Paris Trip: Part 4 - The below content contains many laughing and drinking involved!

Well the last day in Paris, Gemma and I started the day with the plan to enter the Louve and other short distance attractions, which then were short lived since the Louve was packed, our feet were still killing from the day before.

So after taking some daylight photos of the Louve (by the time we got there the day before it was quite dark) we took a short break by a window which showed a small view of what was inside (looked like Greek architecture) whilst having a good laugh, and even though Gemma was having a few down moments through our small outing that day, unfortunately you cannot  be in my presence and not be happy, so with plenty of laughs and me forcing her to be happier she eventually came round to the happy side of the force.

After failing to hitch a ride on the river boat around Paris we then decided to go back to the hotel knowing we could rest our feet and ambition for the night ahead.

So with our energy and spirits back intact we mat back up with Sue and Katie and headed to our Paris local. I can’t reveal much of that night since there was a lot of drink, drunken games, strange people from the night before imitations and free compliment shot from the bar staff (all other activities and detail are under strict secrecy) oh and not forgetting Katie’s drunken obsession with making origami cranes (and failing a few times before succeeding).

It was a great last night to end the trip to Paris on, my first time abroad on my own, and also getting to know Sue and Gemma a lot more and a few others from different years (well I did have to share a room with Will who’s a second year who has a thing about hollowing out croissants and quoting scary movie “this is my strong hand”)

Waking up the next morning and having to be on the coach at 10am and the trip home was a bit long and tiring (arrived back at 11pm) but it shall remain in my memory and won’t be the last of our great university adventures as there’s still 2 more years to go!

Paris Trip: Part 3 - Visiting all major tourist destinations challenge!

After much talking with another group, we decided to team up for a journey to a cafe in Paris that the film Amélie was based and filmed in (although I was the only one who found its location and printed out the route to it)

 

So after breakfast and fully awake, we set off to find this cafe. After successfully directing the way (and luckily avoiding the Paris red light district) we arrived at the cafe des 2 Moulins, where we then planned what we were going to do for the rest of the day, after Sue and Katie left on their route, Gemma decided to tag along with me (not knowing what she let herself in for).

So we left the cafe with the first stop of the Arc De Triomphe, it was a good 20 minute walk but we passed some other attractions such as the Moulin Rouge and several beautifully detailed churches. Finally arriving at the arc we soon found out what kinds of people are in Paris, other than naturally being aware of pick pockets in big cities (especially Paris) there are also cons, one being a mysteriously found ring someone found thinking it belongs to you, until they ask for some change and take the ring back if you have non, or force some string bracelet on you and ask for some change in exchange, so yes you have to be careful around places round Paris.

After collecting the photos we wanted from the arc we then made our way towards the Eiffel Tower, soon stopping for a quick lunch break we found this brilliant pasta place, the price was reasonable but brilliant for the quality of the food, after we refuelled we were back on track and making progress on our journey just before reaching the Eiffel Tower we arrived at the Palais De Chaillot getting some great shots of the Eiffel Tower and also surprised how many people there were selling souvenirs but soon packed up and ran when police arrived.

 

Also seeing the tribute statue of liberty was also great (much smaller than the real thing), also allowing us to take a nice rest and some great views since it was placed in the middle of the river. Now we start to make route back to the hotel, but there was still stuff to see on the way back. Passing by the Eiffel Tower again and underneath with direction towards the Musee de Louve we still find plenty of photo opportunities like Cleopatra’s Needle and the Pont Alexandre III. (And yes I got lost for the first and only time that day, only by a few metres but it was only travelling the wrong direction on a road).

After our visit to the Louve we are tired and our feet are killing us (a lot of jokes were made about our feet forming a rebellion against the rest of the body) and reaching the hotel we were sure we could hear the hallelujah chorus, and making sure we were rested well before heading across the road for the nightly drink.

 

And this concludes part 3

Paris Trip: Part 2 - Notre Dame

The first day in Paris, fully prepared and full of energy, that's what you'd usually find people saying. Well that morning started like all others, waking up in zombie mode, sluggishly getting to the elevator and eating and drinking hoping to wake up, then to find out your plans has messed up and being the man with a plan awesomely I had a plan B :)

The original plan for the day was travelling with a fellow student go to the main attraction of the Eiffel tower and such but due to her going with others luckily I had other plans in store, so I located to Notre Dame instead, bit of a distance although only a stone’s throw compared to all the rest, but a large attempt for someone with very poor directional sense and being my first trip abroad on my own and in a large city as the first stop.
Oh you may notice a few pictures of rubber duck over the events of this blog as they are a joke from uni i have also made into a little game of the ducks travels throughout my photography :) so with great pleasure i now introduce the duck!

But overcoming all odds I managed not to get lost and even had a good browsing session around all the Anime Stores (awesome!) they had across the bridge from Notre dame (not that the anime shops were my main attraction to see in Paris :P )

Having a great day throughout and spending almost all Euros I had converted, I made it back to the hotel in one piece and happy :D and after a few more local shopping trips I had met up with a few other students from my class and all had a short walk to a French pub where soon after earned the title of our brief stays 'local' where many more of our nights would end in a few bottles of desperado's :)










First full day in Paris complete, but there was more in store for me the next day

Paris Trip: Part 1 - Arrival

This section is a trip to Paris we had with our university, it may have been only 4 days but many brilliant memories and friendships were made during the duration......well there was also aching feet, blow fish faces, ducks, badger puppets and much much alcohol involved :P

Well today we set off for Paris, I stay at a fellow student, failing to get sleep we are the first to arrive to wait for the coach, only by a few seconds but it still counts!
The sun was just rising as we were setting off making for some spectacular scenery. well the journey in all was quite good, although I nodded off numerous times only to be woken up by the coach suddenly breaking and me banging my head on the seat in front (doesn't help there being a ashtray mounted on the back)
We arrived in what was a very busy Paris, but we were all relieved when we arrived at the hotel, getting our keys and getting sleep or finding the nearest alcoholic drink available :)
The rest of that night was just mayhem for a few others in the same class as me, being forced into a prison like room in the basement isn’t really acceptable but they soon got moved to top floor next door to us :)



And well that was the end of that night, and much to be done the next day :)

Welcome

Hi and welcome to my new blog,

My name is Andrew I'm a student at Glyndwr University doing Film and Photography and have decided to create a blog to record my progress (i have no choice since i have to do a Personal Development Plan and it was easy to create a blog)
I am going to note down what progress has been made so far and from now on. I hope you all enjoy reading this and all future posts.
I also enjoy drawing Anime and Manga in my spare time and have a YouTube i set up last year but due to course and other occurrences i haven't updated it much. (YouTube Channel Link)

So introductions over - let the blogging commence ^.^