A British girl in Paris: Part deux

On day two we grabbed hot drinks and x2 pain aux raisins from a boulangerie near Gare du Nord and made our way to La Defense for another Christmas market. An altercation with a member of staff at the station meant the morning in La Defense didn't get off to the best of starts...but thankfully the Christmas market proved a welcome distraction. My highlight? Finding a retro gaming bar which isn't usually there. All the machines there were free play so we spent a little while enjoying old favourites like Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter and PacMan.

Afterwards we headed back into town, stopping for lunch on the way. Our hotel had advertised a chocolate museum - Choco-Story (28 Boulevard de Bonne Nouvelle, 75010 Paris) - that took our fancy. We learnt about the history of chocolate, and how they made hot chocolate wayyyy before the time of Starbucks! Going on a week day was quite beneficial as it meant that we had our own private chocolate making / tasting class. The high percentage Venezuelan dark chocolate was out of this world! I loved all the display cabinets containing fancy tea cups:

There were advertising campaigns and typography everywhere. My favourite had to be this one:

On Wednesday evenings the Louvre stays open until late, so we took full advantage of this. The Louvre is one of my favourite places. The sheer size of some of the artwork is mind blowing and the decor and ornate ceilings, inspirational.

And whilst at the Louvre, you can't NOT go and see the Mona Lisa....

 ... or the pyramid featured at the end of the Da Vinci Code...

Walking around those vast halls is tiring work so what better excuse for a Coca Cola break with Anne-Marie? (even in France I can't find a Lucy bottle for love nor money!)

We walked and walked and walked until hunger got the better of us and we couldn't ignore those hunger pangs any more. A friend of mine who lives in Paris had recommended a restaurant which I just couldn't for the life of me find. So instead we headed back to the Champs-Elysees as several restaurants had caught our eye the night before. We decided on Pizza Pino (31/33 Avenue des Champs-Élysées, 75008 Paris) as pizza seemed like the perfect way to end such a physically exhausting day. We sat upstairs with a lovely view of the Champs-Elysees. It was hands down the restaurant with the most Christmas lights - it was like one of the houses from Deck the Halls! But the pizzas were incredible. I opted for a smoked salmon and crème fraiche pizza as it's not a combination you often see in England!

We knew we had an early start the next day, so we enjoyed a carafe of red wine and then headed back to the hotel. Stay tuned for the final installment - Paris day three - coming soon!