Last updated on January 19th, 2022 at 10:31 am
As a little treat in the run up to Easter and to celebrate our year anniversary me and my lovely other half Sam decided we would have a city break away somewhere a bit different than the usual UK breaks, so we decided on Paris! Working on the Shoe Zone blog and seeing so many of shoe reviews from all our bloggers, I thought great, I can get in on the action and grab myself a pair of the gorgeous Spring/Summer styles I have had my eye on.
The style I chose to take with me was a pair of our Nude Suede Effect Ballerinas (£7.99) from our new arrivals. Being the photographer for the website meant I had had a sneak peek of these months ago and they were on my wish list from the off. I absolutely love nude shoes I always think they not only look super elegant but they also looks so fashionable. I always find ballerinas are the comfiest shoes for me when doing lots of walking so these were perfect for our weekend away.
We set off on Friday morning on the train from Leicester heading for St Pancras where we would be taking the Eurostar direct to Paris. I teamed my new shoes with a very French chic striped dress and winter coat (I wasn’t taking any chances with the weather!) and found them to be so comfy for the travelling around. Being a light coloured shoe and me being the clumsiest person I was worried about scuff marks but so far so good. Sam treated us to a pre-Paris drink which almost resulted in us missing our Eurostar check in! Thankfully after a bit of running around we made it safe and sound on board and we were off.
Arriving in Paris after 3pm local time, we set off from the Gare du Nord to the apartment we were staying in. It was fantastic whizzing through Paris but with so much to see and do, with so many sights and smells we were eager to get out the taxi and go exploring. This is exactly what we did that first day. After climbing to our sixth floor apartment, there was no lift in the beautiful old building! we were back out in the spring sunshine. We meandered down by the River Seine, had a look in all the local shops before picking up some tickets to gain entry to some of the famous landmarks for over the weekend.
Heading back in the direction of our apartment we were more than pleasantly surprised to see we were staying only a couple of streets away from the most famous landmark in Paris….. the Eiffel Tower- which looked beautiful all lit up against the sunset. By this time we had done a fair bit of walking and despite Sam complaining about his feet mine were fine despite the new shoes. We ended the first night in a small brassiere eating amazing food and drinking plenty of red wine! We were in Paris after all!
Saturday was a beautiful day in Paris. We awoke to see sunshine and blue skies and it felt gorgeously warm. Pairing my new shoes with a printed playsuit and black tights we were raring to go. We had decided that Saturday would be the “cultural” day in Paris. Setting off we walked along the Seine in the direction of the world famous Notre Dame. There were so many interesting little market stalls along the way, people painting in the street and there was just a lovely atmosphere making the 45 minute walk to the cathedral fly by. We did have a short stop to indulge ourselves in chocolate and cream crepes and coffee. Yum! When we got to Notre Dame the entrance queue was huge but as it was such a lovely day we didn’t mind. It was certainly worth the wait. The building alone is amazing and so full of detail. It is absolutely huge so you could easily spend all day exploring.
In the afternoon we made our way along the river again to visit yet another very famous place- the Louvre. After studying Art at college I was probably more eager than Sam to go here but it turned out to be very interesting and fun but exhausting!! It was again absolutely packed with tourists but we felt very happy we had managed to get tickets so could bypass the long queues.
Once inside it was a bit overwhelming there are so many floors and rooms full of paintings, sculptures and objects. My favourite bits were the Napoleon apartments- these are stunning rooms, with high decorated ceilings and full of antiques and amazing chandeliers. We spent a good few hours in here exploring each room before we both had back ache and sore feet! There was just time to join the crowds and have a look at the world famous Mona Lisa before we decided to call it a day. That evening we rested our feet in a small brassiere with a view of the Eiffel Tower before heading back to our apartment with a bag of bread, cheese and red wine.
Sunday we both felt a little bit sad that it was our last full day in Paris but we were determined to have fun. I chucked on my shoes which were still looking good despite all the walking, I was worried about wearing them as it was little overcast that day. We got up early and walked the couple of streets to the Eiffel Tower. You can’t not go to Paris and not venture up the world famous landmark. At 1,063 feet tall I wasn’t sure how Sam (who hates heights) would feel about it but he put on a brave face and we joined the queue.
It was only when we got into the lift to take us up to the second platform he had a little wobble- the lift was too rickety, the tower was too high and it was too windy. The lovely man that took us up in the lift seemed to be having a little giggle at his expense, which only made me tease him even more. Once we were up there the view seemed to make all Sam’s worries go away and he couldn’t stop snapping away on the camera. The views are stunning!! You can see everything from up there and we spent a couple of hours at least just walking around and soaking it all in. However when it was time to leave the lift back down from the second floor seemed to be constantly full so we decided to go down the 669 steps back to ground level- I can safely say I couldn’t feel my legs after!!
That afternoon, despite the drizzly weather, we kept on walking around and exploring as much of the city as we could. Quite by chance we found ourselves on the Champs Elysees so we took the chance to do some shopping and pick up some treats for people back home. It’s a lovely strip full of shops, bars and amazing places to eat then there at the end one more famous landmark for us to see- the Arc de Triomphe which is a beautiful landmark in the middle of the most horrendous roundabout I’ve ever seen! With my feet hurting and Sam still recovering from conquering his height fears we ducked out of the rain into some local brassieres for some French beers and food.
Arriving back in a very rainy and windy England on Monday we raced to a wedding reception where I dug out my ballerinas to wear again. They had been so comfy around Paris; I knew they would be great for an evening of dancing. I was pleasantly surprised to see they still looked new and despite the travelling, walking and the elements they were as still as good as new.
