! 

Jordan x