It took me a looong time to find a title for this blog. Why? Beause "Paris - la vie en rose" or "Paris, je t'aime" or "A weekend in the city of love" were the first things that came on my mind. But that's how every article about Paris is called, right? And why that? Well... Because it's true!! Paris is simply amazing and would definitely deserve such a kitschy, clichéd title! :-)
Even if it's not very far away from where I live (approx. 4.5 h by train), it was in 2008 when I was there the last time. Much too long! Last weekend my boyfriend and I finally made it back to Paris for a wonderful weekend.
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We took the fast train (a TGV ("train à grande vitesse") which can speed up to 320 kmh) and arrived in Paris at around noon. After checking-in into our cute hotel in the Montmartre-district, we directly started our sightseeing tour. Well, ok - right after a delicious lunch in a typical bistrot, off course! :-)
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| Not sure if the quote "Eating like God in France" exists in English, but at least I felt this way in Paris! :-) |
I was a bit sceptical at first, as a cemetary normally is not the first thing I want to see in a new town (normally I prefer the inhabitants that are alive... :-)), but I was really impressed by this huge cemetery! We spent almost a full afternoon there, strolling around, reading names and imagining the history behind them - it felt like a walk in a beautiful park, not at all like a dark and scary place. We were impressed by the sizes of some sepultures, chapels and mausoleums - some people must have saved money during all their lives to afford such a sepulture at the end!
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| Jim Morrisons grave |
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| Edith Piafs grave |
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| The Notre Dame cathedral |
... and enjoyed a cold beer at the Seine river...
After a fantastic, Indian dinner, we explored the Montmartre-district - for me the most beautiful district in Paris, as it is the "old heart of the city" as I would call it. It is located on a hill and famous for the artists that worked there - for example Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, van Gogh and Picasso! Not bad, right? :-)
We walked all the way up (there are stairs but you could also take the "funiculaire") and while getting nearer to the Sacré Coeur church, we could already hear the music that came out of the Cabarets and restaurants, people chatting and laughing. What a cozy atmosphere!
When we arrived at the Sacré-Coeur church, we saw a lot of people sitting on the steps in front of the building. It seemed to be THE place to be tonight! So we sat down as well, opened a bottle of champagne and enjoyed the fantastic view over Paris, the people and the music (some of the people were singing and playing the guitars). And when some cars down on the street turned up the music in their car radios and started something like a "pop-up disco on wheels", we couldn't help ourselves and started dancing. Can you imagine a better place for a dance than there - with the Sacré Coeur in your back and Paris to your feet?
The next day, we had another TO DO on our list: The palace of Versailles. So after a delicious breakfast (with croissants and pain au chocolat, naturellement!) we started our trip to Versailles. Sounds easy but if the SNCF, the French train company, decides to strike that day, it isn't! We tried to enter two train stations but they both were closed. Then we tried to find out how to get to Versailles by metro, but didn't manage. We were a bit stressed as we had pre-booked our tickets and had to be there at 2 p.m. While trying to find a way, we came in contact with an American couple from New York that had the same problem, Brianna and Josue. This was fantastic, as we were four people now to solve the problem and to distract each other from being too stressed. It was lovely!
After asking (too) many people for the way, we finally had an explanation that helped us, so we took the train and arrived on time in Versailles. There is no vacation without at least one little piece of stress, right? :-)
In front of the palace, we said goodbye to Brianna and Josue. The queue was already long, but we were lucky and were able to enter within 2 minutes (so pre-book your tickets if you're there once!! :-) ).
We visited the palace first. We were impressed by this huge, pompous and a bit megalomaniac building.
Next stop: The gardens of Versailles. Here, you could easily spend a whole day as the area is huge!
Back in downtown Paris, we off course had to see another highlight: The Eiffel Tower!
We had the chance to have a little apéritif just in front of the Eiffel tower for 10 minutes, before it started raining...
... and after a good dinner, we once again passed by the Eiffel tower and later the Champs-Elysées and Arc the triomphe, before heading back to the hotel.
For the next day, we had planned to visit Montmartre again as our train would leave at 4 p.m. and we would have time for some more explorations. But by coincidence, at 1 a.m. in the night we checked the schedule again and found out that our train was cancelled because of the strike. So instead of sleeping, we booked new tickets - luckily they were available, but unfortunately much earlier than planned. That's why we had to say goodbye to Paris soon after breakfast and heading home.
This weekend was much too short. But a good excuse to come back sooon!! I won't wait 10 years this time:-)
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Recommendations for Paris
Where to stay:
- Hotel Le Général (Rue Rampon 5-7, Métro: République). My favourite hotel in Paris. A great design hotel that I totally recommend. Very friendly staff, fantastic breakfast (marshmallows included! :-) ) and very nice, modern and well-equiped rooms.
- Hotel Lord Byron (Rue de Chateaubriand 5, Métro: Georges V). 2004, I wrote in my travel diary that I feel "like a Madame" here. A very elegant, old hotel. Small (30 rooms only), clean and good located (Champs-Elysées just around the corner).
Where to eat:
- Le Safari (36 rue de Ruisseau). A very authentic Indian restaurant with fantastic food.
- Au rond point (67 Boulevard de Menilmontant). A French bistrot next to Père-Lachaise cemetery. Great food, nice atmosphere! Très parisien!
- Royal bar (19 Rue du Parc Royal). A very cute little café, very French. It's a bit expensive, but worth it! The Madeleines and Tarte au citron are delicious. Oh, and the toilet is integrated in a wardrobe. :-) Note in my diary of 2004: "This café could become my Paris tradition!"
- Porte des Indes (4 Rue Rampon): Another very good Indian restaurant. Not many tourists, friendly staff, great food and normal prices.
- Déli-cieux (64 Boulevard Haussmann): The restaurant on the roof of the shopping center "Printemps". Nice restaurant with a view over the city: Eiffel tower, Tour Montparnasse, Sacré coeur, Notre Dame...
- Caffè Boboli (13 Rue du roi de Sicilie). My favourite restaurant in Paris! An insider-tip! Tiny, tiny restaurant, almost not known by tourists. The menu is as small as the restaurants, but the food is delicious! You HAVE to try it!
- Angelina (226 Rue de Rivoli). A tea salon, patisserie and restaurant. Huge assortment of sweet sins. Make sure you have coffee and cake there!
What to do:
- Visit Versailles: The palace and its gardens are worth a visit! Make sure you have a whole day to explore it as it is huuuge! And pre-book your tickets, then you can choose your time of etrance and don't have to wait in the queue! And: An audio-guide is a good idea! :-)
- Visit Père-Lachaise cemetery: The most impressive cemetery that I have visited so far. Very nice to do a walk there. If you go there, a guided tour would surely be very interesting!
- Visit Musée de l'Orangerie: A wonderful museum near the Louvre. There are paintings of Picasso, Manet, Monet... Note that it opens at 12:30 (good excuse to sleep in! :-)). Next to the museum there is a ferris wheel. The view from up there is amazing!
- Have an apéritif next to the Eiffel tower - lying in the grass, having a cold drink and a fantastic view is just fantastic! :-)
- Visit quartier Montmartre by night - there is much going on up there on the hill! Visit a show in a cabaret or just sit down on the stairs of Sacré Coeur, you will love the inspiring atmosphere!
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