My Favorite Travel Getaway Of 2016 – London & Paris

2016 was the year that I started my new full-time job at a footwear fashion company after graduating from SHU. After 90 days past working at DJP, I was able to go on vacation!

On April Of 2016, My mom and I decided to go on a trip to London & Paris. My best friend Ele who is like a sister to me lives in England, so I was hoping to see her while I was over there. Ele and I became friends in high school and even though she lives on the other side of the world, we always have so much to say when we’re talking on the phone! She’s somebody I trust my life with <3

~LONDON TRIP~

When my mom and I arrived to London, my cousin was studying abroad there so we were very lucky for him to pick us up at the airport and we took a subway and train that brought us to our hotel. My mom and I stayed at the Double Tree Hilton Hotel. I didn’t realize how chilly it was there that the warmest jacket I brought with me was my leather jacket…oops! Even though we went in April, the weather was pretty windy and chilly. Thank god, I brought a bunch of scarves to keep a little warm.

One of the best apps that I used to get around the city was “CITYMAPPER”. I would definitely download this app since it was such a lifesaver on how to get to places. I was in London for about 4 days total and there was so many things I had my eye on that I wanted to see.

Here are some places I visited the first couple of days:

1. London Eye

2. Went on a boat passing by the beautiful London Bridge

3. Visited Buckingham Palace (home of the queen)Every day at 10am, visitors can watch the change of the guards and see them marching

4. Big Ben Clock

5. Saint Paul’s Cathedral

6. Tower Of London

7. Afternoon Tea

Each day, my mom and I saw about two main attractions a day, that way we had more to see the rest of the days. The Town of London was incredible. The buildings were more colonial and castle like which were so fascinating to see. Afternoon Tea in London was a common thing. Both my mom and I are big tea drinkers, so one day we strolled around the shopping and resturant area when we found the cutest place to have tea and treats. We drank our green tea and deliciously ate some chocolate and macaroons. Yum my favorite!

During one of our last couple full days in London, my best friend Ele came to Islington, where my hotel was and we spent the whole day in downtown London shopping and taking lots of pictures. At Night, we went to a fancy club called Radio Rooftop, and it was such an amazing view and we met some pretty cool people too. We got hungry in the middle of the night that we ended up going to Mcdonalds haha. The burger was pretty good and I dipped my french fries in curry sauce lol (one of the sauces they had in london) but it was interesting to try. The following night, I took two trains to visit Ele at her hometown in Redding, England. I’m shocked to say I was pretty brave to go all by myself to Redding which took about an hour or so to get to. Thank god for Citymapper, I didn’t get lost. When I finally arrived to her house, we quickly got ready and went to a nightclub by her house. The club was honestly so much fun and really great vibes. They were playing top hit music and overall, I was just so happy to reconnect with my best friend.

~PARIS TRIP~

The first day, my mom and I catched the Eurostar to get to Paris. The ride was so easy and comfortable. In just 2 hours, I arrived to the city of love! We stayed in Paris for about 3 days. The very first day, we took two buses to check into our hotel, Villa Mazarin. The location of the hotel was so perfect. All the resturants and shopping was walking distance. Since we arrived mid-day, we didn’t see any attractions but walked around a few blocks to where the shops were. At night, we ate at a fancy resturant and I had a pasta dish which was pretty good.

Some of the places I visited during my time at Paris was:

1. Eifel Tower

2. Louve Museum

3. Visit Macaroon Shop

4. Catacombs

The Eifel Tower was such a magical place that my mom and I had to see two days straight – day and night. The lines were crazy long to ride the elevator to the top so we ended up walking the staircase to the top. I don’t really recommend it haha because it was a long way up but both my mom and I did it! Once you get to the top, they have a nice relaxing lounge, a resturant, and a macaroon shop. Once we were out of the tower, they had some delicious chicken sandwiches that we were munching on while enjoying the incredible view. The Louve museum was probably one the coolest musuems I’ve ever been too. It is pyramid shaped and inside had tons of portraits. One of the creepiest musueums that I visited while I was there, was the catacombs. This museum was dark and filled with skulls which tell the history behind it.

The food was pretty decent in Paris, I usually had sandwiches, chicken, pasta, or steak. One day, my mom and I went into a small grocery store and we bought bacquette, fresh tomatoes, fresh cheese, and salted potato chips. When we got to our hotel room, we put the tomatoes in the bacquette, but we didn’t have any salt so  we added the salted potatoes in the bread and OMG it was delicious!! Their bacquette bread is amazing and the tomatoes and salted chips did the trick! One of my favorite treats that I had to get in Paris was Macaroons. I ended up buying 4. You can’t go to Paris and not have macaroons.

Overall, I fell in love with Paris, loved everything about my stay and I already miss it so so much!