Paris

Yesterday we had a relaxed start and headed off to the Pantheon, a short walk from our hotel. The Pantheon is where the most famous French citizens are buried, including Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas and Marie Curie. Modelled on the Roman equivalent, it was originally built by Louis XV and dedicated to St Genevieve after he recovered from illness.

From there we went on the ironically named Place de la Concorde, the site of a guillotine during the French Revolution. Guillotines were very efficient killing machines, capable of one death every 30 seconds.

Directly in line with the Place de la Concorde is La Madeleine. This church was fairly underwhelming, but on the way there we saw a large political demonstration which seemed on the verge of starting a riot.

Paris closes up on Sundays for the most part, and had a relaxed air about it. We walked through some very expensive streets, lined with shops such as Gucci, Patek Philippe, Chanel etc., and passed the Place Vendome, home of the Ritz.

In the afternoon we caught a train out to Chartres to see its Gothic cathedral. Once we had returned to Paris, we were given free time until 9 o'clock. Some of us went shopping on the Champs Elysees.

At 9 o'clock we assembled at the square in front of Notre Dame Cathedral and watched an impressive display of fire-breathing and extreme roller-blading from street performers.

Finally we returned to the hotel via metro at 11 o'clock to catch some sleep before heading to London in the morning.

— Conall Brennan-McMahon