Hello lovelies, 

I left Amsterdam in the afternoon to go to Paris and I didn't book the coach for the first class because my SO had planned to join me. But because of his covid sickness he couldn't join and I had to go all by myself. The train was full and nothing like the thalys before with the good service. It's a fact that you pay more money for comfort and service in the trains. 

I arrived around 7.30pm in Paris and went straight to the hotel. After Amsterdam, Paris was quite the shock. There were only a few cars and so many cyclist. It was quiet and quite safe going around in Amsterdam, and as soon as I left Gare du nord I heard all the noise of the cars, inhaled the bad air and it made me so uneasy. 

The hotel was only a few minutes away from the train station and I could check in immediately. I was in dire need of something to trink and went out to get myself something at the next supermarket. I found a nice chinese restaurant just outside the hotel and opted for some take away. I came back to my room with two entrees, one main dish, one liter of arizona ice tea, and another liter bottle of water. It was a feast as I was starving. 

Day 8

I slept in and then went off to find the next mariages fréres because I wanted tea. I don't know what happened but my allergies hit with full force and my nose literally started dripping and my eyes burning. But only when I was near or in the hotel. When I was somewhere else, I was fine. 

When I reached the tea shop I chose what I wanted to get and tried to pay, just to realize, that I left all of my cards in my other bag. And the other bag was in the hotel. Oh no. 

I was so lucky and carried a bit of cash so that I could pay that, but it made me feel so bad. It was almost Italy 2020 all over again (I had forgotten my whole purse and had no cash or cards). The next stop would have been the Angelic Pretty store but without cards and cash I would not be able to buy anything. And therefore I went back to the hotel to get the cards. After I had them, I was finally able to go to Angelic Pretty. The staff was so nice and we chatted a bit. In the end I bought the lemonade float JSK in pink with a green ribboned delicious lemon necklace and the happy garland necklace. It was more money than I wanted to spend but that was my big spending instead of going to Disneyland, which I was really salty about. 

 

There was a Japanese restaurant just around the corner and it was there that I ate lunch. I hat takoyaki and a spicy chicken bowl. It was a bit too much but I ate it all. 

Then I just got some more water and then went back to the hotel. 

Day 9

Unsure of what else to do and because I didn't really want to do touristy stuff, I went on a small Jose Rizal hunt through Paris. I think, I even found all the places he worked and lived in. There was also a small bust of him that was relatively new.

1) Lariboisiere Hospital - just outside the gare du Nord. I didn't want to enter it because it's still a hospital and I felt that it would be disrespectful

2-4) Rue de Maubeuge 37+55 +  La place José-Rizal  - There was a plaque at number 37, but not at 55? I am unsure why and if I maybe missed something. The small bust is at the la place José Rizal, it's in front of a restaurant.

5) Le bon Marche - the market was just down the street of the hospital

6) Hospital Laennec - again, I only filmed and took pictures from the outside. This time I could not even enter if I wanted to, because there was an access control.

7) 55 Rue du cherche-midi - Rizal trained here under Dr. de Wecker in his clinic.

8) Historical Marker at 124 Rue de Rennes - where he stayed during his stay in 1883

9) 65 BD Arago - there is a plaque for Juan Luna who stayed at this adress. Rizal is not mentioned, but it is known that he stayed at his place for a short while.

The whole walking tour can be found here on google maps.

 

The bust at la place José Rizal

For lunch I ate pizza with salmon and white sauce and tiramisu, both were very good. But the waiter was a bit too flirty.

 

Day 10

The weather was to be hot, really hot and to combat the heat, I went to the Schiaparelli exhibition at the musee des arts decorativs. 

 

And wow, I did not know this designer but her dresses are just amazing. She took ideas from all over; astrology, religious aesthetics, historical dresses, etc. I loved the embroidery on the dresses, I wish I could do it too. 

This floral embroidered top was one of my favourite.

I will do a separate post with pictures of the exhibition, because I fear, it would be just too much for a travel blog.

The rest of the museum was nice too but just a bit confusing and I got lost a few times because I did not know were to go next as there were no signs or something. Also, I didn't have an audioguide and all the information was only in French, there was no English translation, except for the monitors placed in a few rooms.

In the afternoon I had a reservation at Laduree. I can't believe that I really made it to Laduree. I had always wanted to go there but had either forgotten or didn't have any time. 

I got the afternoon tea which included 1x tea, 2x finger sandwiches, 1x tartelette, 3x macarons and 2x special macarons to bring home. The waiter was so kind and explained everything to me in English even though she really looked stressed out. The cafe had probably also staff shortages, like everywhere else. I got a cold laduree tea, a pastrami and a spicy tuna sandwich, a strawberry tartellete, rose, marie-antoinette, and raspberry macarons. The spicy tuna sandwich and the raspberry macaron were my favourite. (The sandwiches look small, don't they?)

I took the Metro 1 to the Hôtel de ville and went to a few vintage shops, but sadly did not find anything. Weirdly enough, I found that the shops had more men's than women's clothing. Usually it is the opposite way round.

Then back to the hotel and try to not sneeze to death. If that is even possible. 

Day 11

Finally a lazy day! The booking for the eurostar was at 5pm and I didn't really want to do anything else, so I checked out late, went for lunch, then still had 3 hours at the train station. 

 

It was the first day for me to not reach 10.000 steps and I think my feet were really happy about this.

I got dinner on the train, and of course I picked the dish which had raisins in it. Yucky. But apart from that the food and service was immaculate again. 

I reached London with only a slight delayed and was very happy about the hotel being just the street across of the station St. Pancras.