Octoberfest in London and a trip to Paris

October 2016

With my housesit over, I went back to London for a couple of nights before I headed to Paris for a spontaneous trip to see my good friend Emily to celebrate my upcoming birthday (which we had spent together with all my friends in Annecy the year before). First however, was London.
 The first night Joy and I went up together as we wanted to attend London's Oktoberfest and see what the fuss was all about! Located in an enormous tent with long tables, pretzels and mugs of beer, it was rather cool, though we decided next time it would be far more fun to go with a big group of people.

My good friend Justin from Australia (who I had become fast friends with in Annecy) was also in London for a night - though he was off to see the play 'Harry Potter and the cursed child' which I was green with envy about. So the next day we met up from a drink in the afternoon, and passed a few hours reminiscing about the good times in Annecy, and rather a lot of Harry Potter discussion. 

We hung out for a little longer while we waited for the doors to the play to open, chatting about each of our Europe plans and hopefully how we would meet up again next year. To the backdrop of the play just before we parted ways, we snapped this photo which I always find hilarious once you realise that Justin is in fact sitting on his knees in this photo so we could end up in the same frame.

And then suddenly, I was in France again. It was strange to hear the French language after just beginning to adjust to English, but it was also very welcome as I had missed it. Emily was a friend from America who I had met on my French course in Annecy the year before, she lived in the 7th arrondissement in Paris, and as such was only a ten minute walk from the Eiffel tower.

 After a quick shop for food supplies (and an all important stop at the Fromagerie for me, as I had been missing French cheese rather terribly) we decided to be tourists and go wander down the Champs-Elysees. 

It was busy as many other tourists had the same idea, but we persevered and enjoyed ourselves in the Autumn sunshine.

 Emily was working as an au-pair in Paris, so she was quite busy during my stay, meaning my own trip was rather relaxed and lazy as we only went out a few times. When we did go out though, we had great fun being tourists and seeing the main attractions of the city. One of the nights we walked along the Seine and then sat by the side of the river drinking wine, as many other people were doing.

 

We also sat under the Eiffel tower one night, drinking cheap bubbly from wine glasses we had bought with us, surrounded by many others doing the same thing, enjoying late night picnics, and the light show of the Eiffel tower every hour. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly, and so busy that it felt very safe.


We had planned to go to Montmartre and sit on the steps in the evening and watch the sunset (something that is apparently very popular to do) but unfortunately Emily hurt her knee and wasn't up for the long walk, so we decided to save it for the next time I visited. We still managed to enjoy the sights around her house however, so I didn't mind.

It was awesome to just hang out in Paris and relax at Emily's apartment, and catch up with her after the six months we hadn't seen each other. 

All too soon it was my last day, and we decided to have a good send off by picnicking in the park. Emily knew of a bakery nearby which only made one type of cake, called Merveilleux (but more on that in my next trip to Paris).
Cakes in hand, we picked up fresh baguette from the Boulangerie, cheese from the fromagerie, and alcohol from the.. well the supermarket, sorry to disappoint. But I do love how to get the best of everything one must visit each specialty store, rather than getting subpar ingredients from the supermarket.
With our supplies in hand, we settled down in the park to enjoy our picnic (and did you know that picnics are an originally french concept? (Genius people).
 After many a 'bon appetit' from passing gardeners, we tucked into our food and bubbly, only for a passing police woman to tell us we weren't actually allowed to be drinking in the park. We politely told her we hadn't realised (as you are allowed to drink by the Seine and the Eiffel tower) and offered to pour it out. She shook her head at us and told us to just hide it better, giving us a plastic bag to do so and wandering off again. Oh France.