purse pinchers and football frenzy

Our final day in Paris was one of mixed emotions. It was the day of the Euro 2012 Germany-Netherlands clash, and Tessel, as a loyal Dutchie, was suitably attired!

We spent a lovely morning admiring Monet's Waterlilies at the Orangerie Museum and chewing our way through countless salted caramels before having lunch, lusting after glitzy ballgowns, and sharing yet another Mont Blanc (well, we were in Paris after all) at Galeries Lafayette. We then had a look around the Opera Garnier – which is absolutely stunning – and did some window shopping along the Avenue d’Opera.

And that’s when the drama started. We went inside a lovely-looking chocolaterie and after sampling their heavenly marshmallows I decided to bring some back as a present for my mum. But when I went to pay, someone had taken my purse from my bag. To be honest, cancelling the cards and reporting the theft at the police station wasn’t too stressful. More than anything, I found it rather unsettling that someone had rummaged through my bag without me even noticing, and deeply frustrating that I had lost so many cards that were important to me but of no use to anyone else – my university card, for example, and gift vouchers that could only be spent in England. I’m still going through the process of getting everything replaced, and it wasn’t even worth making an insurance claim as there would have been too high an excess to pay. Sadly, I’ll just have to put this down to experience and be more careful when travelling in future. It was a horrible way to end such a wonderful stay, but I won’t let one person’s dishonesty ruin my trip – despite feeling a little disheartened, my memories of Paris are still absolutely fantastic.

Having spoken my best French at the police station (thank goodness I am studying a languages degree!), a stiff drink was most certainly in order! We took shelter from torrential rain at a traditional French bar before moving on to a Dutch pub to watch the game. Unfortunately, neither of us had anticipated quite how many loyal Dutch fans would be in Paris at the same time as us, and we could barely squeeze through the door. A rather amusing few minutes later, in which the pair of us, clad in orange mini-dresses, ran frantically around Paris’ nightlife district searching for a bar showing the football (in Paris, it seems these are few and far between) – to the amusement of several onlookers – we finally found a quieter place, only for The Netherlands to lose the game. I suppose luck wasn’t on our side that day!

les princesses des patisseries

Our next day in Paris began with breakfast at Laduree amid gorgeous Chinese interiors. Their strawberry-shaped cake looked too pretty to eat, so we opted for marshmallow and almond macarons instead.

We then took a metro (where there were amazing Diamond Jubilee adverts!) to the Musee d'Orsay, where we had a brief look around but were rather overwhelmed by the sheer number of masterpieces on show! We came back to earth with a stroll along the Seine and a restorative coffee at Cafeotheque, which according to the New York Times serves the best coffee in Paris.

We then visited the Notre Dame before taking shelter from the rain in Paris's mosque, which is a peaceful haven amid the hustle and bustle of the city. We could have spent all afternoon sipping mint tea, sampling the array of homemade pastries and watching the birds fly around us...but we dragged ourselves away in order to visit Montmartre.

Unfortunately it was a rather grey, cloudy and soggy day, so the views weren't quite as magnificent - but the Moulin Rouge carried on turning all the same!

Sadly the rain carried on into the evening, so we took shelter in the shops at the Carrousel du Louvre shopping arcade (tough, I know) and comfort in the form of pretty cakes at Les Delices de Manon, before watching the Eiffel Tower light show from the romantic setting of the Jardin des Tuileries.

macaron mademoiselles

Exams finished, I had a fabulous few days in Paris my lovely friend Tessel. As fellow lovers of all things pretty and sugary, we organised our sightseeing schedule around numerous patisserie visits, and made it our goal to discover the best macarons in the city...

First stop: McDo for a hearty breakfast of McMacarons. They were surprisingly good - cheap and cheerful, they lacked the wow factor of the more famous and fancy brands, but they nevertheless hit the spot, and we gobbled them up before doing a spot of sightseeing.
 

We then went for a wander around the Jardin des Tuileries and enjoyed a lovely ice cream which was crafted into a rose shape, before going for more sweet treats at Angelina, a salon de the famous for its hot chocolate and Mont Blanc...

Fed and sufficiently sugared (for the time being at least), it was time for some more sightseeing and shopping on the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe, before stopping for a cocktail on the glitzy Avenue George V.

Our final macaron stop for the day was Pierre Herme, where the flavour combinations were amazingly inventive and my sparkly pink macaron even matched my outfit (a Chanel-style tweed jacket was fitting for Paris, of course!).