Audrey Hepburn said it best. We found tickets to Paris for €30 online through Ryan Air. Ryan Air is a budget airline that flies all over Europe for ridiculously cheap prices. Our flight was supposed to leave at 10:50 AM on Thursday from the Shannon Airport, however we had to spend the night in the airport on Wednesday night since there were no buses from Cork that would get us to the airport in time for our flight the next morning. The airport was freezing and we all got around 2 hours of sleep; it was miserable. While waiting to board our flight, we saw hundreds of American soldiers on a layover waiting to deploy to Afghanistan. We were so excited to be spending the weekend in Paris, but this was a huge reality check.
When we finally landed in Paris, we had to catch a bus into the city. The only downside with Ryan Air is that they often don't fly into main airports, rather smaller airports outside the bigger cities. We had an hour bus ride and then had to figure out how to take the metro to our hotel. After a lot of self doubting, we arrived at our hostel located near the Sacre Coeur Basilica and the Moulin Rouge in Paris's Montmartre neighborhood. We were starving at this point, so we found a restaurant down the street. I didn't know what to expect with Parisian food, but this was one of the best meals I have ever had.
When we finally landed in Paris, we had to catch a bus into the city. The only downside with Ryan Air is that they often don't fly into main airports, rather smaller airports outside the bigger cities. We had an hour bus ride and then had to figure out how to take the metro to our hotel. After a lot of self doubting, we arrived at our hostel located near the Sacre Coeur Basilica and the Moulin Rouge in Paris's Montmartre neighborhood. We were starving at this point, so we found a restaurant down the street. I didn't know what to expect with Parisian food, but this was one of the best meals I have ever had.
At dinner, we decided we wanted to spend the night doing something very cultural and decided on a cabaret show. I've always loved the Moulin Rouge and knew before arriving in Paris that a single ticket would cost around €120. We did some research and found a cheaper show that had great reviews on Trip Advisor. It didn't start until 9:30, so we walked around the city for a little bit to waste some time and explore. Unlike America, there are no open container laws in France, so we enjoyed a bottle of wine and chocolate on a set of steps while people watching. We made our way to Paradis Latin in the Latin quarter of Paris and waited for the show to start. It was a lot more tasteful than one would expect and was definitely worth the money. Unfortunately you aren't allowed to take any pictures once the show starts.
The next morning we took the metro towards the Eiffel Tower. Eating out is really expensive in Paris, so we grabbed some baguettes and stuff to make sandwiches with at a local market. We ate lunch on the lawn of the eiffel tower and spent some time taking pictures. Just like Rome, there are vendors everywhere in your face trying to sell you things and rip you off. 3 men from Africa came up to us and put bracelets on us without asking and asked for €50 each. Clare and I talked our way out of it and walked away, but Bridget ended up having to give one of the men €10. We found a boat tour that took you to all the major landmarks and ran all throughout the night. You were able to get on and off whenever you wanted and it was cheap for students so we decided to get tickets. We visited the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, and the Love Lock Bridge before hopping off. We decided not to tour the Louvre since it took so long to wait in line and get through the entire museum and we only had a limited amount of time in Paris. We walked down the famous Champs-Elysees boulevard that is lined with stores, such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, etc. We stopped and got macarons at Laduree, known for the best macarons in the world, before heading toward the Arc de Triumph. We had dinner under the eiffel tower and took another boat cruise to see Paris lit up at night before heading back to the hostel.
The weather our first two days was perfect, so it was only fair that it was rainy on our final day. We checked out of our hostel and grabbed lunch before heading out to find the Sacre Coeur Basilica, which is located on the highest point in the city. You are supposed to be able to see amazing views of the city, but we couldn't see much because of the rain and fog. I went to find the Moulin Rouge next and was able to look inside the show room, but wasn't able to take any pictures. We had some time to kill before having to catch the metro and bus back to the airport so we stopped for some famous crepes.
The journey back to Ireland definitely could have gone smoother. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:50 PM and we arrived around 6:30 to make sure we had plenty of time. Upon arrival, we found out our flight was delayed 3 hours. Like I said before, Ryan Air often flies into smaller airports outside of the city. We flew into Paris Beauvais. NEVER fly into or out of this airport. After being told our flight was delayed, we decided to go through security before we grabbed anything to eat. We were told we weren't allowed to go through security and had to wait in the entrance of the airport until an hour before our plane boarded. The entrance was full of people and there was nowhere to sit and the only two options of restaurants were terrible. We were going to have to spend the night at the airport in Ireland again once getting back, but Bridget's dad was nice enough to get us a hotel room since he knew how miserable our first experience was. Since our flight was delayed, we would now be arriving on a different day than the hotel originally thought, so we wanted to notify them to make sure that they didn't cancel our room. This is when we were told that the airport doesn't have wifi and the only internet you can access is from a computer in a different terminal and that you had to pay to use it. What kind of international airport doesn't have wifi? This was baffling. After having to pay for a terrible meal and being forced out of the restaurant because they were closing, we tried to go through security again. This is when we were told that we could receive a voucher that would pay for a meal since our flight was delayed. This was great to know after we already paid for our meal. We decided to use the voucher to get some Red Bull and candy and were told we could take it through security since it was bought at the airport. Wrong. Security made us chug our drinks before we could go through. They then proceeded to dig through everyone's bags and purses even though all liquids and electronics were taken out. I have never seen an airport do this before and was very confused. Finally, we were through security and at our gate which was a miracle within itself. Apart from our experience on the way home, Paris was everything I expected and more, and I hope to be going back someday.