One Night In Paris (the city not the airhead)

Dear Anyone,

I went to Paris for the first time this weekend, and it was fun! I went with five of the girls who went to Cannes in April, and it was supposed to be a reunion of sorts, but four others couldn't make it.

It was the idea of Bibs, one of our friends who is also SP's cousin. She suggested the idea of travelling to Paris by Eurostar on a Saturday afternoon, finding somewhere to eat and have a few drinks, finding somewhere to change into our glad rags, then go clubbing through the night and catch an early train back on the Sunday morning. It sounds crazy, which is why we HAD to try it. Bibs said she'd done it before with a group of friends, and although they were very tired, they'd had so much fun.

It worked out even better for us though, because Bibs has a friend, Bambi (who some of us also know) who just happens to be staying in Paris for work purposes, and who was sweet enough to allow us to base ourselves at her apartment for the night. It worked out perfectly!

The journey on the Eurostar was quite alright actually. It's strange going through the same procedures at a train station that you would at an airport, I'm just used to swiping my Oyster card and going on my way. Also, knowing that you're going by train makes it very easy to forget that you'll need your passport! Don't worry, no one did though.

Of course there had to be one mishap, and of course the mishap would have to have happened to Muggins here. So, being the nice and thoughtful friends that we are, SP and I decided that we would each bring a bottle of 'water' to share with the girls on the journey there. We consumed SP's bottle first, and I was going to leave it to kick into our systems for a while ( you know how 'water' does) before I opened my bottle. Then I heard a text alert on my phone, so I reached down for my bag and I could see (and feel - because my shoes were off) that the floor was wet. It was as if I knew straight away what had happened, because it's happened to me so many times before (you remember what happened in Barbados as a result of lack of sleep right?). When I put my hand in my bag, the first thing I touched was the upside down plastic bottle, which, when I pulled it out, was absolutely completely empty, as if someone had sucked it dry to rid any evidence of a beverage. I just kept saying "Oh my gosh" over and over again, while looking at SP. Then I thought "Oh please God no!" when I realised that my mum's camera was also in the bag, and as far as I knew it was in it's plastic. As Sod's Law would have it, somehow the camera had managed to escape the little plastic bag, so that it didn't have to miss out on the drinking. It was more drunk than any of us had been for the whole duration of the trip. Bastard thing. All I thought was that my mum was going to skin me, so I decided instantly that when we arrive back in London the next day, I would head straight to the shop to buy her another one. And that's exactly what I did.

As for my dress - ha! Imagine you have just hand-washed a garment, but you haven't wrung it out yet. That was it. I had to hang it up on the seat in front of me, and no matter how many times I tried to squeeze the liquid out, it still dripped on my knee for the rest of the journey.

When we arrived in Paris we couldn't head straight to Bambi's place, because she was still out for the day, so we headed to a little bar/cafe type place to keep warm. Paris is very much like London - if I had gotten a grade higher than a 'C' for French I think I'd be able to live there. I'm very much a city person, you see. Beaches for holidays though. Anyway, we stayed in the cafe and toasted Paris with 2 bottles of wine, before taking the taxis to Bambi's apartment.

Now she's staying in a perfect little studio apartment, in a very good and central location..... that is when you eventually make it up to the apartment. By that I mean the steps. The staircase is serious! She lives right at the top, the very last apartment, and to get up there you have no choice but to walk, because there is nothing even resembling a lift to get you up. We should have guessed by the congregation of buggies at the foot of the staircase. I am not even joking when I tell you that today my thighs are aching, and I know it's down to us having to climb those stairs more than once. Yes I am unfit, thank you, I've never denied it. We were huffing and puffing like we'd just been chased by lions! Bambi was laughing at us. Thankfully her place was very warm, so we were able to chill for a while, with wine and munchies, while my dress hung and dried on the radiator. It felt like it had overdosed on starch, but I didn't care because it was dry!

It was a good night, even though a little expensive. We went to eat at a restaurant called Buddha Bar, which was nice, but overrated and pricey for what it was. Then we moved on to a club called Duplex. When we pulled up in the cabs, the queue was absolutely ridiculous! Long and thick. But Bibs and SP went to the front, and in their best French they told the doorman that we have come all the way from London, and we are seven sexy women wanting to party tonight - and he let us straight in! It was great because the weather was cold and wet. We had to wait till 2am for the R&B room to open, otherwise it would have been pounding house music for the whole night, and that would not have been cool with me, so in the meantime we used our free drink tokens to keep ourselves occupied. The music in the R&B room was alright actually - random - but alright. We made the most of it, and had plenty of laughs people watching. One guy came and sat by us, and he was so out of his head pissy-drunk that even when the bouncers came to shake him awake, we were sure he was dead! Another guy was dancing near us, and the booty-shaking he was displaying would make Beyonce go and re-evaluate her purpose in life. It was all very funny.

We left at about 5am and went back to Bambi's to start getting our things together. I think I managed to get about 20 mins sleep, before our taxis came to take us to the station, but it was 20 mins more than I thought I'd be getting. We were able to get some breakfast at a cafe near the train station before catching our train, so that gave way for quite a nice nap on the journey back.

I'm so glad I've been able to take such a crazy-sounding trip with a group of girls who get on so well, and I really thank Bambi for making it so much easier for us. Now I'd love to return to Paris if someone wants to take me. Any offers?