Hi Everyone!
About this time last year, my parents, sister and I were planning for our two week trip to Paris and London. It was our first family trip since 2000. It was also the first time I was travelling outside of North America. I loved Paris and London and would definitely go back to both cities. The food was yummy and the sights were beautiful.
We visited the usual sights in Paris and London- Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Sacré-Coeur, Champs-Élysées, multiple bridges in Paris and London, Big Ben, London Eye, and Stonehenge.
I wanted to get macarons while we were in Paris. Before the trip I looked up the best places and we decided to go to Pierre Hermé. I guess when it comes to certain things, I’m a simple girl. I prefer simpler flavours like raspberry, matcha and hazelnut. We got an assortment, but some of them included rose, lemon and salted caramel. Since there’s four of us, we each had 3 (so none of us tried all of them), and if there was a good one or one we didn’t like, we split it in half to share.
In London, we visited Madame Tussauds Wax Museum where we rubbed elbows with the celebs: I sat with George Clooney and stood beside Tom Cruise, photobombed Benedict Cumberbatch and posed with the other Sherlock…Robert Downey Jr. My sis and I got a little creeped out during the Spirit of London ride, but we powered through. We went on a GoldenTours bus tour to Salisbury Cathedral, Stonehenge and the Roman Baths (where we actually tasted the water from the fountain…it was lukewarm and tasted like metal). By far, my favourite excursion was to the Warner Brothers Studio Tour for Harry Potter. If you love Harry Potter, I would highly suggest visiting the studio. My sister, dad and I geeked out (My mom wasn’t as excited, but still impressed). We mostly went sightseeing on the trip, but we did manage to visit Oxford Street in London.
My family indulged me in visiting multiple filming locations from TV shows and movies. In Paris, we saw the bridge from Inception (Pont de Bir-Hakeim). In London, we went to Baker Street, and multiple Harry Potter locations: the building used for the exterior for Gringott’s Bank, and the location for the muggles’ entrance to the Ministry of Magic. We planned to visit the location where they film BBC’s Sherlock, but didn’t have enough time and also thought it was a bit too far away from tourist areas and didn’t want to get lost.
For the trip, we bought two of these Universal Travel Adapters
Check out my Carry-On Travel Essentials post!
My Faves from our trip:
Shopping- Primark (Oxford Street, London)
Sightseeing- Warner Brothers Studio Tour London (Leavesden)
Drink- Butterbeer from Warner Brothers Studio Tour (Leavesden)
Lunch in London- Roast Hog Roll from Roast Hog (Borough Market, London)- pic above
Lunch- crepes from Crêpe Brocéliande which are made with Buckwheat and they don’t look like the thick ones we have in North America, but they are just as filling- don’t let it fool you (Montmartre, Paris)
Dinner in Paris- Magret de canard rôti (duck)- the potatoes that came with the duck were to die for (Café du Trocadéro)
Dinner in London- Fish from Poppies Fish and Chips– we didn’t have the chips, but they are probably delicious as well (Spitalfields, London)**
**Warning, they use groundnut oil (peanut oil), but can use vegetable oil if you tell them you’re allergic (we didn’t know this, and my sister is allergic to peanuts, luckily she didn’t have a reaction)
Love,
