It’s the City of Love, a fascinating mix of history, culture and commerce and a great place to explore. If you have only a weekend to spend in Paris, there’s no time to waste – hit those Parisian boulevards tout de suite (pretty damn quick), says Ray O’Shaughnessy…
Day 1: Morning
The best way to appreciate what the French capital has to offer is to take an open top bus tour around the city. Your two-hour ride will take you past all the main sights, including the Champs-Elysees, Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Pompidou Centre. The Cityrama tour (pounds 16) allows you to hop on and off the bus at stops around the city over a two-day period.
Afternoon
The pull of the high-class shops and restaurants of the Champs Elysees will be irresistible. Delve into the perfumeries and splash out on some Chanel – you know it makes scents – or wander through the car showrooms and admire the Mercs, Renaults and Peugeots. The Louis Vuitton designer store will catch your eye – not least because its exterior is a 100ft suitcase. If you want to eat, you can give your wallet punishment at a top restaurant like Le Touqet’s or grab a meal deal of a filled baguette, fizzy drink and French tart for pounds 5.
Evening
The famous shopping street is dominated by the Arc de Triomphe, built by Napoleon to celebrate his military victories and now a monument to French war dead. It is on a roundabout which attracts the craziest of French drivers, so it’s best to take the subway. Pay pounds 4.70 to climb to the top of the Arc and gaze down on the frenzied drivers, the Champs Elysees and the other boulevards which radiate out from the monument.
Day 2: Morning
Dive into one of Paris’s Metro stations and head for Montmartre and Sacre Coeur. A green carnet of 10 Metro tickets is great value at pounds 6.70. Each ticket covers a single journey almost anywhere in Paris.
Leave the Metro at the Abbess station and take the funicular train up the hill to the Sacre Coeur. This domed church is full of stunning statues and artwork.
The acoustics are also outstanding – it’s worth trying to attend a service. Then amble down the hill to Montmartre, the home of street artists and a great choice of restaurants, with three-course meals with a glass of wine from around pounds 10. The artists will urge you to be the subject of a painting or quick- fire caricature from around pounds 10.
Afternoon
Take a Metro train and head for the Louvre, the biggest museum in the world with 30,000 exhibits. You could easily spend a day there and still not get round all of the paintings and statues. Make sure the Mona Lisa – whose smile has beguiled art lovers for centuries – and Venus de Milo are top of your list. Both draw big crowds.
Evening
ALL that culture will leave you feeling hungry and a great place to satisfy your food craving is Chez Chartier at no 7 Rue de Faubourg. The French flock to this banqueting hall for its great-value cuisine and atmosphere.
For just pounds 10, you can have three courses (such as French sausage, roast pork with Lyonnaise potatoes and creme de marron) with half a bottle of wine.
Huge mirrors hang from the walls and waiters in classic black and white outfits attend to your every need. The meal sets you up perfectly for the high point of the weekend – a trip to the Eiffel Tower at night. The 1,000ft masterpiece of Gustav Eiffel, built in 1889, is lit up every evening and from a distance looks like a huge dazzling jewel.
Searchlights revolve around its summit into the Paris night. Entrance to the tower and a lift to the third floor at its peak costs pounds 6.70 – and it is well worth it.
Cast your eyes at the streets below and see the majestic lay-out of central Paris and the Seine.
Every top sight around the city is visible, including the Place des Invalides (a magnificent building for French ex-servicemen), Stade de France (home of national sport) and Longchamp racecourse.
Also take your time exploring the first and second floors of the tower, with their restaurants, gift shops and cinema showing some of the key moments in the tower’s glorious history.
It will all have you humming the Marseillaise and thinking Vive La France!
Source: Travel on Made in Atlantis
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