Trip to Paris: Day Two

Both me and my sister wake up on day two with no desire to leave our beds because we both felt as if we were enveloped in the sunny, smothering kisses of heaven. That’s how comfortable our beds were. But we got out of our beds, eventually. I had a shower and got dressed. I wore a brown corduroy dress from Primark, a headband from a vintage store in Spitalfields, sneakers from Primark, and an over-sized tee and chunky earrings from Pretty Little Thing. And, of course, since the Eiffel Tower was in our itinerary for the day, lots of make-up!

I decided to skip breakfast and get straight to lunching, as did my sister, but my mum sensibly wanted some black tea. We headed to a cafe nearby which looked irresistibly French, just as I had imagined. I ordered tuna steak nicoise salad, my sister ordered a salad and my mum ordered some black tea and poached eggs. And, of course, complimentary French bread! I forgot to ask them for their food pics, so it’s just my own lunch for this post. 

I loved the tuna steak nicoise salad, especially the dressing! My sister hated her pasta, but in fairness, she ordered pasta which is basically the equivalent of ordering fish fingers at an Indian restaurant. My mum enjoyed her poached eggs which contained a sprinkling of cheese. FYI for the photo below: my sister is wearing a black headband from the same vintage store in Spitalfields (I can’t remember the name of the store!) and a Tommy Hilfiger tee. I believe she used the James Charles palette for her make-up look, again, I can’t remember the name. And that’s her beloved teddy that she carried around for the whole trip.

We ordered an Uber and headed to Eiffel Tower. When we arrived, getting off at Champs Elysees, I found myself underwhelmed when I first sighted the Eiffel Tower and more in awe of Parc du Champ Mars with its beautiful fountains. I was told, before I departed for Paris, that getting on the top of the Eiffel Tower was over-rated, but looking at the Eiffel Tower… I just didn’t want to get on it. Once my mum and sister saw it, they were both terrified because of how high it was that even the first floor looked daunting to them. They were okay with going to the first floor, they said with zero confidence, but it simply didn’t feel like it would be an enjoyable experience for all of us. So, I thought it might be better to just explore the area instead and go to Laduree which I had always heard had the best macaroons.

Once we arrived at Laduree, we were not so much greeted by the prickly-seeming staff. I ordered a raspberry macaroon and my sister ordered a plum-based dessert which, to her, looked an awful lot like chocolate, so she was surprised to discover that it was plum! I ate some of her dessert and I quite enjoyed it. It was creamy, but I did feel like the plum was a little strong. I enjoyed her dessert more than mine as I felt my macaroon felt hella brickish.

We then explored the area… and found Sephora! We spent a while there browsing make-up. Afterwards, we returned to the Champs Elysees area to explore and bought some souvenirs. There are artists in the area who can do a portrait of you for a fee and I took a lot at the portraits they drew and was amazed by them! I wanted to get mine done, but then got worried because we’re not allowed to have our faces drawn in Islam. I bought myself a pink Paris mug with a matching pink spoon which I didn’t take a picture of and I should have because I accidentally broke the spoon and chipped the mug at the same time within a few days of using it. I bought an Eiffel Tower figurine for my cousin brother!

We explored Parc du Champ de Mars for a while and decided that we would return to Eiffel Tower in the evening to watch the lights. In the meantime, we took an uber home to eat some McDonald’s and headed home to get changed for the evening. The McDonald’s menu is different in France and I liked that fries were traded out for potato wedges!

I got changed into a peach jumpsuit from either Pretty Little Thing/Missguided. I was set on wearing that peach jumpsuit, so when it arrived, I was disappointed to find the fitting was terrible. I have a short torso, so it was slightly loose at the top, but ridiculously tight around the lower area. Are there any retailers who cater towards different body shapes? Because many of us have one size for tops and a different size for trousers. I’m a size 6-8 for tops and 8-10 for trousers. It’s so difficult to find jumpsuits that cater to pear-shaped bodies and I feel like jumpsuits and dresses should be fitted in accordance to body shape and not sizes 8, 10, 12, etc!

We headed to the Eiffel Tower and our uncle joined us. We took quite a staggering amount of pictures and I found that some photos of myself, that were taken on my mum’s phone, I looked a lot like the South Asian version of India Reynolds from Love Island (not the one below). That was just for that one night, but I think that’s a sign that I’m ready to meet Ovie. I wasn’t overall satisfied with some of the pictures, but this is the one slightly decent one from the bunch.

… I can’t wait to borrow my sister’s outfit.

This time we took the tube. And I loved it. We waited for the train to arrive, our bodies positioned like a Street Fighter, and once the doors opened… people actually ran to get a seat. Now… this is what you call survival of the fittest. And I got a seat. I felt so energised! We somewhat, sorta, do this in London, but in a much more sly and passive-aggressive way. I am pretty agile, quick-thinking and cunning on the Northern line, but the Central line is a whole different beast. Nobody will show you any mercy on the Central line. I got called a bitch for politely asking a woman to not strangle my chest with her bangles by switching her hands which would have occurred at no cost to her and would have been more comfortable for her – I mean I know I deliver a little comfort in that area, but not to that extent. Anyway, I retorted: “You’re a bitch, dickhead.” That’s just a regular day on the Central line.

But anyway, back to Paris, we returned to the area we were staying in, ate some junk food, went back to the hotel, I had a shower and went to bed ignoring the sounds of a fight breaking out outside, ready for our final full day in Paris the next day and sad that it was quickly coming to an end. Though I’m pretty sure my mum and sister were happy that they would no longer have to listen to my French accent which they thought was terrible, but was really actually pretty good… though at times I did sound like an over-eager Caroline Channing from 2 Broke Girls forcing the “macaron!”

For Part One of my Trip to Paris, read here!

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Questions to my readers: are you a fan of French cuisine? What are your thoughts on the Eiffel Tower? Which attractions have you visited that didn’t quite live up to the mark? Are macaroons over-rated? If you like macaroons, what are your favourite flavours? (Mine are strawberry and lemon!) Ladies, what are your thoughts on clothing that don’t quite seem to cater to different body shapes especially jumpsuits and dresses? How are trains like from your corner of the world? How are you like on packed train stations, do you play survival of the fittest? Let me know in the comments!

Sophia Ismaa

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