To all, I am so sorry for the belatedness (is that such a word?) of this post. This week has been so busy. Now that I am properly in the whole ‘Au Pair schedule’ with the family and school, I’m finding it hard to find the time to just have a few minutes to sit and write to my heart’s content. Luckily, I have managed to snag a few minutes from the day to write this post. This weekend saw the visit of my boyfriend Malek to Paris! It was so nice to see him, as we’ve been apart for over a month now. For those who don’t know, Malek is also an au pair but in Madrid! – he copied me, I swear!

Having arrived extremely late on the Friday night, the weekend began slowly, and after a breakfast/brunch on Saturday we headed to the Sainte-Chapelle. Yes, I know how much I go on about this chapel, but Malek’s never been there and he did take the time to read (definitely not forced at all…) to read my dissertation on many occasions, and so I thought it would be nice to take him there so he could see at first hand what I am so passionate about! For the first time in my experience, there was a pretty long queue, but the wait was well worth it. Oh, how I have missed you ma belle Sainte-Chapelle! I cannot believe how much has happened since I last visited in February to standing in there this weekend. So surreal. Sadly a large part of the north wall and western rose window were being conserved so that was all closed off, nevertheless one was able to have a beautiful view of the stained glass.

We also spent a bit of time just wandering around the Seine and taking in the sights. It was such a beautiful day, it seemed silly not to spend as much time outside as we could! We spent some time walking around the Jardin des Tuileries, which was especially pretty on this autumn day.

 

 

We also ventured toward Monmatre, because I wanted to show Malek the amazing views from the Sacre-Coeur. For those who don’t know, Montmartre is in the 18th arr. of Paris, and its pretty much all on a hill. This meant that, bien sûr we had to stop and have a coffee on the way up! We explored some of the many roads of Montmartre, and found some really cool places that we have to go back to again at some point. There were a few piano bars, which is amazing! What could be better than a cocktail and live piano? Not much. Once we managed to make our way through the hordes of tourists, we got to see the beautifully anticipated views of little ol’ Paris.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday we headed towards the south of Paris, and went up Tour Montparnasse. I had never heard of the tower until I read a blog post by Lost in Cheeseland. Tour Montparnasse is a bit of an anomaly on the Parisian skyline, as it seems to be one of the biggest buildings around. However, the fee is pretty cheap – for us is was just around €11 to go up. There you experience an observation deck (which you get to be elevator thank goodness! Montparnasse Tower claims to have the quickest elevator in Europe) and then climb a few floors to get to the terrace floor which is where you can see some more spectacular views of Paris. I would recommend going just before sunset, so you still get to see the city during the last few minutes of daylight, and see the sun setting – how romantic!

 

 

 

 

 

To end our lovely weekend and Malek’s time here in Paris, we decided to pay the Eiffel Tower a visit at night time, and boy did she do her best! It was lovely to see the tower all light up and sparkling (something Malek thought I was making up!). We had a cheeky bottle of Champagne, but I must admit that we couldn’t finish it, because me being me decided that we should have the cheapest €6 Brut Champagne, and so it was of course un-drinkable. Next time I think we should splash out for at least a bottle costing €10! I had an amazing time having Malek here with me, and it was so much fun being the tour guide and showing him the places that I like to go to and see etc. In November I shall be going over to Madrid where Malek is currently working – the guide becomes a tourist!