Long Weekend in Paris - May 2007 (by Adam)

Saturday, 5 May 2007

After getting to bed pretty late the night before (having seen the excellent "Wicked", at the Apollo Victoria Theatre), the sounding of my alarm at 4.45am was not greeted with much enthusiasm by either of us. That said, the prospect of being in Paris in just a few hours' time was enough to stir us from our slumber and within about 20 minutes we were showered, dressed and excitedly embarking on the 10 minute walk to Baker Street station. Cat seemed particularly pleased that her suitcase came with wheels, and she towed it the length of our journey. Less appreciative, no doubt, were the residents of Marylebone who were unfortunate enough to live on the route that we took - the suitcase wheels were not particularly well lubricated. From Baker Street station, it was a quick tube ride to Waterloo station, and soon afterwards, we were on the Eurostar to Paris, arriving at Gare de Nord station less than 3 hours later. The trip was so easy, and Cat managed to get a bit of much needed shut eye along the way (at this point, I would like to point out that I snapped an excellent photo of her asleep on the train, but have been forbidden from uploading it here). From Gare de Nord station it was a short metro ride to Tuileries station, and then a short walk to our hotel. We stayed at the Westin (http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/photos/index.html?propertyID=1729#photo_section_0Link), which was just fantastic and in an absolutely perfect location, overlooking the Tuileries gardens and less than 5 minutes walk from the Louvre. A photo of our room appears later in the post.

We dumped our stuff at the hotel and set off to explore Paris. Knowing that explorers could not possibly succeed on an empty stomach, our first stop was a little cafe near the hotel, where we both had a croque monsieur and a cafe au lait. It was my first croque monsieur and it was definitely a case of love at first bite. We then walked through the Tuileries gardens to the Louvre, where we descended into its famous glass pyramid.

We spent a couple of hours having a look at just a fraction of the works that are housed there. Obviously a couple of hours is not enough to go even close to doing the place justice, but we reconciled our brief visit with the need to get a taste of Paris' many treasures rather than just gorging ourselves on one or two. We did, however, see some of the Louvre's more famous works, including the "Mona Lisa" and the "Venus de Milo". We also made great efforts to find the works of Hieronymus Bosch, which Cat recalled seeing and enjoying on her last visit to Paris, but sadly our efforts were to no avail (although in the process, we did find a bunch of Rembrandt's and Van Gough's which we might not otherwise have seen, so it wasn't exatly a total loss!).

We left the Louvre and headed towards the Il de la Cite. We refuelled with a serve of crepes at a cafe that overlooked the River Seine. I had mine topped with chocolate and banana. Not surprisingly, Cat was more pure, topping hers with banana only. We then crossed Pont Neuf...

...to the Il de la Cite, and headed first to Notre Dame Cathedral...

...which was great, although very crowded inside. We then moved onto Saint Chapelle, which really blew us away (Cat claims that on walking into the main chapel, I blurted out a very audible "whow!", which is definitely a possibility). For anyone who has been there before, they will know that the photo of the stained glass below does not do this place justice, but it's the best I can do here. These sorts of windows encircle virtually all of the chapel.


We then walked back to the hotel via Les Halles and the underrated Saint Eustache, where we saw a child being christened...

We then rested some pretty weary legs (especially Cat, with her poor knees) back at the hotel. Below is a shot of our room - www.expedia.com really came through with the goods.

After a powernap for Cat and a bath for me, we headed out to dinner at a great little restaurant / wine bar near the Royal Palace by the not-so-French name of "Willi's Wine Bar" (http://www.williswinebar.com/). It had been recommended to us by our friends James and Charlotte and it was without doubt the best meal that we had had since leaving Oz... and by a significant margin.

Sunday, 6 May 2007

We followed up the best meal that we had had since leaving Oz with the best sleep that we had had since leaving Oz and didn't get out of bed until about 10.30am. We would have got up closer to 10am, but found ourselves captivated by the De La Hoya vs Mayweather fight on TV, so didn't get up until Mayweather had been declared the new champ.

The weather was absolutely perfect - a cloudless blue sky and a temperature in the low 20s. We found a great little cafe across the River Seine, in Saint-Germain, and I had a pain au chocolate while Cat had a croissant - the healthy-eating divide was starting to narrow. We both washed down our pastries with a perfect cafe au lait, and watched the steady stream of Parisians (including some particularly French ones, who would have been right at home in a "Petit Miam" commercial) who passed by.

From there, we headed onto the Musee D'Orsay (although I must confess to having had an eclaire along the way), which we both loved. I was particularly taken by Monet's "Londres, Le Parlement" (http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/search/commentaire/commentaire_id/london-houses-of-parliament.html?S=0&cHash=318607ba81), while Cat particularly liked Renoir's "Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette" (http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/search/commentaire/commentaire_id/dance-at-le-moulin-de-la-galette.html?S=0&cHash=550e8ac95d).

Again, we left after an embarassingly short period of time, but again, our reasons were the same. We walked through stunning and sun-drenched Parisian streets to the Eiffel Tower...

...although we didn't go up the Tower as the queues were just too long (at least a 45 minute wait just to get to the first of three platforms). We did, however, have a couple of baguettes (mine with salami and cheese, Cat's with ham and cheese) and a mineral water in a lovely little park, right next to the Tower. It was simple but delicious food enjoyed with one of the truly great vistas - for both of us, it really was a moment to remember.

We then walked up to the Trocadero...

...then on to the Arc de Triomphe...

...before heading down the Champs-Elysees...

...to the Place de la Concorde. For both of us, the Champs-Elysees was a bit of a disappointment. It was very crowded and touristy, and maybe the fact that it was a Sunday robbed it of some of its usual appeal (most of the shops were closed). For us, it was a bit too much like Oxford Street back in London, which we have probably seen a bit too much of recently. We would prefer to have a coffee on a quiet back street, rather than right there on the main drag.

After a brief pit stop at a great little patisserie near the hotel, we again had an evening rest back in our room. Cat had another powernap, while I watched Arsenal draw 1-1 with a 10 man Chelsea, thus handing the Premiership to Man U.

We then headed out for another 3 course dinner, this time at a fantastic restaurant in Saint-Germain, named "Le Christine" (http://www.restaurantlechristine.com/rue-christine.html). It too had been recommended to us, this time by our friends Dan and Amanda. It really was superb - even better than the night before, so it now has the mantle of providing the best meal that we have had since leaving Oz (and, arguably, for sometime before leaving Oz). Below is a photo of Rue Christine and a photo of Cat and I at the end of our meal.

After the meal, we walked back to the hotel and enjoyed seeing various sights from a night-time perspective. Cat obviously enjoyed seeing the Louvre by night, as the photos below show...

As we got closer to the hotel, we found the streets lined with gendarmes (many clad in full riot gear) and with tear-gas equipped trucks at the ready. They had been amassed in anticipation of rioting against the results of the presidential election, which was being fought out that day between the right-wing Sarkozy and the socialist Royal. We saw no incidents. We did however hear pumping music coming from the Place de la Concorde, which was only a couple of minutes walk from our hotel, so we walked over to see what was going on. We found thousands of people enjoying a free concert, and we listened to some bloke (who may or may not have been Ricky Martin - we couldn't quite tell from where we were) belt out a couple of tunes in French. Not being particularly big Ricky Martin fans (or fans of people who sound like Ricky Martin), we decided to call it a night. When we returned to our room, we flicked on the TV to see if the predicted rioting had in fact eventuated, only to see Sarkozy addressing the very crowd that we had just left. It would have been nice to have stayed there to hear the crowd belt out "La Marseillaise", which they did at the end of Sarkozy's acceptance speech, but, c'est la vie.

Monday, 7 May 2007

We got up a little earlier than the previous morning, checked out of the hotel and then caught the metro up to Montmatre for breakfast in a lovely little cafe. I had yet another pain au chocolate, while Cat had a baguette with butter and jam. Once again, we both washed things down with a cafe au lait. We then ascended the many stairs that take you up to Sacre-Coeur...

...which was really beautiful, despite the crowds, many of whom seemed unable to follow the "no photos" edict, causing constant rebuke from the church staff.

After taking in the views back down over Paris...

...we walked through the cobbled, narrow streets of Montmarte for a while...

...absolutely beautiful. We then caught the metro to the Pompidou Centre...

...and had a good look around there (relative, as always to our brief time in Paris). We particularly liked some of the works by Miro(including the sculpture above), Picasso and Kadinsky.

We then had our final meal in Paris, at a great little restaurant looking back on the Pompidou Centre...

After lunch, we swung past the hotel to collect our bags, and within a few hours we were home in London (although I must admit to having suffered an unfortunate snoring incident along the way, which must have just about shaken the train off its rails... and certainly alarmed the girls sitting in the seats opposite Cat and I).

It really was a brilliant weekend - one of the best we have ever had - and we are now such fans of Paris. Being able to visit places like Paris with such ease is, of course, one of the main benefits of living in London, and we will make sure that we make the most of it as often as we can...