15-21 April 2007 - Paris

Lynne says...

From one European capital to another – there is no getting away from it, Matt and I are city people and as much as I like the idea of an idyllic country life away from the hustle and bustle of London it's simply unlikely to happen for quite some time.


Restaurant in Montmartre

Three hours after leaving Waterloo on the Eurostar we arrived in the centre of Paris after a stress free, relaxing train journey. Who needs three hour check-ins, endless queues and over-priced car parks when you can effortlessly turn up half an hour before departure and take your seat in a spacious carriage with a coffee and a croissant? And not only that, our carbon footprint remained relatively low.


A food enthusiast's dream - the unique cook shop E. De Hillerin

We stayed at a three star hotel called La Demeure in the Latin Quarter (www.hotel-paris-lademeure.com). Discreet, quiet and extremely friendly and welcoming it was certainly a step up from the youth hostels and general holes we found ourselves in during our last trip away.


The food market from the bottom of Rue Mouffetard

The weather was fabulous so we spent most of our days simply wandering around the back streets, discovering quirky shops, beautiful parks and stopping for cafe noir or a chilled beer. We visited some of the major sights - Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and I discovered just how much I love sculpture after wondering around the Rodin museum and garden.


The art nouveau entrance sign at The Louvre metro station

The beauty of spending a week in a major city is the time you can spend relaxing and simply soaking up the atmosphere. A weekend is never enough - it always involves rushing around from one tourist attraction to the next and results in complete exhaustion.


Free hugs at Notre Dame on Sundays!

We did manage to venture out at night for more than just our evening meal - jazz in a bar in the Latin Quarter and traditional chanson in a backstreet cafe full of intense French students chain smoking and drinking red wine. Matt even had his second musical epiphany as he gazed at the sultry French mademoiselle singing and playing the accordion.


The entrance to the Grand Salon in the Napoleon Apartments

The food, of course, was wonderful. Exquisite boulangeries on every corner and the fresh produce in the street markets really does put most of our cities to shame. We ate out in simple cafes alongside the locals and treated ourselves to a final meal in a restaurant with the most amazing art nouveau decor. The food was average but it was worth it for the pleasure of gazing around at the wonderful paintings and stained glass windows.


A lunchtime game of Petanque near the Hôtel des Invalides

The beauty of Paris is its accessibility to London so I suspect we will be back very soon.


Decisions, decisions...