Week 7 Paris

The Eurostar from St Pancras to Gare du Nord took just over 2 hours and while it is slower than flying, you leave from central London and arrive in central Paris so by the time we added on the time and cost of getting to airports, checking in etc the Eurostar was the best option    We caught the Metro down to Avenue Emile Zola where we headed off down the Rue Du Theatre to the Adagio City Aparthotel Paris Tour Eiffel.
The room was amazing with an incredible view of the Eiffel Tower from both the bedroom and living room.  It came with a separate bedroom, had a kitchen, was immaculately clean with modern décor.

I’d done some research and had found a great restaurant in the area called Le Court Boullion in Rue du Theatre.  The food was lovely but, as we found out over the next couple of days, hugely expensive. It was here that we discovered that the girls have an adversion to eating snails (wouldn’t even try them and that’s so not like them) but LOVE Beef Bourguignon.    

The following day we walked from our hotel to the Sacre Coeur and half way back again (12kms in total).   On the way there we popped into Galleries Layfette to get the girls (all 3 of us) some fantastic bargains absolutely necessary for our travels (although Big A would probably describe them as “more crap we have to carry”).  Shopping anywhere in January is always fantastic for picking up a bargain but it is made all the more pleasurable when it is in such a beautiful building and city.  With our Layfette bounty we headed on foot to the Sacre Coure where we sat on the steps, listened to a fantastic busker belting out numbers by the likes of 4 Non Blondes and Blink 182 numbers as well as watching a guy perform on top of one of the rails (and hanging from street lamps) with amazing flexibility and balancing skills.  Set against the backdrop of the city of Paris it is an hour I will remember forever. 

We headed off to Monmarte where the girls got their portraits sketched by Amer in the square for 40 Euros each.   

We then walked back, got the Metro half way and ate at Cafe Suffren which really busy, just delicious and not too pricey either.  The next night we chanced upon Le Volant at 13 Rue Béatrix Dussane, just down from the Duplex Metro and a short walk from the Eiffel Tower.  The girls were making a fuss looking in the mirror at Little A’s wobbly tooth and Middle A’s cold sore. Suddenly we heard a little bang and so we called them back to the table.  Between them (and the rest of the restaurant) they were discussing the mouse they’d seen.  Big A kept telling them to be quiet and keep their voices down.  I kept asking them “where, where, where?”.  It was like a sketch out of a Three Stooges movie.  The conversation was finally silenced by the kitchen staff who came and took the box that Little A had accidently tipped over whilst at the mirror complete with mouse caught in the trap inside the box.  I’d like to believe that they released the mouse out the back!   Mouse aside, the food was absolutely divine, especially the Beef Bourguignon. 

Over the next few days we took in the sights including the Louvre, went up the Eiffel Tower (all the way to the top),  walked up the Champs Elysee to the Arc De Triomphe (with Middle A complaining about being hunger the entire way) and Notre Dame.  We walked most of the time, catching the Metro only when Big A could be talked into it and on the second last day revisited the Latin Quarter. 

I have been to the Latin Quarter a few times in the past and forgot why I love it so much.  It really comes down to a few things, the fantastic book shops that, even if they are predominately in French, are just fantastic, the streets which are narrow and historical and the food which is tremendous value.  All in all we had a wonderful time in Paris but it did highlight a significant need for the girls to have other kids around to keep them happy.  We will have to figure this out.   

Other biggie for Paris was that Little A lost her first tooth.

http://www.aparisguide.com/maps/metro.htm

 

Big A’s Perspective

Wow…every fathers dream surely is to take their daughters to Paris. I love this place too…it is just so full to the brim of beautiful old buildings and streets.

And similarly to London I prefer to walk the streets rather than take a bus or a train. As you can imagine walking a few miles every day doesn’t always sit well with the Child Bride or the kids. Neither does eating only when we have actually achieved a milestone…i.e. arrived somewhere.

The Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Champs Elysee, Arc De Triomphe, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, Saint Chapelle, Pantheon, Latin Quarter…tick!

The Child Bride loves her restaurants and we really did enjoy some great french cuisine in Paris. I’ll happily disregard her choice of the most expensive ‘back street’ restaurant in Paris (proof that not every tip on Trip Advisor is correct!). I’ll even disregard the restaurant in which our inquisitive girls managed to uncover a trapped-but-still-live rat in the corner of the room.

From my perspective Paris was a massive success. The hotel was great. Yes it was a little intimidating to have people resembling ‘thugs’ constantly hanging around outside the entrance of the hotel that just happened to be in an underpass! However, the room itself was a great size and had a sensational view of the Eiffel Tower. We saw everything we needed to see, had fantastic meals, the Child Bride managed to shop and we still left Paris with some money in our pockets….I am truly living the dream!