‘Did you go to Paris? I don’t think you’ve mentioned it enough… ’
Yes, I did, and I’m going to write all about it here, too. I will caveat this by saying I have only been to Paris twice before in my life. The first time was for a school French exchange when I was 13. My abiding memories of that trip are having my first cigarette (Camel filterless: what a way to start), buying my first pair of Converse hi tops, and drinking vinegar that we mistook for red wine. The second was for one night in 2018 to see David Guetta. That was for work – I certainly didn’t choose to go all that way to see a man wave his arms around behind a box. In short, I’m no expert, and as a complete Paris novice, I can’t tell you much you might not already know. This is just a random round-up of our trip.
I got the Eurostar and arrived around 7pm on Friday, then met up with my 18-year-old son, Edward, a couple of hours later as he was coming from Bruges after a short solo trip to Amsterdam. He still had some train journeys left from his Eurail pass. I can’t imagine why he chose to go back to Amsterdam…
I won’t do a full day-by-day account as I have a tendency to write too much and you’ll lose interest. Instead, I’ll pick out some of the best and most interesting things we saw and did.
HOTEL
We stayed at the Pulitzer hotel in the Opera district (at least I think so – I still can’t get my head around the arrondissements. I think we were in the 9th). The Pulitzer’s central location makes it perfect for wandering. The room was small, but the hotel itself is chic and not hugely expensive. I booked via Jo Reeder at Artisan Travel who got us a better rate than advertised. Travel agents are good like that.
LE MARAIS
This area is about 15 minutes from our hotel, and it’s basically the Paris version of Soho/Shoreditch. Where the cool shops are. You’ve got all your chic French brands like Sessùn, Sézane, Souer, APC and Maison Labiche, plus independent boutiques and great coffee shops and cafés. A must-visit is Merci, which is probably the coolest shop in Paris, selling its own brand plus a perfect selection of smaller designers, homeware and books. We don’t really have an equivalent here in the UK, but we should.
We spent all morning in this area before popping into the National Archives Museum because it was free and the entrance is cool.
LIME BIKES
My top tip for Paris is to use Lime bikes to get around. We didn’t go on any trains and walked and cycled everywhere. There are so many cycle lanes, with some even wider than the space given to cars, so I never felt like I was going to get mown down. It helped that Edward is fearless, so he was the navigator and I blindly followed him, trying desperately to keep up.
THE EIFFEL TOWER
In my opinion, the best time to see the Eiffel Tower is at night, but it’s a fair way from most of the other sights, so you’ll need your bike. It sparkles on the hour, every hour, from sunset until about 1am in the summer, and it really is magical. The best view is from the other side of the Seine.
RESTAURANTS
For lunches, we generally stopped at whichever café we passed that looked nice, but we did make a beeline for Dumbo for an excellent smash burger. We also had to go to Café de Flore just to say we’d been there. I very much enjoyed my croque monsieur, we didn’t have to queue and it wasn’t a rip off.
On the whole, we found the food prices to be slightly cheaper than London. Average lunch for two was €40, and dinner (with a shared bottle of wine) was around €90. We also ate at Le Grand Colbert, and randomly sat at the table used in a scene in the film ‘Something’s Gotta Give’: I was Diane Keaton and Edward was Jack Nicholson. Around Canal St. Martin we had a lovely lunch at La Marine, ate crepes at La Crème de Paris, and I had a fine charcuterie and fromage platter at the La Comète bistro next to the hotel.
MONMARTE
I had visions of this being a quaint village with painters and cafés – which it is but, being August, it was heaving with tourists so we didn’t stay long. Edward spent most of the time trying to work out which set of steps were used in the John Wick film. I was no use as I haven’t seen any of them. I would advise going here first thing in the morning or else at night to avoid the crowds.
PASSAGES JOUFFROY AND VERDEAU
We discovered these on the way back from Monmarte: two covered arcades containing lots of unique little shops selling everything from umbrellas to vintage books. One highlight is a great poster shop called Bill Posters, and next door there’s a shop that seems to sell nothing but teeny-tiny miniature dolls’ houses and furniture. Good for browsing if you want to escape the heat (or the rain, if you go any other time of year).
LUXEMBOURG GARDENS
An oasis in the city. We stopped here for a Coke and a sit-down. It was so French. My phrase of the weekend was ‘this is so French’, but in these gardens we actually saw men in berets playing pétanque. Come on, it doesn’t get more French than that!
A BOAT TRIP DOWN THE SEINE
I always like to do a boat trip on holiday – it’s a great way to get a different perspective of the city and learn a bit about it. We did a guided cruise for €15 each with this company.
DEPARTMENT STORES
Paris has some stunning department stores, and we made it to two of them. Galleries Lafayette with its stained-glass-domed ceiling is a sight to behold, and you can go up to the roof terrace for free views of the city. Le Bon Marché has the best selection of designers, both mid-range and high-end. If it hadn’t been 35 degrees outside, I would certainly have made some A/W purchases. Instead, I just looked and made a mental wish list. The French designers are slightly cheaper here, and don’t forget you get the tax back, which is so easy to do at the Eurostar on the way home.
THE LOUVRE
We couldn’t go to Paris without visiting the Louvre. Even if you’re only looking at it from the outside, it’s impressive. It’s HUGE and goes on and on. Edward saw a secret entrance on TikTok via the underground shopping centre, and there was no queue (we had booked tickets in advance). The Mona Lisa scrum was hilarious and is an attraction in its own right.
The best exhibition was Louvre Couture – just magical, though I think it ends very soon. If you’re visiting Paris in the next two weeks, it’s 100% worth the ticket price.
CAVEAU DE LA HUCHETTE
What should you do after dinner in Paris? Visit a jazz club in an old cellar, of course. Caveau de la Huchette is open every night with a different live band each time, and you don’t need to book in advance. Get there before 10pm if you don’t want to queue. Drink champagne. Pretend you’re 22 again. ‘So French.’
In conclusion, we loved Paris. I would go again in a heartbeat.
I also enjoyed Edward’s navigation rule, which is ‘look at the map once, then just walk in that direction’. Getting lost doesn’t matter – it just means you discover new things.
K x
P.S Here are my outfits.
