My Upcoming French Trip

I've visited France so many times, that I can't remember them all. But I always remember the architecture, the food, and the place where I tried alcohol for the first time. In May, I will go to Disneyland Paris for the fourth time. I remember going to a chocolate factory in France on a school trip. I don't remember the exact place, but I think it was up north somewhere. The last time I visited Paris was nearly 15 years ago. Last year I went to Lille and Strasbourg.

In less than a fortnight, I will be staying in Paris again. I've always wanted to go back to Paris because I think it's a city that's captured a lot of imagination. The trip hasn't gone to plan though. It almost got cancelled. I was meant to be staying in Amiens, and my ex said we would have just a day trip to Paris. We are no longer together. I couldn't get a refund on my train ticket so instead of wasting it, I just went ahead and booked a hostel near Gare Du Nord.

I've done a lot of the mainstream tourist attractions in Paris already. I plan to do something a bit more different and explore parts of the city that I haven't been to yet. I'm in Paris for four nights. I go on the 4th of April, and I return on the 8th.

The change of plan has turned out to work out well for me. Since I knew I was going back to France, I've been binge-watching travel vlogs on YouTube to help give me ideas of where to go and how to get by around Paris. Some YouTube Channels I have enjoyed include The Frenchies, Wolter's World, and Sebastien Kardinal.

I've been to the Eiffel Tower and its UK Clone, Blackpool Tower. I adored the other big tourist attractions like Sacré-Cœur, Arc de Triomphe, The Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral and river cruises. The last visit to Paris back in 2008 was at the time my love for Japanese Art, especially anime and manga was at its peak. I did art for my school exam and I felt that some of the French art movements inspired some of the manga greats. I found an article online where there were lots of prolific anime’s set in France.

My train should arrive in France just before 5PM in French time. And the hostel is very close. That’s gonna be my first point of call. Once I’ve settled in for a bit, I will take a walk around and see what there is to eat. I think I saw on the map that there is a supermarket nearby. Breakfast is also included in my stay, so I only need to worry about lunch and dinner.

I want to go through the alleyways, have a picnic with a view of the Eiffel Tower, and maybe a drink at a French bar. Maybe see how much I can get by with my French.

I plan to do a lot of walking and maybe a few trips down the metro if I get tired. Some of the places I want to go are about a 40-50 minute walk from my accommodation, but they are doable.

One place I really hope to go to, if there are seats is the Mori Cafe near Bastille. It’s a Japanese restaurant that serves vegetarian food with many vegan options. I found some videos with recommendations for vegan options and Mori Cafe pops up on a lot of them.

I’m also interested in going to McDonald’s and Starbucks in France to see what they have that is different to the UK. I wasn’t able to access the French McDonald’s site but I was able to look through the menu via Just Eat and Deliveroo. Not much different to the UK one, but I did see that they had a goat cheese salad wrap which they don’t have in the UK.

Going to Amiens on the train for a little walk around and explore the scenery. It looked beautiful from pictures and videos and would like to see it in person.

I considered travelling to Luxembourg on the train but the price didn’t seem to be worth it for only a few hours. Maybe I will go next time with my friends on our Euro trip.