MW Aime Paris: Partie Duex

Bonjour!

Partie duex to my previous post! 

Seventh stop: Arc de Triomphe

This is MASSIVE, much larger than I thought, especially as I saw it from the distance when we were at Place de la Concorde. This is basically in memorial of the soldiers during the World Wars. There is a tomb underneath which is famously known as The Unknown Soldier.

Eighth stop: Trocadéro/Eiffel Tower

This was the place I was most excited to visit, simply because it has the BEST view of the Eiffel Tower! I mean check out the photo! You get the entire tower view from this place. If you walk down the stairs of the Palace de Chaillot you will come across Jardins du Trocadéro, which is pretty amazing in itself. If you cross the street and walk across Pont d'Iéna you will be right underneath the Eiffel Tower. Here you can go to the second floor, or for the more adventurous - the top. Mama Mango, fainthearted,  opted out and didn`t want me to go up, either - so I missed out on the amazing views! But, I`m 100% sure the view would have been epic.

TIP: If you want to get a full shot of the Eiffel Tower then take the bus/metro to Trocadéro and follow the signs for 'Tour Eiffel' - I promise you it will take your breath away!

Jardins de Trocadéro behind me. The building behind me is the Palace de Chaillot. In this building, they adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948! 

Mama Mango enjoying the view before crossing Pont d'Iéna to get to the Left Bank where the Eiffel Tower resides.

Ninth stop: Eiffel Tower/Champ de Mers 

No introduction is obviously needed for the Eiffel Tower, but little trivia, when France was occupied by the Germans in 1940, the cable for the elevator was cut so Adolf Hitler had to walk RIGHT to the top - hah!

The Buddy Bears are currently in Paris where they have 140 pooh bears representing the countries that the UN recognise and they signify the peaceful coexistence of the countries...*awkward*

Find out more here.

At the foot of the Champ de Mers, you`ll find the 'Wall for Peace' which was inspired by the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem. It explains the Arabic and Hebrew writing of peace all around the monument. There`s a massive split view on the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem, where both Muslims and Jews hold it very high. For Muslims, it holds the foundation of the Aqsa Masjid and the Dome of Rock, but also it was the gate in which we believe our beloved Prophet (sws) came to Jerusalem from Mecca on a Buraq. Jews, it is one of their last remaining portions of the Temple of Solomon. The Jews want to reconstruct the Temple of Solomon, but in order to do so it would mean destroying the masjids - hence the massive split view on the Wall.

The view as I was approaching the Eiffel Tower.

The Buddy Bears all with their arms up ready for a hug.

Me with the Buddy Bears which show the love/coexistence between all the religions...

Tramp alert, clearly.

Wall for Peace

Magical view after Maghrib!

Tenth stop: Notre Dame

Everyone has heard of this cathedral, because of the book by Victor Hugo - Hunchback of Notre Dame! I was a little excited to see this! It oozed Gothic architecture with the gargoyle sculptures along the top of the cathedral. It was pretty cool to see, if I`m honest.

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So, that was my trip to Paris! We saw PLENTY of culture and history in those two days, and we absolutely adored it. I would most definitely recommend to go to Paris if you haven`t been - I can`t believe I waited so long to explore this city?! 

Have you been? Where else would you recommend to go? Any tips? Share below!

If you are going any time soon, and want specific details etc, please do email me at mangowhirl@gmail.com and I`ll share everything (limited) I know to you! :)

Hope you enjoyed the photos/history lesson, as much as I did typing it up.

Hope everyone has had a lovely Eid weekend.

xo

MW Aime Paris: Partie Un

Bonjour mes amis :)

Here is a photo diary of my trip to Paris, as promised! 

(click on photos to enlarge)

The day started off early, Mama Mango and I left the house at 5.15am! *yawn* We had to make it into St Pancras International for 7.30am, and because I`m meticulous and paranoid - I took into consideration the possibility of leaves on the track and delaying the train from our side of England! But, alhamdulilah we got there in good time! 

TIP: I would recommend going by Eurostar into Paris, as the journey is swift and on-time! The duration of the journey was approximately 2 hrs and 23 minutes. Not bad, eh? Mama Mango timed how long it took us to cross the Euro Tunnel - 19 mins! Is that all it takes to get us across the English Channel?! Insane! Takes my brother longer to roll out of bed in the morning! You can always catch amazing discount fares from the Eurostar website! If you`re super lucky, you can get a return for £37.50!! Keep an eye out on their website. Also, Groupon sometimes have pretty cool offers, which include Eurostar AND hotel!

Upon arrival, we had to buy metro tickets. As we were in Paris for two days, I purchased the unlimited travel within zones 1-3 (this is the usual touristy attraction locations, if you want to go to Disney Land, then you will need to purchase a zones 1-5 ticket). 

TIP: These 2 day tickets are great, but the only downfall is you didn`t really see much of Paris from the subway. If I was to go again, I would make sure I travel more on the bus/open top tour bus so I can capture more of Paris. Further, finding the Metro station is ridiculously difficult! It isn`t at all like the London Underground system - not clearly signed at all! So, we ended up walking around in circles looking for it - better off jumping on the bus. With the unlimited tickets, you can get on the bus, as well. You can also buy 1 day, 5 day tickets if you`re spending less/more time in Paris. 

Once we dropped our suitcases off and freshened up, we headed straight out to make the most of the day. 

First stop: Pont Neuf

This used to be the central point of Paris in the 18th century, from which you can get an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower on a clear day. The first ever stone laid down for this bridge was by King Henry III of France. It crosses the River Seine, so from this bridge we walked downstream, walking alongside the river.

Second stop: Pont des Arts

This is the famous Lover's Bridge where couples write their names onto a padlock, lock it onto the bridge and throw the keys into the River Seine as a gesture of their love. To me, its pretty romantic, as I am a sucker for all things cute and lovely. But, Mama Mango? Not so impressed - haha.

TIP: Go here with your partner, do the tradition of padlocking your love onto the Lovers Bridge and walk away with a smile on your face - don`t go with your mum (lol)

Third stop: Louvre Museum

As we carried on walking downstream the River Seine, on the right we had the Louvre Museum.

This place is obviously famous for holding the Mona Lisa, and being in The Da Vinci Code - which was pretty cool. You can see photos of me in front of the Louvre here. We didn`t opt to go in, because it would have been a waste of time with Mama Mango who has no interest in art.

Mama Mango in the shot! 

Fourth stop: Jardin des Tuileries 

This is a pretty garden in Paris, which Mama Mango adored (she`s a green thumb). There is so much history to this Garden, where it was originally designed to model native Florence. It was later used by Napoleon for military parades in the 19th century. Seriously, if you read up on this Garden alone, you will be amazed by how much went on here. Its so surreal that I stood in the area where so much happened. (I`m bit of a geek like that. Don`t judge me.)

They had these green chairs dotted all over the Garden, which is great as it gave mum a chance to rest her legs whilst I got to wander and take photos. 

Fifth stop: Place de la Concorde

Once you leave the Garden from the other side you come across Place de la Concorde. This is the largest public square in Paris. The prominent feature of this square is the Luxor Obelisk. This was one of the obelisks given by the Egyptians back in the 19th century, the other one was returned back to Egypt. But, how amazing is it, that this exact obelisk used to be outside the Luxor Temple in Egypt? As it was so difficult to transport these in the 19th century, the bottom panel reveals how it was transported to France from Egypt.

Also, this obelisk replaced the location of the guillotine from the French Revolution! Can you believe that this is where people were guillotined? Including King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette of France! Its so weird to think that this is where blood dripped onto the bricked square, people shouting and crying, so many rash decisions made, rats squandering through peoples feet - so much commotion happened once upon a time here. *shivers*

Also in the square you will find the two fountains that symbolise the fountains of Paris, both very pretty. In The Devil Wears Prada, this is the fountain where Andrea throws her mobile phone into!

Sixth stop: La Madeleine

We came across this by chance, as we got lost looking for the Metro. 

This temple was built to glory Napoleon's army. 

I wouldn`t intentionally come again to this place, unless I wanted some macarons!

The next set of photos from the trip will be in the next post! 

Hope you`re enjoying it so far! :)

xo

MW's Pin(e)ing for Paris OOTD

Bonjour Whirlers,

Ça va?

I went to Paris and had a magical time!! I took PLENTY of photos which I shall share later this week, but here is an outfit I wore on the trip:

HUNTER GREEN:

Massive this fall. Absolutely adore this shade! I want to buy so many items this colour! Wearing it with black makes it look that much more gorgeous, in my opinion!

This is me in front of the Louvre Museum. 

Blouse: Forever 21

Waiscoat: H&M

Skirt: H&M

Hijab: eBay

Bag: Zara

Boots: New Look

Accessories: Street Princess/H&M

What do you think about hunter green? So fall, right?

xo

MW and LilMissRosh Have Dinner

Whirlers! 

Hope you`re all whirling in happiness at the moment! Work has been taking over my life currently. From chilling at home, travelling and spending my parents money for 6-7 months...I finally sat up and decided to get a job. Its been fun, though!! Working with amazing girls in the office - and, I love finding new hijab friendly outfits which are office appropriate. Will have to do a separate post and share!

Anyway, on with the post! So, I heard Lil Miss Rosh was working down South. I got in touch and we decided to meet up in Brighton for dinner. Obviously, my Canon was slung over my shoulder and ready to capture the evening:

(click photos to enlarge)

Rosh is a fussy eater, doesn`t like Chinese or Thai, only eats Indian, Mexican or Italian and she`s vegetarian...do you see what I mean? Had my work cut out to find a nice restaurant!

She`s Indian, so safest bet was to go to a Gujrati restaurant, in my opinion - so thats what we did!

We were given a spicy vegetable soup, whilst our starter was being prepared. It was in a TINY cup, probably same size as an espresso cup.

I obviously saw mango juice on the drinks menu and had to order it! Rosh had a salty lassi which was served in a tin can! That was pretty cool. For starters, Rosh ordered a Vegetable Dosa (I think) and it was presented on a massive taal! I tried a little bit, tasted really nice - if I ever go to a Gujrati restaurant, I will definitely order this.

I ordered the Bhel Puri, which was surprisingly nice, and was a small risk as I`m lactose intolerant and it was drizzled with yoghurt! But, the mixture of textures from the savoury, to potatoes to sauces was really nice. Unfortunately, neither of us could finish our starters! 

Whilst we were waiting for our main course, we were given Mango Sherbet in these cute little pots - they were really yummy, too. But, lets be fair, anything with mango in, is yummy! 

We then had our main courses, which consisted of Rosh getting the Vegeterian Taal and I ordered the Chingri Malai. 

Us eating our food.

We both really enjoyed our meal. As I`m bit of a fatty, I finished my meal (except the beans - they were too hard for my liking) but Rosh wasn`t able to and took the remainder as a takeaway. 

The restaurant:

We decided to take a stroll along the seafront, even though it was a little cold! But, the view was amazing!! Check it out:

And, of course a photo of us:

Hope you enjoyed this post! Sorry the last few posts have been food related! I`ve been trying to do different things on the blog, and lately, the only 'social' thing I`ve been doing is, going for meals! 

OOTN from the evening will come later this week! :)

Make sure you check out Rosh's blog! 

Should I do foodie posts? Or, not? Have you tried any of the dishes? What`s your favourite Indian restaurant in London?

xo

MW's I SEA Your Outfit & I Raise Mine OOTD

Whirlers ;)

How is everyone doing?! 

Basically, three weeks ago, I uploaded this skirt onto Instagram and asked for helped from the ladies on my IG to make an outfit with this skirt, as I was SERIOUSLY struggling and hadn`t even worn the skirt as I couldn`t find ANYTHING to go with it: 

I had so many girls give their opinions, and here a list of the outfits they thought would look good with this skirt:

@fujjywujjy - black t-shirt, black blazer and black leggings OR long white shirt

@sweetchums - nice bright top (coral/mustard) and toned down hijab

@bonitasusie - plain white t-shirt tucked in, plain colour hijab - black/grey

@yousras - red silky top, or bright pink or fuschia top

@thursdayslovechild - orange top, fuschia hijab

@jannatul_ferdusi - bright colour blouse and nude hijab

@black_mamba8 - to call him before I buy something as this looks like his mums curtain -.-

@crysiona - black or white blouse

Just wanted to say thank you for all your advice ladies, and mamba (-.-)

I now have MANYYYYY ways to wear this maxi skirt!! 

And, this is how I decided to style it:

 

 

T-shirt: H&M

Skirt: H&M

Blazer: H&M

Sandals: Zara

Handbag: ALDO

Hijab: Green St

Accessories: F21/H&M

Not entirely sure what I`m doing with my feet in the bottom pic??

But, thats how I decided to wear the skirt! 

What do you guys think??

And, how amazing was my view that day?!

AMAZEBALLS.

xo

P.S. Add me on IG - @mangowhirl

MW Goes Out With Her #bbloggers

Whirlers!!

Hope everyone is well!

Last week, I met up with a few #bbloggers and obviously the company was amazing so the day was so much fun!

We had lunch at a Lebanese place and then a couple of the girls had shisha outdoors. Following this, we strolled into Superdrug to take advantage of their current 3 for 3 on beauty products! 

Here a few snaps from the day:

All of the girls.

Me and frootibeauty.

Gosh, us again. Posing away.

With the beloved dollymixdiaries who was visiting from the Middle East!

Dolly, I peek you watching me take a photo of Frooti!!

My purchases from the day!
I bought:
Sleek Oh So Special Palette
Sleek Face Form Contour Kit in Dark
L'Oreal Super Liner in Intense Black
MUA Bronzer in Shade 2

I`ll do a post on a FOTD using the products purchased!

So, those were a few snaps from our day out. I can`t wait for the next meet-up, which is currently being organised, if you`re a blogger and can come into London late June, and would love to meet up then do contact me via my email or twitter, it would be great to meet more girly bloggers!! :)

Has anybody else taken advantage of the 3 for 2 at Superdrug, btw? I saved £8.19! Amazing!! lol.

xo