Here we go again with another weekend in a European city but instead of heading to a Scandinavia again, I was heading to the famous city of Paris, the capital of France and place that I had previously fallen in love with when I visited here with my school back at the ripe old age of 14 for a school trip, which included seeing some of the iconic landmarks in the city. One vivid memory I have is when I headed up the Eiffel Tower which was an ordeal and a half. I’ll never forgive my friend at the time pranking me at the top! I had an awful fear of heights at the time so as I edged myself out to the edge of the viewing platform at the top, he pushed me and I pretty much buckled… I’m so glad I’m no longer like that now! It would have made this trip certainly embarrassing. Another part of this trip which some would be embarrassed about but I’ll embrace was the trip to Disney Land Paris, which was surprisingly brilliant!
Anyway, back to the modern day and this trip now as an adult. If I’m honest, this trip wasn’t based around visiting the city but actually was something that relates back to my teenage years and this brings me on to the why I was heading to Paris…
Why I Headed To Paris
The main reason I was here to watch one of my all time favourite bands, Green Day. It was when I was one of those moody teens that I first fell in love with this band, so quite fitting that it was Paris, a place I fell in love also as a moody teen, that was playing host to this visit. Since then, I’ve bought every single album from start to finish, all the live albums and they were the first band that I ever had the pleasure of going to see when I was 15, leaving me always on the look out for opportunities to see them again due to the amazing show that they put on and the awesome back catalogue that I know and love.
So when the opportunity to do this in Paris came up, I jumped at the opportunity! Paris is a beautiful city and I’d longed to return for a while so that I could have a further in-depth exploration and truly experience the city.
Now you may be wondering why I didn’t go to one of their shows in England. Well, the reason for that was that I had a week long assessment at work, finishing late each day, and heading to London would have meant a late return in the early hours of the morning and may have compromised my performance so a quick hop over The Channel to Paris seemed the only way that I could see them.
What I Thought of Paris
The city was everything that I remembered it to be nearly 10 years ago and this time, it was just so much better as I discovered so much more about it now that I was in control of the trip and able to enjoy plenty of experiences that I didn’t have the opportunity to do last time.
I find the city just a spectacular place to wander around and take in. There are so many beautiful landmarks for you to admire, all with their own deep history for you to learn about. It’s a city that enchants me and has done ever since the first time I was here. I don’t know what it is but you know, there are places in the world that once you’ve been, you have an instant affinity with ever since. I’m frustrated that I’m struggling to put it into words how brilliant I feel this place is. You can certainly get lost here, whether it be in the history, the landmarks or the wide array of museums and galleries.
Now for the most important part, how were Green Day? I wasn’t sure it was possible but they were better than last time! One would almost compare them to fine wine (very apt for where I was) as they have got better as they have matured as a band and as a show. They have always been a 10/10 band when they have performed and this was no exception to the rule!
Day 1
Work was over and the clock was ticking! In seven hours time I was due to be inside the AccorHotels Arena, waiting for Green Day to come on stage! But first, I needed to finalise my packing, make sure I had everything with me and get to the capital of France, Paris, via Gatwick airport. So the race was on! I scrambled a bag together (nothing like prior preparation ay?) and hurried myself to the train station so that I could get to the airport and be in time for my flight. Thankfully, I had a great soundtrack in the background for this journey: Revolution Radio, Green Day’s new album.
Arrived at the airport; checked in; through security; fed and watered; ticket and passport checked; flight boarded; window seat (bonus!); headphones in; take-off!
Oh, it was this frantic at the time too!
I was en route and though it was seemed like it was going to be a tight one, I actually made it in plenty of time however, this was two thirds of the journey.
I still had to get from the airport to the hostel, check in, drop my bags off, get my ticket printed off and then get to the arena and based on what my journey times were estimating, this was already a tight affair. I thought I’d planned ahead but I’d made the mistake of not taking into account the time difference between France and the UK until it was nearly too late.
The next thing to hinder my efforts was was I had a little trouble working the metro at first glance, couldn’t get the right ticket initially and then having to get myself to the right line and direction. It was at this moment that I suddenly wished I’d tried that little bit harder in GCSE French…
Metro successfully completed and I had gotten myself from the airport to the Gare du Nord station one way or another. As I watched the crucial minutes tick away, I was now relying upon me running to the hostel, only to find a horrendous queue at the reception! It’s always when you’re in a rush that things seems to work every chance they could!
Wanting patiently, I made sure I was prepped as much as I could be by preloading the route to the arena and having everything set for a smooth check in.
Check in done; key card given; bags thrown into room; everything needed stuffed in my pockets; run back down to the reception in hope they could print off my ticket.
I was in luck, they could! It was whilst waiting for this to print off that the receptionist she mentioned that she wished she had the night off to go and see Green Day, not realising that it was my ticket for this that she was printing off, which she then spotted as she retrieved from the printer. There was a a little bit of a joking moment where she wouldn’t give it but when I told her I didn’t have the time, she hastily handed it over and I took off back towards the metro station. I’d prepared myself for which services I needed to get to get over to the arena so I went through the system as quickly as possible to make up as much time as I could. This time I managed to nail getting the ticket I needed.
I was in such a rush that I haven’t even told you where I’m staying! It was the St. Christopher’s Gare du Nord but the review will have to wait, I’ve got a gig to get to!
Thankfully, the preparation paid off for me as I popped up out of the metro and ran to the arena to find I’d actually arrived with a fair amount of time in hand. So I headed to the merchandise stall for the obligatory tour t-shirt, grabbed myself something to eat as I’d not had chance up to that point and headed into the arena to get myself the best spot I could.
I’ll admit that initially, the fact that I was on my own at a concert, surrounded by thousands of people that didn’t have English as a first language, never mind didn’t know, was a bit ominous but I soon distracted by the show before me, both losing myself in the music and calming down my unease.
All in all, the show had everything you could hope for. Green Day managed to get through 28 of their songs and a few covers, starting off with their hits from the new album before going through a wide array from the back catalogue that covers, at the time, 30 years of music. During that time, there were several backdrops each matching the album they were playing from.
One of the things that utterly blew me away during both shows that I’ve seen is the crowd participation that’s not only encouraging by the crowd being egged to sing and chant along to songs through various means or telling them to go mental (not that it’s needed at all!) but there’s just so much more!
You have Billie-Joe firing t-shirts around all four corners of the arena by during songs; you had sporadic stage dives from people picked out from the audience; the reading of the signs and accepting the requests from them. Not only that but there’s more! Audience members being invited on stage to sing along or even to join a makeshift band to play along. I’m not going to lie, I’ve always gone mental to try and get picked and be involved in this part but to no avail both times. The closest I got was someone in front of me being picked out. Yes, for a split second I did think it was me… Alongside this being an amazing and once in a life time experience for those chosen, it’s always great to see how awestruck they are in the presence of their idols and role models. One other thing that stuck out to me and made me think was when Billie Joe actually called out someone for videoing the performance on their phone the whole way through a song. I realise that people have their own way of enjoying things and want to create memories but at the same, the point he was making of forgetting about your phone and enjoying the moment in real life and not through a phone is valid.
Throughout the night there was laughter, there were cheers, there was plenty of singing along (in my case fairly questionably) and (I’m not afraid to admit it) there were tears. After such an amazing evening, to finish off in the usual way of Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) brought tears to my eyes from it being the end of such a good night but also all the emotion and memories that have come to attach themselves to that song over the years. It’s weird how music can do that to you?
I’m so glad I took the decision to head to Paris to see them as it is so hard to put into words the experience I had and how brilliant the night was so I’ll finish with this one sentence to try and encompass everything into one sentence: the night was perfect.
Day 2
The first port of call for the day was of course breakfast and as you know from my time in the Amsterdam version of this chain, breakfast is served up and isn’t short of supplies so there’s plenty for you to tuck into and fill up to fuel the day you have ahead, with my day being that of a walking tour so that I can find out so much more about this beautiful city.
It was during breakfast that I had an unexpected encounter! It was 5 years ago that I’d left my college and with that, many people who went to different universities and got on with their respective lives. However as I was serving up myself some breakfast, I came across someone that I’d go to college with! A shock for both of us, we had a bit of a catch up before he had to get back to work, with him telling me where he went after we parted at the end of college junction and where things had taken him, landing him a job in a hostel in Paris!
It’s definitely a small world. I feel the thing that really astounds people are the situations that bring people together unexpectedly. At no point was I expecting to be scooping cereal into my bowl in a hostel in Paris to look up and be greeted with someone I went to college 5-6 years ago. Someone that I’ve not seen or heard from in that time too. Yet here we are, our paths have somehow come to cross.
Ah yes, the hostel! I’ll take the time now to give you my thoughts. It was exactly what I experienced in Amsterdam and translated across, as you would expect with a chain of hostels. As previously mentioned, the breakfast was to the same standard, with it being plentifully and quite a selection for a morning breakfast buffet at a hostel, offering cereals, bread, ham and cheese, eggs, yoghurts and various French baked goods such as croissants and pain au chocolat.
As for the facilities upstairs, the dorm that I stayed in, which was an eight bed mixed dorm, was spacious and plenty of storage room, again utilising the under the bed lockers like in Amsterdam. The beds themselves were comfy and the curtain on the bunks gave you that privacy in your bunk you needed it. Or if you have an unruly roommate, block out any light at inappropriate times! The bathrooms, which for me was shared, were again good in the facilities that they offered and were always clean when you entered, which is what you always like to see from a hostel. The rooms on offer here come in varying different sizes, from private rooms of 1 up to 10 people and dorms of 4 up to 10 people, both offering a variety of ensuite or shared bathroom arrangements and mixed or female only dorms.
When it came to common room areas, the only breakout area for you was the bar and the accompanying seating area but this was sizeable and had plenty of seating for you to be able to sit down and have some time to yourself. However, in the evening, this became the full bar area so you’d struggle to have some time to yourself but plenty of people to socialise with! To finish off, though I didn’t get chance to experience the festivities, the bar was classy and certainly where the party was at in the evening as you could easily hear it when out in the corridor and slightly in the rooms but I wouldn’t say enough to keep you awake.
Overall for the two nights, I paid €56.80, which for the facilities on offer here, the location and connection to the city via the metro, I found to be reasonable but I do note again, I booked fairly close to the dates.
I was able to jump on a free walking ran by Sandeman’s New Europe allowing me to be taken around the city with a guide learning a lot more about many of the landmarks. Starting at the Fountain of St. Michel, we were taken on tour of the very origin of Paris, to view Cathédrale Notre Dame and what was the love lock bridge before being taken to grab lunch at a French cafe, giving us a break from the walking, grab some local cuisine and an opportunity to chat with those we’d been going around with.
The tour finished off with us standing outside the Musée du Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, one an iconic landmark of the modern day and the other an iconic landmark from the past. But this didn’t stop with only talking about what was close by, the guide was able to have a view of and talk about other famous landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower, from here before rounding things up 2 hours after we started.
The tour was 100% worth my time and I was so glad to have finally found out a lot more about this terrific city and made sure to tip the guide appropriately for the fantastic job that they had done. I would highly recommend doing this tour at least, if not one of the others offered for Paris by Sandeman’s New Europe.
Once the tour was over, I took this opportunity for me to head around this beautiful city on foot and really just take it all in. There were plenty of places that I’d not seen up close and personal and I felt it was only appropriate for me to slowly wander around the streets of Paris, admiring the architecture of this great city. For example, just to be able to walk up the famous Champs Elysses, with the Arc de Triumphe majestic stood at the end of it was an awesome thing to experience for me.
Another thing that I didn’t get chance to do last time I was here was to actually go up the Arc de Triumphe, which once at the top gives you a new perspective of Paris. It allows you to see the city from up high as well as see that the Arc is in the centre of a wagon wheel of avenues, stretching out in all directions.
As we learnt during the walking tour and something I’d never realised but from up here you could see was the fact that the Arc de Triumphe was perfectly inline with the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the Grande Arche de la Défense, which I found amazing to see. This is known as the historic axis and when you see it in all it’s glory, it’s quite something!
The final stop on my own tour afterwards was to revisit a favourite spot of mine, Sacré-Cœur and it’s panoramic views over the city below. Be wary though that the walk up here can be a bit of a steep one as you make your way through the surrounding gardens so you may have to factor that into your walk but once you’re up there, the view is worth it in my eyes and even more so when you’re not blessed with cloudy weather like you can see below. My hope was to witness sunset here but the clouds ruined it.
Travel Tip: Watch out for scammers. You may or may not know but pick pockets and scammers are something that prevalent in Paris, mainly targeting tourist attractions. Watch out for the "free" bracelets, with Sacré-Cœur being a particular hotspot.
The evening was finished in style Parisian style. As I’d said at the beginning of the blog, I’d already been up the Eiffel Tower, though very gingerly and only ever so slightly fearful, when I was a teenager. This however was in the middle of the day so yes, I did get to have brilliant and far reaching view of everything you’d want to see from up there, There was one thing that I had to do before I left the city this time and that was to head up at night and my word, was it worth it! To see Paris lit up from such a great height, with all the famous landmarks particularly bright to allow you to pick them out, the view from there was simply breathtaking! To think someone used to live up here and have this pleasure every day and night. The cherry on the cake was that we were able to get a full view of the light show that occurs every hour, on the hour between sunset and sunrise, when the tower “sparkles” at night.
I’ve included a video and few pictures below to allow you to really appreciate the scenes I’m trying to describe. Disclaimer: I can’t be held accountable for any sudden urges to visit Paris.
What an evening!
Day 3
After the day and a half that I’d had up to now, looking back, the third was a little bit of an anticlimax! For once I’ve been sensible with my bookings to head back home, going for an earlier flight due to a mixture of price and needing to ensue I was all ready and settled for the assessment I had coming up. So this meant that the day only consisted of getting a filling breakfast before packing my bag up, checking out and heading back out to the airport for my flight home. The return journey unsurprisingly was not as rushed and frantic as the one here thankfully!
This was a trip that was oddly done in silence. I don’t know what it is but after going to a gig or concert of a band that I love, I have this weird thing where I can’t bring myself to listen to their music for a while. The only thing I can put this down to is the experience not being the same at all when you compare due listening in your headphones to being there live in person, with the passion and intensity of the live music and crowd with you in unison.
And just like that, my short, sweet and brilliant weekend in Paris was sadly over as I looked out fo the window to see the Eiffel Tower become a distant speck on the horizon as my plane headed back in the direction of the UK, the direction of home and the direction of a week long assessment at work. Talk about crashing back down to earth!
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