Central Paris and Norgent Sur Marne, France

The city of Love. Paris

The city of Love came at a romantic and adventurous time for us. We were just months into getting engaged so Paris was a nice little birthday cherry on top for me.

Stayed: Ibis Hotel Norgent Sur Marne. It’s about an hour by train and about 30 minutes by Uber into Central Paris.

Great for: Relaxing, Sight-Seeing, Museum Visits, Budget Travel (We travelled by coach from London for close to nothing and had the added bonus of sight seeing along the way). It was a fairly relaxed journey all the way to Paris Central Bus Station and all the way back home. Now, I can sleep on top of a washing machine on a full spin cycle so a couple of naps along the way were no problem at all.

Bad for: Empty Pockets but can be done on a budget.

Love:  Central Paris was an actual architectural haven. A bit like a time travel train, Paris takes you from Roman to Classical and Renaissance,  to Medieval structures in a short walk.  I normally like to walk slowly and consume everything, recording every detail into my memories, but Paris is architecturally and artistically a 5 course meal, better consumed over a few days rather than in a day. We also loved the markets and brought home a few unique items.

We went around most of Paris, starting off with the Eiffel Tower from Norgent Sur Marne, by Uber, then walked the rest.  My favourite spot was François Rude’s  grandiose take of the Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 (a large sculpture on the Arc de Triomphe). Smack bang in the middle of the roundabout, or rather it IS the roundabout, the Arc de Triomphe is not a spectacle to be missed. You literally can’t miss it because it is that big. Romanticism at it’s best! Even though the enormous sculpture on the arc is grand and protruding; as though the characters would draw you into their great battle, the expressions draw you in. For more than a few moments you are taken on an imaginative conquest as the expressions on the figures almost come alive. 

  

Dislike: Expensive Food but if you go out of the centre for a bit, you will find reasonably priced food. We even had time for a bit of a spontaneous picnic at the Maison Margiela Museum . Later on in the day as we were looking for a popular market, we found the most unique bar/ restaurant. 

Reflection: I’m newly engaged, very happy. I’m starting to come out of my box, gaining more confidence by the day. There are some things to clear off my chest and spirit before I commit the rest of my life to my best friend. People to forgive, things to process. Better to deal with them and not carry baggage into marriage. Here it goes!