10 Hours in Paris - What You Can Fit in a Day

Ah, Paris. Is there a way to say that without thinking of great food, cute boutiques, high-end fashion and, of course, the many world famous landmarks? 

I currently live a while outside of Paris, but I plan to visit as much as I can. At the time of writing that is currently three times (disregarding the day I arrived at the airport). Paris has so much going on that you can easily fill half a day doing many different things. So here is how I spent 10 hours in Paris:

I awoke at 5:30am to leave at 6am for the train. Why so early? Because I can get a lift to the train station that way. I was in Paris bright and early for 7am. I started the day with a hot chocolate and a croissant (could I be any more predictable?) and a wander round some streets. Almost every building is just pleasant to look at. 

Seriously, every corner you turn there's something impressive -big and small. So I started to plan my day, and firstly headed off to the Bastille monument.

Despite the clouds it was very bright. I struggled to get a good photo. I went a walk round some nearby streets and ended up outside a pretty impressive building. 

As I said, there's something interesting around every corner. I'm still not too sure what this building was... Next I headed to Musee d'Orsay. 

Of course I snapped some more pictures in the streets on the way there. Someone may have been playing "spot the tourist"!

Musee d'Orsay is the top rated museum in Paris according to Trip Advisor- even beating the Louvre! It was wonderful, and I haven't even checked out every floor yet. They just have everything in there - sculptures, classics, impressionism, graphic art, sketch books, architectural art, photography, caricatures, upholstery, even a mini model of Paris you can walk over! And I'm sure there's much more I've yet to see.  

Next up, the "Tour Eiffel". My Gran and Grandpa once visited France. When my Gran reached the base of the Eiffel Tower and looked up she said her legs went to jelly. It's a pretty accurate description of how it feels. I recently discovered that I have a fear of heights (after going to the top of the tallest building in Poland) so I definitely got shivers. It's one of those buildings that look a lot taller in person. It dwarfed everything. I've still to go to the top, but I'm waiting on my mum visiting. I'll need someone to clutch onto and remind me that I'm not going to die. 

Afterwards I headed back to Bastille to do a spot of shopping on one of the nearby streets. I chose there just because it had a "Lush". For followers of my skincare posts, you'll know it's a brand I'm pretty obsessed with. I left with a new body lotion, face scrub and shower gel tester. You always need to get a tester in Lush.

I then met with another lovely au pair for some lunch. We decided to head out to see the Sacré Coeur. There were lots of narrow, cobbled streets and cute cafés in the area. Not only did the streets climb uphill, but we had to climb around 270 steps to reach the landmark, but it was worth it.

Again, as you'de expect, Sacré Coeur was beautiful. There was a "no photo" policy inside (although I didn't see it being enforced!) so I will respect their wishes and only show the exterior here. The white stone walls shone in the sun, and although it's not as big as other places I've visited like Saint Peters or Basilica di San Giovanni, it certainly wasn't petit.

So we decided to pay €6  (main entry is free) to climb another 300 steps to the 272 foot high dome. For someone with a fear of heights, I'd say that was pretty brave! The views were astounding, sadly my phone camera is not. You could see a lot of Paris, including the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Opera House, the Pompidou centre and I think someone even spotted the Arc de Triomphe (although I never). It really puts the scale of Paris in perspective. Does it ever end? Sadly, yes, yes it does.

I'd love to say that my day ended enjoying this chocolate covered monster of a crepe piled with cream. Sadly I really ended the day sprinting through the Gare de Lyon underground trying to find my way from the metro to the train. Seriously, every line and hall was signposted apart from mine! Thankfully I did make it in time and I hopefully won't have to repeat that fiasco again.Oh, and the crepe was delicious - or at least the half of it I managed to eat was.

So there it is, my 10 hours in Paris. Paris is bursting with places to see, restaurants to dine in and things to do. Whether you're there for half a day, half a week or half a year, there will always be things to do. It's definitely a place to check of your bucket list - perhaps more than once.