I procrastinated writing this post because I left Paris desperate to return immediately, to the extent that I was googling possible trains and planes on my night train back to Vienna. But, while I work out how to live in my new favourite city, I'll recap a wonderful weekend.
There's nothing like 13 hours on the narrow top bunk of a six person night train carriage to make you appreciate the fresh morning air of a new city. After disembarking in Paris Est, I was swept along with the hundreds of families, tourists and commuters through the metro gates and into the 11th district where we were staying. That first journey made me wonder if Paris was, after all, going to fall into the category of 'busy, dirty and hectic', as it had often been advertised.
But rather, all it took was the short walk from the metro to the hostel, past bustling boulangeries, to disintegrate that image. It was merveilleux to be back in France!
On day one (and two and three), we pounded the pavements, exploring all of the tourist spots as well as finding the more secluded, and therefore all the more lovely, areas of the city. Austrian residency card in hand, I strolled into both the Musée d'Orsay and the Louvre for free!! That is, until my penknife failed the security check and was siphoned off to a drawer full of the things! Retrieving it at the end of our visit, however, led to us being whisked up a private staircase in the middle of the Louvre - highly recommend!
I know the weather played a part in my immediate infatuation with the city but the food helped too and that's there all year round..!
Other than my galette on day two, a personal highlight was watching the city from above up at Montmartre! What a place! We returned for lunch on our final day and the streets were heaving so I'm glad to have seen it in relative peace too.
A couple of other highlights from the trip include watching the sunset from the Seine, complete with cliché pique-nique and narrowly avoiding being mugged en route to Place du Trocadero to witness the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night.
Then it was time for another 13 hours lying prostrate on a bunk as the train rattled East across Europe.
Paris, I'll be back!