A flatmate was travelling to Lyon for the Fête des Lumières and she literally told me about it three a week before she left Paris. So in that moment I knew I had to really take advantage of the opportunity to see a different region of France, and I therefore immediately decided to go along with her. Conveniently, my cousin is studying in Lyon, so when I told her of the trip she invited me over and told me I could stay at hers. It was fantastic, because it saved me the trouble of looking for a hotel (and also helped me in saving some money!).

After buying the tickets, (I honestly recommend OUIGO, as they have fairly affordable prices and are much cheaper than SNCF) and packing some essentials into my small suitcase, the day finally arrived and my flatmate and I were making our way to Marne-la-Vallee station to catch our train.

The trip was supposedly two hours and a half long (almost the same as London to Paris by Eurostar!), but it seriously only felt like 30 minutes long maybe because I was excited or something. Anyway, when we reached Saint Exupéry, we had to take the Rhone Express because unfortunately OUIGO didn't make any stops in the city of Lyon itself and because the station is right next to the airport, we had no choice but to take this form of transport (which was a painful 23 euros worth) and sit back as it was what took us to central Lyon where my cousin was waiting for us in the freeing cold.


Anyway, once we got there and hugged my cousin (whom I hadn't seen in three years) we quickly made our way to her campus, which was also the campus of my flatmate's friend with whom she was staying at. So it was like awesome, because we stayed so close to one another and when my cousin went to work I just walked over to her friend's dorm and chilled with them.

We travelled to Lyon for four days to have time to fully explore the city itself and attend the festival of lights which was frankly a-mazing! It truly was an outstanding and breathtaking event, which attracted visitors from all around the world. Some of the shows portrayed on the buildings of l'Opera, Place des Terraux and the Saint-Jean cathedral were honestly mind-blowing. They were seriously, so interesting and captivating that the people behind them honestly deserve the biggest round of a applause for such creativity.

I'm going to share with you some of my favourite snaps!

 How cute is this? Tea being poured into a cute little mug. (Well, the mug was actually half my size, and not so little after all).
These upside down flowers were so cute and initiative, that almost made me want to have something similar to decorate my own room back at home.

 Above is the Place des Terraux and its show was inspired by art. It showcased some of Monet's paintings which morphed into a telling of a story that was so beautifully designed as it projected across the two buildings of the square.
The show on the cathedral was so sick! It basically played with the lights to the beat of the music playing in the background. It gave me goosebumps, and was my favourite by far!

On the trip as well, we visited the museum of miniature and cinema which was so good it is honestly a must see! It had original costumes and props used during the filming of some major Hollywood films. I got to see the original wand of Harry Potter used in the Chamber of Secrets and one of the Hogwarts letters sent to him in the Philosopher's Stone. There were also the costumes of Hulk, and Superman as well as other superheroes and characters alike. The second half of the museum was where we spent most of out time, as it was where the miniature sets were being displayed. Each and every single set was so detailed that you could spend hours looking at them and wondering how on earth they made it all look life-like! We also went to Furvière as well and its basilica is so breathtaking I couldn't take my off its beautiful ceiling.

For dinner, my cousin invited me to this delicious Italian restaurant called Al Dente. Believe me when I say this, but that restaurant has the most mouthwatering and heavenly pizzas in all of Lyon (and even France itself)! They were really generously portioned pizzas, too well portioned that we couldn't finish ours as they were huge. But my goodness, did they taste good. If you're in Lyon, DO NOT miss this restaurant! It is located just next to the Fourvière téléphérique and you may miss it if you weren't looking for it, because it is down this small alley and away from any tourist attractions. But do look for it, because it is honestly amazing okay? okay. I might just make another trip to Lyon, just to go to that restaurant. I'm kidding.

This trip to Lyon has put a smile on my face, and I was so glad I got the chance to see it. It is definitely a place worth visiting. To end things, since the festival of lights was during the 5th-8th of December, it was also during the Christmas season and so we visited the Christmas market where I bought most of the Christmas presents I was taking back home! This market was was definitely a much better market than the one at Champs-Elysées because there was definitely more to see and the layout of it felt more homey and cosy. Also, the people of Lyon are so warm and welcoming, that I honestly felt right at home there I didn't want to leave!

[100happydays, Day 5]

If you ask any child what place they dream of visiting, they would most likely say Disneyland; however, in my case, it was actually Versailles (although Disneyland was also on the list of course, because who wouldn't want to go to Disneyland?). Anyway, my dream came true on the 9th October 2014, when I decided to take my mum along with me on the trip when she came to visit me in Paris.

The journey there took us about an hour, but it was lovely because we got to see the outskirts of Paris and the difference in architecture as well as getting a glimpse of the banlieues. Once we reached the station, we followed the tourists that were also making their way to the palace, until we finally reached the beautiful golden gates. The grandeur of the place made my heart swell; I couldn't believe I was actually there, about to enter the former home of Marie-Antoinette! I absolutely adore the history of the place and of all the famous royals that once upon a time lived here. I completely immerse myself in the history of the French Monarchy and of the life of Louis XVI and his wife, whose reign brought it to an end.

Stepping inside the palace, I automatically felt myself go back in time as I pictured glamorous ball gowns swaying around me and dancing in front of the King and Queen. If the walls could only talk! To think that I was standing in what was once the centre of France's political power, was unbelievable.

The central gallery of the Château is its Hall of Mirrors (La Grande Galerie or La Galerie des Glaces in French) built during King Louis XIV's third building campaign in 1677-1684.


The chandeliers that decorate the hall are so beautiful, I literally took like 100 pictures of them. The paintings on the ceiling are dedicated to the political policies and military victories of Louis XIV. You could really see that Louis XIV is obviously the key figure in them, as they all highlight his power and success.


Going to the Petit Trianon and seeing the place where Marie Antoinette liked to take time away from the busy lifestyle of the French court, was surreal; seeing her bed was slightly strange, because 1) I couldn't believe she had actually slept there, and 2) because it was far too small! I was telling my mum that I didn't think that was her real bed, but after one of the room guards heard me, he actually confirmed to me that Marie-Antoinette actually did sleep there, but she merely slept sitting down! I was like "Oh, well that makes sense!" But it still seems strange to me.

And just when I thought I had seen it all, we stepped outside and onto the gardens. My goodness, were the gardens beautiful. Below is a picture of them, but it's one of those situations where you have to be there to truly feel the amplitude of the place.


Just seeing the lake itself and the stretch of it, was enough to take my breath away. And just so we could make our mark in the place, mum and I decided to row in the lake. It was bloody amazing! A duck was following my mum and I along our 30-minute trip which was adorable and I felt sorry for him because he was obviously hungry and we didn't have anything to give him. We had a sandwich inside the palace in the Angelina restaurant, but we didn't really leave anything of it because it was delicious! But anyway, enough of that. After we got out of the rowing boat, and having learnt how to row by my mum, we started making our way towards the Queens Hamlet.

To say that my mum and I walked a lot, is an understatement. We were knackered by the end of the day; our feet were killing, I had blisters and my legs ached so bad I honestly thought they were going to fall off.

However, the highlight of the trip had to have been Marie Antoinette's Estate (once we reached it, because it was buried deep in the gardens) - The Queen's Hamlet. The place seriously set butterflies to flying in my stomach because it was just too beautiful! It looked like I was inside a fairytale; I never wanted to leave!




I mean isn't it just mind-blowing? Lucky Marie-Antoinette, seriously. (I kind of take that back, considering how she died.)

Mum and I spent the whole day there and we honestly didn't want to leave because the whole scenery was beautiful it made us want to just live there forever. However, once we knew we had to leave, we thought our wish was going to come true, as we couldn't find the way out! We tried looking on the map, but then I am useless at reading maps so that was a bust. There was nobody on the roads, and the gardens were almost forest-like that we felt trapped inside it. Eventually, we reached the palace, but we were the only ones around!

We looked everywhere, but there was not a soul in sight. It was after several minutes of wandering about, that we finally saw a security guard across the grounds of the Grand Trianon.We ended up heading towards him and asking him if he could let us out, which he did. sadly.


And there I am walking to our exit!

[100happydays, Day 4]

So, this weekend (20th and 21st of September), some places in France are open for free because of the Heritage Days. Since I live next to the Luxembourg gardens, I tried my luck yesterday to see if the palace was open for free too. And it was!

I had my lunch in my bag, but I decided to queue, not knowing that the queue was going to take a while and that I would be growing hungry from just standing there. Nevertheless, I stayed put, because I really wanted to see the palace. And boy was it worth it. 

Once we got in, the hunger went away. I was so impressed by everything, that I literally had my mouth agape when I saw how elegant and rich and glamorous the décor was. I could picture the royals and noblemen that graced the place back in their day. The paintings also helped to put faces to the names that I read about on the little leaflet they gave us at the entrance. 

                              Library ceiling with Dante's Inferno
                                         by Delacroix

After the death of Henri IV in 1610, his widow, Marie de Médicis, became regent to her son, Louis XIII. Having acceded to a much more powerful position, she decided to erect a new palace for herself, adjacent to an old hôtel particulier owned by François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Piney-Luxembourg, which is now called the Palais du Petit-Luxembourg, home of the president of the French Senate. 

The building is inspired by Florence's Palazzo Pitti which was the native building of Marie de Médicis, and hired the architect Métezeau to make detailed drawings of the building by sending him to Florence.
 
                               Salle des Conférences

During the French Revolution, it was briefly a prison, then the seat of the French Directory, and in 1799, the home of the Sénat conservateur and the first residence of Napoleon Bonaparte, as First Consul of the French Republic. 

                    The Seven Statues facing the Senate Chamber's
                        Semicircle (from left to right):

It was such a lovely day, I loved the Palace and I can't wait to visit Château de Versailles now because I can guess it'll be more extravagant than this! Mum should hurry up, because we'll be going together to visit it! Can't wait! 

It will almost be a week since I arrived in Paris. A week! My goodness, time does fly. My first ever experience of living abroad -by myself- has been all right so far. After arriving to a room which I have to share in the month of September, and carrying two heavy luggages along with a backpack and a handbag all by myself, I thought I would want to book the first trip back to London. However, I am still here, and there is a smile on my face.

My 'foyer' as they like to call it here (student residency) is located just next to the Luxembourg gardens along the Boulevard Saint Michel. From the terrace I have the most wonderful view of Paris, where both the Tour Eiffel and Montparnasse appear on the horizon. With the Notre Dame just minutes away from me, I couldn't ask for a better location. Walking the streets of Paris, and discovering the most cutest petits rues along the way, has been a highlight of my experience. Streets full of cafes and restaurants that grab your attention with their shabby and parisian decorations, the cobbled pavement and narrow streets that look like they have come out from a pop-up children's book, and the cute markets with the smell of fresh bread and fromageries just aligned across the street, has been so enjoyable to discover. My camera is always packed in my bag, because I never know what I will stumble upon or what will capture my eye.





I spend most of the evenings in the Luxembourg gardens, sitting on one of their famous green chairs with an open book on my lap, headphones in my ears and the sun shining on my face. The weather has been wonderful! It doesn't feel like the end of summer at all! I just wish it could stay like this forever!


On one of my little trips around Paris, I decided to go visit the famous bookstore: Shakespeare and Company.

This bookstore has the most welcoming and cosiest interiors I have ever come across in my life. I honestly wanted to stay there all day. Unfortunately they didn't let us take pictures inside, but the place even had beds for you to rest on while your mind wandered into another realm. They have books that are quite ancient and tend to be second hand, however, they do sell new books (which takes most of the downstairs floor) that vary from children's books like Rold Dahl to John Green for young adults to all kinds of genres and English authors one can think of.

The original shop, which doubled as a library, publisher and boarding house for aspiring writers, was opened by American Sylvia Beach and was featured in Ernest Hemingway's memoir, A Moveable Feast. The store closed during World War II, and was reopened in its current incarnation in 1951 by George Whitman, whose daughter, Sylvia, runs things today. And they even have a small message stating this on the side of the store.

Also, the place has its own cat! It's white and so cute, I have actually petted it.


The nearby restaurant Le Procope, is said to have had guests of luminaries like Voltaire, Rousseau and Verlaine, and that its walls are adorned with author-signed title pages. However, I have yet to visit that restaurant, but it is definitely in my to-do list!

That is just one of the many places I have and have yet to visit here in Paris.

[100happydays, Day 3]

So, today was lovely. I met up with a friend whom I haven't seen in months, and went to a cute cafe in Syon park. We caught up with so much, and remembered so many embarrassing moments we shared in school.
After that, we walked to Pets at Home where we saw the cute bunnies and guinea pigs and I tried hard to restrain myself from buying all the cute fluffy fur balls.
Then, it had been so long that we hadn't seen each other that we walked to a different park not so far away.
On the way, I took my friend to a lovely cute shabby bookshop, that is literally the cutest thing. Inside, it smelled of old books and cinnamon and I just wanted to sit on the floor and get lost in all the books. But sadly that couldn't be the case. We needed to move on.


So we went to Osterly park and just strolled around for ages. My legs were aching when I got home, and mum made me the nicest cappuccino that literally made me feel so much better.


So, yeah. That was my day. Pretty long and tiring, but I loved it!

[100happydays, Day 1]