The other week I finally jumped into my tourist shoes and took a day trip to Paris by Eurostar for my Mum’s 50th birthday. I have been to Paris before but mainly with work and not to indulge in the sights and sceneries of the city of Love.

Admittedly I was a bit dubious about this trip as I thought the day would just involve a lot of walking around, pointing at buildings and queuing at the attractions. I was pleasantly surprised!

Firstly the journey to Paris with Eurostar was excellent. We travelled out Leisure Select from Ebbsfleet International and arrived into Gare du Nord, Paris in just under 2 hours 5 minutes. The journey was smooth and the staff were lovely, not to mention efficient. Breakfast was served a little after departing and I have to say, I was expecting flight food. What we got was a very hot breakfast that didn’t disappoint.

Once we arrived in Paris, we took the Metro to Champ de Mars to visit the Eiffel Tower. The Metro is extremely easy to use and frequent though I do advise to use a Metro map. Although we did not go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, we did have lunch in the gardens that overlook it. I could of honestly sat there for ages looking at this awe-inspiring feat of engineering. The only downside is that I didn’t take enough pictures.

A view from the Park we had lunch in.

After lunch we decided to head to “Les Catacombs de Paris” so jumped back onto the metro and headed for Denfert Rochereau. There was a long queue there but it went down very quickly and all in all it only took 25 minutes before we were walking down the long spiral stairs into the caves. It was a very interesting but eerie walk, and the levels of bones in this cave are amazing. It was easily around 6ft high x 10ft deep. The walk lasted around 30 minutes with lots of informational plaques along the way. This tour is a must for those interested in history.

The last sight we wanted to see before we left was the Arc de Triomphe but my sister thought it would be a good idea to walk the full length of the Avenue des Champs-Elysees to get there. So, we got off at Metro stop ‘Palais Royal - Musée du Louvre’ and proceeded to walk through the Garden of Tuileries, onto the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. As our day trip was on a Saturday the Champs-Elysees was packed with tourists and locals alike but you would understand why when you saw the shops that lined the street. Put it this way, it’s a shopaholics dream.

Although the walk took ages (40 minutes infact), it was a great experience and definitely worth a go if you enjoy walking. We finally made it to the Arc de Triomphe and believe me it’s an amazing historic building that is surrounded by a huge free-for-all roundabout that can make your toes curl at the sight of cars racing around inches away from other vehicles. We didn’t go up to the top of the Triomphe (partly due to being too tired) but from what I have heard from friends and colleagues it’s a magnificent view not to be missed.

While we only travelled to three sites in Paris, it took all day to do so. I would advise anyone wanting to fit all the major sites and attractions in before they leave to consider a 2/3 night stay.

We headed back to Gare du Nord in the early evening and hopped back onto Eurostar for our return journey. We sat in standard class this time and I have to say, ’standard’ doesn’t really fit the description of my experience. The leg room was spacious and the journey was as smooth and comfortable as the outbound journey. The only difference was that you are not greeted with a free food/beverage cart but there was a whole carriage where you can buy hot foods, drinks & confectionary for the children as well as the ability to mooch about freely. Ok, there is probably more differences between the classes, here is a chart provided by Eurostar detailing the comparison.

We arrived back at Ebbsfleet again in just under 2 hours 5 minutes and 10 minutes after stepping off of the train; we were in our car heading home. In summary my experience of Eurostar was second to none and in my opinion it is by far the best way to travel to Paris and other European destinations. Paris was excellent, a complete joy to wander around and soak up the sites and scenery of one of the best cities in the world. There is so much to do in Paris so I advise a 2/3 night stay to fit everything in.