ryan

05-07-2009

Surprising difference

Overall: 5.0 / 5.0

It was a surprise weekend by my boyfriend - I didn't know that I was to be whisked away to Paris. We took the Eurostar early - I think it was the first one at just after 6am. We arrived in the French capital by 11am (CET), so a very quick 2 hour-ish journey to Garre du Nord.

Fortunately - being French - he managed to get the keys to a friends flat just by the station so we were extremely central. It's bizaar to think that Paris just being across the Channel can often feel a million miles away but being in his friends flat seemed to make Paris just an extension to London.

We had just 2 days in the city and this was my first time since a school trip when I was 12. It was indeed a surprising difference to what I remember and everything in the centre is incredibly close. The difference to London was indeed great; less traffic, cleaner streets, more coffee shops and great architecture.

We wish we had more time in Paris, we missed out on the Eifle Tower and a few other sites, but managed to see Notredamn, Sacre Coeur, Pyramid du Louvre, Les Jardins des Tuilleries, Le Jadin du Luxembourg, Senat, Panthenon, Sorbome, Arch De Triomph, Champes Elysees and Marais.

For Brits - the Euro at this time is incredibly strong so everything seemed expensive. You really need to look out for where to go and try and get some friendly advice from the locals. Drinks were an average of €4.50 (even coffee) and a meal was €15+ though there were quite a few areas fighting for custom.

We took plenty of photos ;-)