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There seem to be 101
reasons to go at any time. Paris can be enjoyed simply as a
shopping trip, an indulgent celebration, or a cultural feast. It's the most
popular leisure travel destination city in the world. More Britons than any other nationality visit Paris,
well over a million a year. The Eurostar high-speed rail journey time from London makes a short break – even a one-nighter
or a day trip – very feasible, especially for those living
within reach of the Eurostar stations at London St Pancras and
Ebbsfleet in Kent.
Paris can be exhilarating
– but also confusing, so it's wise to plan carefully in advance
if you are new to the city. There are hundreds of hotels, some much better located than others.
If you want to see the sights, be sure of a decent dinner and
take in some entertainment as well, it can be best to book a
short break package: these often give a choice of excursions, shows and
dinners. It's worth knowing in advance that
Paris hotel rooms – like those in many big cities – tend to be
small.
Paris tourist office
(comprehensive, easy to use website with booking facility for
hotels, shows, etc) is based at 25 rue des Pyramides (near the
Louvre), with eight other 'welcome centers' around
the city, including Gare du Nord, Gare de l'Est, Gare de Lyon, Montmartre
and the Louvre. There’s a tourist information
line, 08 92 68 3000 (0.34€ / min) for telephone enquiries.
Gare du Nord – Eurostar arrives at
this big railway station on the northern edge of the city centre.
If you
arrive by air at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, direct trains
into the city also terminate at Gare du Nord, while RER trains
continue into the centre of Paris, stopping at Gare du Nord on the
way.
Châtelet-les-Halles – This interchange of 6 Métro and
3 RER lines is the city centre's main central station. It's in a
busy working area of ordinary shops and restaurants patronised as
much by locals as tourists, and within easy walking distance of
the Louvre in one direction and the Pompidou Centre (Beaubourg) in
the other.
Place de la Concorde – This vast square beside the River
Seine is the heart of the city. It's close to the Louvre, while
in the other direction the Champs Elysées leads grandly away from Place
de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe.
The districts –
Just as France is a nation of régions, so Paris is a city of
quartiers, or districts. Hop from Montmartre to
Montparnasse, from Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Bastille. The Métro will take you from one area to another
in minutes.
As soon as you walk out of the Gare du Nord, you’ll feel it
– that special excitement about the French capital. Brave the
Gallic traffic and cross the cobbled roadway to the elegant
Terminus Nord brasserie with its heaped seafood displays. For a
café, an aperitif or a meal, it makes a wonderful start to a few
days under the city's spell.
Public transport website:
www.ratp.fr
Each district in central Paris is small enough to
be covered on foot, and perhaps this is the best way to
absorb its flavour and atmosphere.
To travel from one district to another, there's an excellent, punctual, clean, efficient
public transport system, especially the Métro (5.30am-12.30am),
and the RER rail lines which run from the
city centre to the suburbs.
A carnet of 10 Métro tickets is useful for single journeys taken
from time to time. The tickets remain valid indefinitely and can
be kept for your next visit.
The
Paris Visite pass gives
unlimited travel on public transport for up to 5 days, covering
any specified area from just the central zone right up to all
six zones. It costs from €9 (for one day on zones 1-3) up to
€49.40 (for 5 days on all zones), and can be bought before
leaving home (in which case you can use it to get from the
airport into the city) or on arrival at the Métro station beneath the Gare
du Nord. As a bonus, the Paris Visite
pass gives discounts or offers at many Paris attractions.
Paris also has a good bus service, including a night service.
Taxis are reasonably
priced and there’s no need to tip.
The sturdy white public bikes called Velib’ are whizzing all
over the city now, ridden by everyone from businessmen to students to ladies in
twin-set and pearls. At any Velib’ stand (you’ll see them every two or three
blocks), swipe your credit card to pick up a bike. Ride it to any other stand
and simply leave it there. The first 30 minutes are free. In that time you can
get almost anywhere in the French capital’s compact centre.
There are hundreds of
restaurants in all price brackets, as well as more basic brasseries
and inexpensive eating places, including fast-food outlets. To
eat well at a good price is easy - chose a set fixed-price menu
in any eating place that takes your fancy, choose what the
restaurant is best at, and don't ask to vary the dishes or the
set menus. For more gastronomic
dining, consult one of the many food guides such as the Michelin
Red Guide.
It’s worth splashing out to savour the cultural and historic
pleasure of some of the grand old brasseries. Have a drink (or,
for the rich, a snack) at the greatest, the grandest, of all
Paris brasseries, Brasserie Lipp on Boulevard St Germain by the
church of St Germain des Près. If you can’t get in, or can’t
afford to, try one of its almost equally renowned and much
cheaper neighbours,
the Deux Magots or Café Flore.
Hotels too are numerous and very varied. The
tourist office website has searchable pages on the city's
hotels, and you can reserve rooms online. A few
recommendations...
Hôtel Crillon –
You’ve arrived! This is de luxe
as only Paris knows how, housed in a former palace, and with an
absolutely perfect location on Place de la Concorde at the start
of the Champs Elysées. It has a top restaurant too.
Hôtel Terminus Nord
–
So convenient! Directly
opposite the Eurostar terminal, with friendly, efficient 24-hour
service and quiet, comfortable rooms. (A Mercure hotel)
Hôtel du Petit Moulin
–
Eclectic over-the-top décor, luxurious rooms and an ultra-chic
clientele make this a fashionable choice in the arty Marais
district.
Hôtel Caron de Beaumarchais
–
Step back in time at this remarkable theme hotel with candlelit
public rooms and gorgeous antique décor and furnishings.
Hôtel du Nord
– Incredibly good
value at this simple, charming place a few minutes walk from the
Gare du Nord. Bikes available free of charge.
The city’s passion for
life continues unabated after dark, with numerous clubs (for all
tastes), music venues, cabarets and shows. The big-name cabarets
offer highly choreographed entertainment and chorus lines. The glamorous night out at
the
Lido, on the Champs Elysées, has a glitzy show, 'Bonheur'.
It can be complemented by a meal
‘designed’ by France’s premier chef, Paul Bocuse.
The
Crazy Horse, most erotic of the big cabaret revues,
calls its brand new show 'Désirs'. It's too risqué for most tour operators, even though it’s slick, good-humoured, and the
audience tends to be couples.
Similar cabaret revues are the Paradis Latin, Folies Bergère and
the Moulin Rouge (inventor of the can-can). All
Paris cabaret spectaculars offer a choice of either just seeing the
show, with a glass of champagne, or combining the show with a
meal.
By rail – For those
living within reach of London St Pancras (2h15m to Paris Gare du Nord), the
train has obvious advantages. The 20-minute automatic check-in,
and direct no-change access to the city centre, makes for a much
faster trip than travelling by plane. In addition, 89% of Eurostar services arrive within 15 minutes of schedule, against
only 67% for air travel.
Up to
17 departures daily. Fares from £59 return. Short breaks from £84.
www.eurostar.co.uk
By air – There are frequent flights (several
times daily in many cases) from London Heathrow, Luton and
several other UK and Irish airports to France’s main
international airport Charles de Gaulle (CDG), 22km north of
Paris. A small number of flights land at Paris Orly, 15 south of
the capital, most from London City airport. Beware that Ryanair’s
service to ‘Paris’ in fact lands at Beauvais airport, some 80km
from the city. Several flights daily depart from a dozen US
cities, most European capitals and many other cities throughout
Europe. Airlines include BA, Air France, and all the budget
operators.
By bus – The
largest operator of international bus services to Paris is Eurolines.
Their scheduled journey time from London is about 8½ hours during
the day and about 9¾ hours at night. However, the terminus is
near end-of-the-line Métro station
Gallieni, leaving about 35 minutes onward journey into Paris.
By car – Paris is about 1½ hours
drive from the Eurotunnel terminal near Calais.
-
Where is it?
Paris is the capital of France. It's located in the
north of the country and is
by far the largest
city in
France.
- International phone
dialling code:
00 33 (+ drop
initial 0 from local number)
- Time zone:
GMT/BST + 1 hour.
- Money:
Euro
(€).
When to go: All year is wonderful except
maybe January (too
cold – and many things are closed). August can be very hot, but
has its own appeal, as most Parisians are away on vacation,
there's less traffic, and parking is free even in the city
centre. Autumn is the
conference season – so book well ahead for a hotel room at that
time. Best of all is spring and early summer.
Best
add-on: A Museum Pass
allows unlimited visits, without queuing, at the city’s
greatest art museums including the Louvre, d’Orsay, Beaubourg
(Pompidou) and the Picasso.
What’s on:
Pariscope or L’Officiel des Spectacles, from
newsstands, are the main guides to the coming week in Paris.
* Click here
for forthcoming events in Paris
*
Foire de Paris
29 April - 9 May
2010
Massive shopping extravaganza
at Porte de Versailles.
Fête Nationale
14 July ("Bastille Day")
Commemorates the start of the Revolution,
so has a special importance in Paris.
Celebrations begin on the previous day.
Montmartre Grape Harvest Festival
2nd Sat in Oct: 9 Oct 2010
Join the locals in a
celebration of the new vintage from the only vineyard in Paris.
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Paris first-timer? It's impossible
to see everything in one visit!
Starred items below are the REAL must-sees if you have never
been to Paris before.
* The Eiffel Tower
South of the Seine,
and west of the city
centre's other sights, this Paris sights is the ultimate tourist
cliché. Which doesn't mean you should give it a miss - going up
the lifts inside the astonishing iron framework of Tour Eiffel
is one of the great Paris experiences.
The second
étage is more interesting than the very top: you can
identify landmarks and get a thrilling overview of a beautiful
city centre. The Eiffel Tower is covered
with 20,000 lights that blink on and off during the first ten
minutes of each hour after nightfall until 2 am in the summer
and 1 am in the winter.
Métro:
Bir-Hakeim, Trocadéro.
www.tour-eiffel.fr
Musée du Louvre (The Louvre)
Though it today contains the world’s greatest art collection,
the Louvre – formerly the palace of the king of France – is more
than a museum. It’s an experience, and to do it justice would
take weeks. The art collections cover the world's art over the
last 3000 years. There's far too much to see, so you have to be
selective – if you gave every item just 1 minute of your time and it would
take over 3 months to see everything in this extraordinary treasure
house. Instead, set a reasonable goal: decide in advance what
type of art, of which period, you wish to see. But even a quick visit is rewarding.
The Louvre's most
famous works are, among paintings, the Mona Lisa, and Radeau de
la Meduse; among sculptures, the Victory of Samothrace, and the
Venus de Milo; among historic artworks, the Ancient Eygptian collection.
The entrance is
through a monumental glass pyramid designed by American
architect I.M.Pei. On one side of the Louvre are the Tuileries
Gardens, a handsome park beside the Seine.
Address:
Place du Louvre.
Métro: Musée du Louvre.
www.louvre.fr/
* Musée d’Orsay
On the south (Left) bank of the Seine stands the bright,
spacious Musée d’Orsay,
a former railway station, now housing a huge collection of art,
notably several of the world’s finest Impressionist paintings in
a special upstairs gallery.
For many, the d’Orsay building and collections are more
enjoyable than the venerated Louvre treasures.
Address:
62 rue de Lille.
Métro: Solférino.
www.musee-orsay.fr
Les Invalides
Perhaps best appreciated from a distance, the huge structure of
Les Invalides was Napoleon’s grandiose hospice for wounded
soldiers. Its Dome church contains Napoleon's tomb. The building
is now an impressive Musée de l'Armée, or Army Museum.
Address:
Hôtel national des Invalides, 129, rue de Grenelle.
Métro: Invalides.
www.invalides.org/
* Champs-Elysées
The Tuileries Gardens run as far as the gigantic Place de la
Concorde, beyond which opens the immense Avenue des Champs-Elysées. Perhaps one of the most compelling qualities of Paris
is these awesome urban landscapes, inspiring vistas of
monumental architecture and grand avenues. Stroll towards the
massive shape of the Arc de Triomphe. Before you stop for a
drink at one of the thousands of Champs-Elysées pavement tables,
reflect that their prices, like the architecture, are on a grand
scale.
This immense boulevard has a special place in the heart
not only of Paris, but of France - here the people come en masse
to mark great moments in the nation's history and celebrate at
times of national rejoicing. On ordinary days, though, it is
crowded, with a lot of traffic. And for the most part, the Champs-Elysées doesn’t offer
real luxe. For that, turn off to parallel Rue du Faubourg St
Honoré.
Métro: Concorde, Champs-Elysées,
Roosevelt, George V, Etoile.
www.champselysees.org/
* Latin Quarter
The
lively Latin Quarter on the Left Bank is the low-budget student area around
the Sorbonne University. In narrow streets and lanes to either
side of the vivacious main thoroughfare, Boulevard St Michel (or Boul’ St Mich’), a plethora of cheap eateries, jazz venues,
piano bars and café theatres, bookshops and street fashion
outlets keep the place buzzing day and night.
Métro: St Michel, Cluny.
* Notre Dame and
the islands
Cross the water onto
the Ile de la Cité – there are five bridges to choose from.
Paris – home of the Parisii tribe conquered by the Romans – was born
2000 years ago on this island in the middle of the river. Now
it’s an island of peace in the midst of the capital, covered
with dignified historic buildings, chief among them the gloomily
majestic Notre Dame cathedral and the much more appealing Ste-Chapelle
church. Daily flower markets brighten the river quays. Cross to
the even smaller and quieter island, Ile St Louis, which –
surprisingly – is mainly residential and has almost a village
feel, albeit with some very wealthy residents.
Address:
Place du parvis de Notre Dame.
Métro:
Cité.
www.cathedraledeparis.com
Marais
This former Jewish quarter on the Right Bank close to Ile de la
Cité is one of the most fascinating parts
of the city and one of the few keeping some feeling of Paris before
the Revolution. With an intriguing mix of narrow lanes and fine
squares, shabby terraces and splendid mansions, it has changed
from being one of the least desirable places in the city to one
of the most fashionable. There are many listed buildings and
historic 'hotels', one of which houses the Picasso Museum (see
below). The area has plenty of restaurants, bars and nightlife,
while around the
old main street Rue des Rosiers there are a handful of Jewish
eateries ranging from falafel take-aways to popular restaurants.
Métro: St
Paul.
www.parislemarais.com
Picasso Museum
This
extraordinary and diverse collection is the state's inheritance
of the works of Pablo Picasso. In payment of inheritance tax,
Picasso's estate gave the French nation over 200 paintings, some
160 sculptures and more than 3000 drawings. Most of the work was
done after the 1920s. Also on display are works by other modern
artists which were once owned by Picasso. The museum is located
in a handsome 17th-century mansion.
Address:
5 rue Thorigny.
Métro: Saint-Sébastien
Froissart, Saint-Paul.
www.musee-picasso.fr/
Pompidou
Centre
(Centre Beaubourg)
The weirdly inside-out Pompidou Centre (or Beaubourg),
although itself a ridiculous, dated-looking monstrosity, houses the
city's leading collection of late 20th/21st-century art and has
many imaginative exhibitions and events. Named
for the president who created it, the museum's aim is not to be
a "temple of culture" but an open, free, accessible place
bringing the latest modern art to all.
Address:
Musée national d'Art moderne (Centre Beaubourg-Georges
Pompidou), Plateau Beaubourg, 19 rue Beaubourg.
Métro: Hôtel-de-Ville,
Rambuteau, Châtelet.
www.cnac-gp.fr
* Montmartre
If sleaze can be atmospheric, there’s plenty of such red-light
atmosphere at the foot of the hill of Montmartre, the “Butte” as
Parisians call it, rising to the north of the city centre.
The once-risqué Moulin Rouge is now a respectable evening out
compared with the newer offerings alongside. Montmartre itself, on the higher ground, is a popular, crowded, intoxicating mix
of elegant and bohemian, with charming squares and lanes, cafés
and cabarets. It lives on the memory of its heyday, a century
ago, when it was home to many young painters later to become the
great names of late 19th/20th-century modern art – among them Pissarro, Sisley, Degas, Manet, Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec,
Renoir and Van Gogh. Several
houses and cafes may look familiar from their paintings.
The district is full of surprises though – for example, it has a
vineyard, reached down a side street, producing a drinkable
wine. Above it all rises the vast, ornate, other-wordly white
shape of the Sacré-Coeur basilica, reached up a multitude of
steps like the stairway to heaven (or, by funicular!), to give the best view in all
Paris.
Métro:
Lamarck-Caulancourt (on N. side), Anvers (foot of Sacre-Coeur
steps), Abbesses (SW side), Blanche (outside Moulin Rouge).
www.montmartrenet.com
Smart Paris
Narrow, picturesque Rue du Faubourg St Honoré has masses of
charm and some of the classiest shopping in Europe, with Gucci,
Versace, Hermès, and Karl Lagerfeld and several other top
fashion names almost next door to each other. Dripping jewels
and perfume, it deserves a lingering window-shop if nothing
else. Rue du Faubourg St Honoré culminates in Rue Royale and
Place de la Madeleine, where the greatest of Parisian food
stores – and that’s saying something – surround the square.
There are specialists in truffles, in handmade chocolates, in
caviar, and the queen of all food halls, Fauchon, where
gastronomic luxuries are stacked high.
Grand Magasins
Head a few minutes up Rue Tronchet to Boulevard Haussman,
location of the city’s two principal high-class grands magasins
(department stores), Galeries Lafayette and Printemps. They make
shopping easy, stylish and more affordable, and even have
English-speaking hostesses to help. As a bonus, both are
glorious examples of Belle Epoque architecture.
Classy Left Bank
Nip across the Seine, by Métro or
on foot, to the St Germain des Près district. This is the posh
end of the Left Bank, haunt of Paris society’s most successful,
intellectual or creative elite. There are bookshops, art
galleries, bistrots with white-aproned waiters. Another local
highlight is the city’s oldest department store, Le Bon Marché,
at 22 Rue des Sèvres. It’s a cornucopia of quality foods,
fashions, gifts and souvenirs.
Markets
Most Paris districts have their weekly or daily markets selling
fresh food. These may be either in the street or in "halles"
–
covered market places.
A couple of my favourites are the little
gathering of stalls at Rue Buci is in the Latin Quarter, a few
minutes walk from the Ile de la Cité; and the much bigger,
busier market arranged along the cobbles of ‘La Mouffe’, as
locals call narrow Rue Mouffetard, where a sophisticated range of edible delectables
is on offer, while among the shops behind the stalls you’ll see Boulay, the master cheesemaker, and chocolatiers
Jeff de Bruges and Nicolsen.
Dozens of specialist markets focus on
flowers, birds, books, antiques and more. For
hidden treasures buried under mountains of worthless junk,
definitely check out the flea markets. The main ones are the
Puces de Clignancourt, near Porte de Clignancourt metro (daily
all day except Sun) and
Puces de Montreuil (Métro Porte de Montreuil) – both are open
all day every day except Sun.
The postage stamp market is off
the Champs-Elysees, there's a Flower market in
Place de la Madeleine (daily except Monday), and a curious
Bird Market at
Place Louis Lepine on Ile de la Cité.
Malls and
Galeries
The old Les Halles marketplace
was recreated as
the city centre's principal indoor shopping and leisure area. In the
Sentier and Opéra
districts just north of it, explore the more historic version in
attractive covered galeries.
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CUS GUIDES
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