Eiffel Tower in March

Ah, the Eiffel Tower. The beautiful tower created by Gustaf Eiffel and erected in Paris in 1889 for the 1889 World's Fair. I'm heading to Paris on September 26 for a fun adventure with Jamie and Kevin. These photos are from my visit in March with my sister and mom. We had a great time. The last time I had been in Paris had been with my mom and now it was the first time my sister was enjoying the city. I have been up the tower three times and I am happily going to ascend it for a fourth time. 

I think the Eiffel Tower is something not to be missed when visiting Paris. I'm quite looking forward to visiting it. The first time I went I went up the tower in the dark, the second during the afternoon and the third time we visited mid-afternoon so caught the sun setting and were able to see the Eiffel Tower light up. 

You can purchase your tickets online if you book by a certain date so if you're planning on going up the tower and know when then I suggest you going to the Eiffel Tower's website a few weeks before your trip.

The last time I visited we got off the metro at Champ de Mars -  Tour Eiffel and walked along the river towards the tower. Leaving we walked up to Trocadéro which gives a beautiful view of the tower.

I never thought I would be as lucky as to go up it twice in one year. This has been quite a good year. Hope to share more photos of Paris soon.

Giant's Causeway(Photo Heavy)

After our drive up from the Dark Hedges we made it to the main destination of our first day in Northern Ireland, Giant's Causeway.  The sky was mostly overcast as we arrived but the sun peaked out and shone across the Causeway. We headed down the path, following along the road towards the rocks from where we parked the car and entered through the buildings containing a cafe and gift shop.  There is a bus going down and back up but we chose to walk to stretch our legs.
(lots of photos)

Driving in Northern Ireland

Our very first day in Northern Ireland did not go off without a hitch. We landed in Belfast early in the morning and eagerly awaited Carol arriving from New York. After her arrival we headed to pick up the car that we would use to drive us around the Green Isle. I was to be the driver of our adventure and I thought we would have no issues. After all I had one brief lesson on driving on the left hand of the road with my housemate. I was a pro. Joking aside, I have driven manual transmission for a few years now so I feel myself to be pretty good at it. Well something about this car that we were picking up from the airport was hell bent on not letting me drive it.

Our excitement went from a 100 to 0 as I could not make it out of the parking lot. Giving up on the car, I abandoned my mother and sister and headed with Carol back into Belfast International Airport and back into the queue. The car rental guy was sure confused when we showed up again. After the set back of our time, we managed to get onto the road in our newly upgraded automatic Mercedes. Of course as I had been driving a manual in Canada for a million years, this automatic had a small learning curve but we got through it but not before I gave my family a bit of whiplash in the parking lot.

Our destination on our first day was Belfast, the Dark Hedges, Giant's Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and finally to Sligo where we would spend the night. This was a very ambitious plan but it was made even worse by our delay of getting onto the road.

The photos from this post were from when we were stopped or taken by my sister as I was of course driving. 

March Instagrams

Versailles

On Sunday my plan was for us to wake early and head to Versailles bright and early to be there at nine. We enjoyed an interesting breakfast at a cafe near our Airbnb before casually heading to Versailles. We had already purchased tickets online so did not need to queue to get inside. We entered the palace and strolled through the halls. Though I had been to Versailles years before, I enjoyed every room. The high ceilings, the furniture, the paintings. The whole idea that this had been someones home. Those someone of course being the French royals including Marie Antoinette.

Sunday Recap: March 29

So it has been a week since I returned from my adventures with my family. My internet has been a bit slow so uploading photos has been a pain. I have also felt quite drained with having the two weeks off then returning to long days at work. My head felt like it was in a fog for most of the week but I am feeling much better. Last Sunday I took the bus into town and purchased a few bathbombs at Lush before watching the Tale of the Princess Kaguya at FACT Picturehouse.

This weekend on Saturday I went into town. Wandering around a bit and doing a bit of research for my Lisbon trip in Waterstones.  I got on the bus for home when I noticed my housemate Danny outside the bus when we came to a stop. We were right across from his coffee shop. I got his attention and he managed to inform me they had cake in stock. Getting off at the next stop I walked to the coffee shop. I got a delicious slice of their banana chocolate cake and a latte. I found out then that my other housemate Adam was in the coffee shop. I sat next to him and we chatted as I enjoyed the delicious cake.

Today, I woke and went into town to meet Jamie for lunch. We watched Home at the Odeon before going to Lush and picking up a few things. I'm planning on lots of baths it seems. Looking forward to them.