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Paris - France |
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Accommodation
The hotel is on the north/east side of Paris. The nearest metro station is the République, which has five lines running through the station which means fewer changes when travelling around Paris. The room was basic but had everything we needed, shower, bed, safe, TV! The view was nothing special unless you like looking at the back of eight story buildings in detail. But to be fair the main use of the room was a place to crash out at the end of a long day and it was fine for that. Breakfast was in the basement. There was plenty to choose from, but I do like my croissants with jam and orange juice! You could help yourself to as much as you wanted too but be warned it's difficult to move with a full breakfast inside!  Sites Visited There are lots of places to see in Paris, and I really recommend that you take a good guidebook and map so you don't miss out on anything. In three days we managed to pack in most of the main sites.
Palais de Chaillot Palais de Chaillot sits behind the beautiful Jardins de Trocadéro. In the centre of these gardens is a pool of water where fountains set off the view of the tower. Unfortunately these weren't working when we visited. Eiffel Tower You have to pay to see the views from the tower and it varies with price on how high up you want to go. We visited Cinémax on the first floor; a film of the history of the tower in pictures which can be enjoyed by anyone no matter what language they speak. The second level with a restaurant is high enough and gives you a fantastic view of the whole city. For everyone else who is brave enough, and I nearly wasn't one of them, you can catch a lift right to the top. It's a long ride to the top, and I didn't like it. The views are just the same once you get to the top (the city doesn't exactly change while you're in the lift) the only difference is that everything is a lot smaller. In fact, tiny! You are inside once you reach the top, and there are very good guides to tell you what you can see in the distance. Up a few more steps and you get to view the city from outside instead of behind glass. I didn't see much from here, I was too busy clinging to the solid centre of the tower!
It's free to walk around but if you want to go to the top you need to pay. First of all you climb a long spiral staircase to an open area where there is a simple museum. A bit more of a climb and you reach the top. From here you can see the layout of the twelve perfectly spaced out roads leading from the Arc de Triomphe. It's a nice view but because of the location towards the edge of the city, it's hard to see some of the further landmarks. Avenue des Champs-Elysées Place de la Concorde
Leading up to the Louvre from the directon of the Arc De Trompé is the huge Jardin des Tuileries which was rather disappointing alon with a few other gardens in Paris. There was no sign of any grass! What is a garden without grass? Instead it's really dusty but that doesn't seem bother the Parisians at all. Notre Dame Boat trips on the Seine There are lots of boat trips that provide dinner, and I've heard it's one of the best things to do in Paris. Something I'd want to do next time I visit the city.  Eating Out This is what makes Paris. Sitting outside a small café drinking and watching the world go by. Les Deux Magots, Café de Flore and Brasserie Lipp are three of the most famous cafés around St-Germain-des-Prés and we were lucky enough to find a seat outside one of these and we have the receipt to prove it! These are also the best place to eat. They all seem to offer some sort of food. There are plenty of restaurants too that offer a wide variety of things all of which gets served to you with pieces of crusty white baguette. I found that a large proportion of the menu was meat orientated and finding anywhere that serves vegetarian food is difficult. I find red meat hard going so I prefer chicken but even this is hard to find on some of the menus. The fixed price menus are always the better, cheaper option. We managed to find a three-course meal for 15 Euros each, just over £10 (this doesn't include drink). The Latin Quarter was our favourite spot for eating. Little Athens off of Boulevard St-Michel is littered with restaurants, cafés and kebab shops. At any time of the day you can find sandwich bars that offer huge fresh baguettes with loads of fillings, and you can also watch your crêpes being made at the roadside, on big flat hot plates. You just pour the mixture and spread! They make it look so easy. Summary Paris is a lovely city, it has some wonderful sites that are interesting to visit. The metro makes it really easy to get around and extremely cheap too. We used this the whole time we were there. The streets are clean and felt quite safe walking around later in the day.
We took the Eurostar to get to Paris from Waterloo which makes it a painless 3hr journey. The train is really comfortable and so very smooth. It's spacious and you are free to get up and go to the bar to get a snack and a drink. It's such a change from flying; although slight more expensive. I really recommend travelling by Eurostar. I would certainly go back to Paris as there is still so much I didn't see. I'd like to take a dinner boat trip on the Seine and go into the Musée du Louvre and a few other museums. It makes a wonderful weekend break even though I looked forward to coming home for a rest! Information
imap - Paris Berlitz French Phrase Book & Dictionary Travel Ape.com Learning French Online Visited destination: 22nd - 25th March 2003 |
Sacré-Coeur
that it was only meant to be a temporary
structure when it's such a symbol of Paris.
Arc de Triomphe
Musée du Louvre
The French aren't that quick to speak in English for you, although some do,
so a phrase book is a must have. We got by well with the basics and found
ourselves wanting to try more. If you are lucky you can find menus that are
written in English as well as French, but don't rely on this, it's always best
to have that phrase book handy so you know actually what you're eating.
Eyewitness Travel Guide - Paris| f |