Our last stop before heading back to the UK was the capital city of France, Paris. The city is a tourists dream with so many world famous monuments, buildings and museums. We spent four days in the city and managed to see a lot including the Arch de Triumph, Champs de Elyee, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Catherdral, Louvre and Moulin Rouge.
In Paris we stayed with our mate Kent from Wellington, who is currently living and working there. It was fantastic to have someone that knew where all the good local pubs, restaurants and bakeries were. I'm sure we sampled far more Parisian culture than any regular tourist would dream of - so thanks bro.
Some of the local awesomeness (guided by Kent) we sampled included:
1. An Ethiopian restaurant for dinner - extremely hands on, novel and delicious;
2. A number of awesome suburban bars packed with local Parisians;
3. An impressive taxidermy shop - animals in there included, a tiger, lion, polar bear, giraffe, deer, skunks and a baby elephant;
4. A couple of delicious, extensive bakeries (Boulangeries) and parks for lunch;
5. A live gig - "Other lives" and "Wild Beasts" - (other lives were amazing, wild beasts ok).
Whilst in Paris, we also caught up with Tom, another mate from Wellington. Tom was passing through and is on his very own trip around Europe. Was great to catch up with him and hit up some of the local goodness including the gig and general tourist sightseeing.
Kent and I having beers in Paris - I even ordered in French!
Arch de Triumph - AKA "the roundabout of doom".
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel tower
Kat in the Eiffel tower gardens
Cooling off the feet at the Lourve
The bell tower of Notre Dame
View from top of the Notre Dame bell tower, gargoyles and Eiffel tower in the distance
The staircase down from the Notre Dame tower
Mona lisa crowds
Mona
Kent and Tom dipping "injera" like pancake
Ethiopian for dinner
Our Ethiopian meal - so gooood!
The Moulin Rouge - Spiritual home of the "Can-can" dance
Lunch in one of the many Paris parks
