The City screams romance ! it does..it really does.

Paris, France

We booked ourselves at the Ibis Bastille. The hotel was very conveniently located 15 minutes (by walk) from the Bastille Metro station and as we later discovered 2 minutes (by walk) from the stop after Bastille!. The Metro and bus system is the lifeline of Paris, as long as your hotel is located near the Metro, moving around Paris is a dream. I found the staff very helpful and the rooms clean.

Tip: Ive got mixed feelings on whether or not to include breakfast in your hotel stays. At 10-11 euros a day per person it might seem a tad expensive, but waking up to a croissant and some orange juice isn’t the worst. The only downside is that the food is usually sparse in most hotels. If you do end up booking breakfast you are likely to find cornflakes (normal and muesli ish one), bread (usually croissants and a few more varieties, fruits, cold cuts – usually turkey and ham, cheese, honey/nutella, yoghurt, juice and coffee/tea. On the upside, I think a filling yet light (read non-oily) breakfast of the items mentioned above may be the perfect start to a day which will doubtless be filled with long walks and a queue or two.

 

We took the train from the airport to the station in Bastille. The metro runs straight from the airport and you can buy a three-day Paris pass for 15 euros a person. The pass covers all trains, metros and gives you a discount on the Siene cruise. IMHO, a great buy, we only took trains and buses all over the city, and with all the discounts and the convenience of hopping onto the metro without waiting in line to buy a ticket every time, the pass was a godsend.

The Paris metro is the best thing on the planet. It is an idiots guide to finding places. There are 4-5 lines – green, yellow, red, blue and pink. The only way you would be totally fucked on the Paris metro is if you were color blind. Just look for the nearest spot near the tourist attraction of interest, do some Scotland yard connecting the places using the various lines and it actually works out to be that easy.

Things to do?

Sit at the cafes and people-watch. The bistros are fantastic to pick up an expresso and a nice buttery croissant. Watch the people go buy and you cannot help but think chique chique chique.

Go to the Moulin rouge area during the day. Be careful of the local population who will try to tie a friendship band around your hand and then charge you 2 euros for it. Be polite and keep walking away. Stand on the large industrial fans outside the Moulin Rouge (remember the classic red windmill from the movie) and have some fun as the winds make your hair stand up. Do make sure not to suffer a Monroe J

If you want a fantastic view of Paris, don’t go up the Eiffel tower. Once you are up the Eiffel tower there isn’t much else to see. Go to the viewing deck of the Montparnasse building and get a view of the Eiffel tower! If you bought the Paris day pass like I told you, you ll get a discount on the way up. Trust me, the view is fantastic! We watched the tower light up and twinkle and that is a moment I will go back to again and again!

One could book a table at the most expensive restaurant near the Eiffel tower with a view of the tower. One could then tip the guy at the reception a large amount to make sure you get the best table of the house. One would then proceed to plough through a 5 course meal including foi grax and wine you cant pronounce and from an age that you couldn’t care about.

Orrrrrrrr

Go over to the nearest 7x11 equivalent supermarket. Pick up all the cheese and bread you like. Take a bottle of their finest wine, 6 euros including taxes and stroll confidently towards the Eiffel tower. Right in front of that monolith, you will find a massive park with a massive bunch of drunk kids. If you followed above instructions to the T and proceed to consume the 6 euro bottle of wine, you will slowly find yourself also forming part of the drunk kids description! Stay till 10-11 pm, the tower lights up and sparkles like a diamond every 1 hour, and I ooooed and aahed every time it did that.

We finally did try the foi grax at a restaurant in Montmarte. The waiter later informed us that it is usually paired with a sweeter wine to counteract the slight bitterness of the dish. Montmarte is up a hill near the Moulin Rouge. It has a lovely area full of artists where you can pick up a neat painting for 20-50 euros. We also had lunch at one of the restaurants nearby, where for 30 euros we shared a 4 course meal which was well worth it.