Paris on Bastille Day!

Because I am a talented genius with my holiday planning (read: I'm not. It happened by chance) I ended up in Paris for Bastille Day. The French national holiday commemorates the storming of the Bastille in 1789, and is now celebrated with a military parade and a hugely impressive fireworks display. I joined a group of newly-made hostel friends on a trek through the Parisian metro with millions of other people to watch fireworks shoot off the Eiffel Tower for nearly 45 minutes! It was an amazing night! Best coincidental travel dates I've ever picked!

This was towards the very beginning of the show. After about 15 minutes it was pretty hard to see the Eiffel Tower with all the smoke around it!

My personal favourite photo of the Eiffel Tower

I found the city quite easy to get around. The metro was straightforward; you buy individual single journey tickets and put one in the gates every trip you take. I didn't have any problems getting around with my very very limited French. I found that as long as you say bonjour and merci everywhere you go the locals are more than willing to help.

Luuuurving the Louvre

For my main day of city walking I started at the Louvre, made my way to the river (where I found the love lock bridge), and then followed it north and around to the Eiffel Tower, then east towards the Arc de Triomphe. I criss-crossed across the many bridges along the river as well to see whatever took my fancy from the other side. I particularly liked all the art in this area, and what they have done with the love lock bridge.

Love lock bridge in the city of love

I remember hearing earlier in the year about the city having to remove the railings full of heavy locks from the bridge for safety reasons. But I never knew what they actually did with it all. They have kept the railings in the same area along the river, which is nice for all the love birds. The locked-up sections now line the river near the bridge and the bridge itself is now edged with solid walls to prevent more people locking their love to it. My favourite part though is the artwork the city commissioned to have painted on the new barricades. 

One of my favourite parts of the new wall

The whole river area was an art magnet

 My travel hobby of finding views from high-up places took me to Sacré-Cœur Basilica. The beauty of this place was that I could stand at the bottom and look up and the view was maybe even slightly better than the view at the top looking out over the city.

Selfies with the beautiful view

The view over Paris from the top

One of the highlights of Paris for me was the hostel friends I made. I stayed in a guesthouse that served us free breakfast and dinner. It was a great atmosphere coming back for dinner in the evenings and then with your new friends that you made over dinner either heading back out into the city for night-time exploring or staying in and having a good time. It's one of the things I'll always appreciate about travelling.

Night-time exploring without the crowds