Friday, June 21, 2019

PARIS ♥

The romantic Paris. I still remember, at that time, I was still in high school, I love fashion and found the internet. I fell in love with this city because of fashion and art. Unexpectedly, 17 years later, I could visit this city with my unexpected significant other, my husband, Matt.





From the UK to Paris only need 1-2 hours of flight, it's near! Other than that, there's under the sea train as another option. But my husband decided to book the trip from Birmingham to Paris because it was so much easier to travel from Birmingham without needing to reach London first.






My family travelled to Europe in June, Mat and I decided to book the same date as their itinerary so we can meet them in Paris. At first, we planned to visit Paris in July when the weather is more stable, but we changed it, and we didn't regret it. Because we could meet our family!




Accommodation


When Mat was searching for the hotel, I suggested using Airbnb. I love using Airbnb because we could find a strategic location in the city and live like locals around the areas.

We rented a flat with kitchen and bathroom. The location is strategic, at rue Montmartre, it is near the Louvre museum and Sacre Coeur.


I didn't get the chance to snap my room with my camera, so here is from my IG story.


We charged €80/night for the flat. If you're wondering how much it costs in your currency, please google it.  :)

This building is super antique, it was built 150 years ago (yeah it was more than a century). The host said that the interior of this room is still preserved like how it was 150 years ago. It is a vintage; we felt blessed to stay in this flat and we didn't mind climbing all the hundred stairs every day.


Actually, we arrived a bit late from our schedule because the train from the airport delayed for more than 30 minutes. Our host was panicking because we couldn't inform her about our lateness, luckily we arrived safely.

Our host greeted us warmly; she gave us a list of some recommended places by locals. There's a supermarket near our flat, it sells some fresh local fruits, the price is a bit expensive, but the quality is superb!




Palais Royal, located in the heart of Paris, across from the Louvre, aka “village in the city”. Palais is one of the favourite spots for locals and tourists to come for a stroll. I saw a lot of locals sitting next to the fountain, reading books while enjoying the sun.



After checked in, we took a quick rest before exploring the city. We walked to the Louvre and passed a lot of beautiful and historical places. I fell in love with the architecture in Paris; everything looks so pretty! Most of them influenced by the art from the Middle Ages like Gothic, Rennaisance - Baroque, Belle Epoque and of course from other art influence like modern-contemporary era.



Safety


Before our trip, Matt told me about his experience in Paris 9 years ago. It was bizarre! He said there were a lot of pick-pockets and beggars. I felt uneasy. I googled about this and read the latest stories about other people's experience in Paris about pick-pocketing, and how safe Paris is for tourist. My conclusion was, it depends.

I decided not to bring my wallet and keep all my valuables in my small bag. The bag that I used is a cross-body style; it was quite safe and attached to my body. Inside the bag, there's a pocket for bills and coins. Perfect for me!

During the trip, I was aware of the surroundings to avoid things that are not desirable. There was a tense moment on the train, but thankfully, we were okay.


If anyone is interested, I can make a post about some tips to avoid pickpockets and robbery in Paris.




Transport

While in Paris, we walked a lot and took the train, but mostly on foot if the distance is not too far.


There are ticket machines inside the station, and you can buy your ticket from it. There is an option for language, and you can choose English if you don't speak French. The average person in Paris communicates in French, and many don't speak English. Sometimes, even if they could, they usually reluctant to use English.

But usually, around the tourist attraction, most of the sellers can communicate with a little English.







Food


I stocked some fresh fruits, yoghurts and eggs for breakfast. I bought some salads, salmon, chicken breast and some baguettes and croissant as well for dinner. At the first night, I cooked a bowl of rice, so it's easier for me to prepare our dinner after out for a day.





Our breakfast in Paris, quick and nutritious to start the day.


There're some reasons why I love to have breakfast at the flat, one of them is because I feel more peaceful at home. I don't like crowded places, it makes me anxious.

We don't like to spend times sitting too long in a cafe/restaurant while we're on a trip, because for us, it's wasting time. I guess it's different for each of us. Most of the people like to skip breakfast when travelling, but for me, breakfast is super important, so I don't want to skip it if I could. Breakfast is essential for me to keep my body fit during the trip.
Whenever we feel hungry in the noon, we choose a quick meal to save times. I don't want to skip our food during the trip.

I try to keep and plan what we consume every day, if possible, I want to make sure our nutrition fulfilled during the trip. Besides that, by preparing my own food, there's a little happiness in it, it feels like we're actually living in Paris, not just stopping by.

I also brought my daily supplements to keep my body working well.




These are the local harvested blueberries and strawberries, the price is quite surprising because they're more expensive than what I usually spent in the UK. Cococinelle (shop) is a recommendation from our host because according to her, all the fruits in this shop are from the local farm, they are fresh and at reasonable prices. If you want to try the fruits from a French farm, maybe you can visit this store.



By preparing my own meal like breakfast and dinner, we save a lot of money. There're a lot of positive reasons, but if you're not the type who prep-your-own-meal, then my way must be troublesome for you.


Before I went to Paris, I've made a must-try-if-possible food list, not much and mostly pastries.

1. Croissant
2. Baguette
3. Macaron
4. Madeleine
5. Tart/Cake
6. Crepes
7. French Yogurt
8. French-farmed fruit
9. Pain au Chocolat

The reason is that I heard that the best pastry is in Paris. Our host recommended us to try many different kinds of pastry as well. All this time, my inspiration for baking was from there, so naturally, of course, I wanted to try pastries in Paris so I could learn more.

Matt only wanted to try Escargot, and he let me choose the rest. lol



The texture of the croissant from PAUL in Paris (there're some stores too in Jakarta) which IMHO is different from the one in Jakarta. This croissant wasn't the best, but tasted so good!



The travelling style of everyone is always different, I am a bit laid-back (Matt said: very laid-back lol). I like to stay a little longer in one place and walk around to explore the city while enjoying the architecture and observe the lifestyle of the local people. I find it cute, and I can learn something from every trip.








I usually limit my time at one location so it doesn't take too long, because if not, I can spend all day to admire and observe certain places. Although it was still too laid-back for my husband, luckily, he didn't mind, he even enjoyed it.

I won't share all the stories on this post, it'll be too long. Overall, I think Paris is so romantic and artsy. I want to revisit Paris next time, there's a lot of fancy museum I'd love to see. Amen!



Thanks for reading guys, touch with ya soon!


Love,


Comi

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