Europe - Part 1

I'm finally back and rested from our European adventures! I have so much to write about this trip that I'm going to have to write it all up in a number of posts. I'll also be doing some reviews on the airline we used and the places we stayed because it was a little difficult to find accurate and decent reviews, so if anyone comes across mine, they may find it useful.
So lets start from day 1... We (my mum, dad, sister, Sam & I.) arrived at Tulla airport in Melbourne at 6am to fly to Paris via Guangzhou, China. We were flying with China Southern Airlines (no other reason aside from it being the cheapest to fly all 5 of us). It was about 9 hours to China and then a 5 hour stopover. This being my (and my family's) first time flying overseas, we were shitting our pants. Not because we were afraid of flying, but because we're all so fidgety ha ha. We managed to get through that flight with little stress, but once we arrived in China, it was terrrrrrriiiiiibbbblllleeeee! I cant even begin to explain! We completely forgot to factor in that china was going to be stinking hot because it was summer there, so we walked off the plane in our winter gear only to be punched in the face with 35 degree heat and 99% humidity. We fought through the heat for the 5 hour stopover time and were finally on our flight to Paris! 12 hours and a lot of mini, restless sleeps later, we were finally there! It was smooth sailing to our hotel and we were all ready to battle each other for first dibs of the shower. We were staying at the Hotel Alexandrie which was located in Bastille in the 11th arrondissement (which we later found out was the lower-middle class area of Paris, according to locals of other arrondissements. Its kind of like the Maribyrnong of Paris. Fancy stuff, but not as fancy as any other places. Mediocre, but a perfect distance away/close to all the good stuff). When we got to the hotel we found that there was something going on with our room and it was just a big mix up and wouldn't be sorted for what turned out to be 5 hours. We were too exhausted from the flights to explore, so we just sat in the lobby. At one point, I nearly fell asleep so Sam and I went to explore. We saw heaps of lovely things and picked up some food, but that triggered my cold to begin...
We finally got our room sorted and settled in then went to explore some more but before we knew it we were back and had fallen asleep before 6pm. So much for not getting jet lag...

 Gare De Lyon train station which was a 5 minute stroll from our hotel which had local trains underneath in the subway, but on the ground floor there were international trains that travelled through Europe.

 We were only a 5 minute walk from this monument in Bastille and this was where all the crowds were when they elected the new French president. You could hear the hooting and champagne bottles popping from our hotel room so loudly until 4am the next morning. It was like New Years celebrations. I cant imagine what it would've been like if the president had stayed the same... eep.

Sam being cute

 This is Mum, Dad, Me & my younger sister, Paris. Can you tell how obsessed my mum is with this beautiful city? My sister was pissed at the endless "Paris, how are you enjoying being in Paris? eh, Paris?" jokes I was making. I'm still not done with those jokes... muahaha!

 The creepiest moving masks you will ever see in this magic/gag shop.

 This store was dedicated to Michael Jackson and played his music super loudly. I don't think you could even buy anything there. Probably just a gigantic, creepy M.J shrine...

Australia themed cafe we didnt get to go to. Coz in Australia crocs run amok and have their own lane on our roads... *sigh

Our first proper day in Paris was spent walking heaps and managing to walk to Galleries Lafayette which is pretty much like David Jones, but like 400 times more expensive and flashy. It was so beautiful architecturally on the inside and the brands they sold in there were overwhelming. It felt like literally every designer I have ever heard of in my entire life had part of their line selling there. We also went to H&M which I was DYING for because we don't have it here in Aus and I've got to say I was super disappointed. There were heaps of things on the French website that went up to a sz 18, but all I saw was sz 10s. That being said, I did find 2 things and a bunch of jewellery (all of which i"ll be wearing in the next few weeks and taking pictures of), but otherwise, Paris in general wasn't being so nice to me when it came to clothing in size 18/20.

On to part 2!