SLIDESHOW: Paris in a weekend
Romance is never dead in the French capital
Valentine's Day may have passed for another year, but with Eurostar's fares having dropped to just 59 return from its St Pancras terminal in London to Paris' Gard du Nord station, there's probably never been a better time to visit Europe's most romantic city.
While we had originally planned to spend a long weekend break there last September, the Channel Tunnel fire and its continued disruption just days before we travelled, ended that notion.
However we re-booked for a winter break and sorted out a reasonably priced hotel on the internet close to the Eurostar link for a four-night stay.
Gard du Nord isn't the most attractive of areas, but at least its central for all tours, the Metro and plenty of taxis.
So we booked into The Apollo Hotel, located barely 50 metres from the station which meant we arrived, unpacked and were out sightseeing all within a half an hour after a comfortable two hour 20 minute rail journey.
At just 220 for four nights, the hotel's en suite room was small but comfortable and was decorated in traditional wall coverings – and while the price for the two of us included a slightly uninspiring breakfast, at least we hadn't broken the bank!
Our first port of call was the stunning Sacre Coeur which was actually visible from our balcony window and was a mere 15 minute walk away.
The 19th Century basilica stands atop a steep hill and is traditionally associated with the beheading of the city's patron Saint Denis.
According to legend, he picked up his severed head and carried it to the north where the city of Saint Denis stands today.
The pristine white Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) is truly imposing and is approached by flights of steps upon which hundreds of sightseers gather, all gazing up at the majestic structure which began construction in 1875 and was finally finished in 1914 ... just in time for the First World War!
Having visited the basilica, passing around it you arrive in the beautiful and trendy quarter of Montmartre. With its quaint roads filled with street artists, shops, restaurants and bars, it was probably the liveliest and most attractive area of the city we visited.
Eating out there was relatively inexpensive when compared to many of the city centre bistros and brasseries, while it was the atmosphere about the place that we loved.
We had also booked in advance, via internet, to see the late show at the Moulin Rouge. Located in Pigalle, Paris' sleaziest district with its peep shows, strip joints and sex shops, the Moulin Rouge theatre was immortalised by one of France's most famous artists, Toulouse Lautrec.
The show itself, which started at 11pm, cost a little over 80 each but it also included a nighttime city coach tour plus an hour-long cruise along the River Seine before we arrived at the theatre.
The Moulin Rouge show was what we had expected, plenty of variety acts, plus beautifully dressed (and undressed) girls and boys dancing. Good maybe, but not sensational.
To anyone who hasn't visited Paris before, The Louvre is striking. It's the sheer vastness of the building with its 'carbuncle' (according to Prince Charles!) pyramid in its midst.
The queues grew quickly as the tour buses arrived with almost everyone dashing to see 'La Gioconda', better known as the Mona Lisa, the 16th Century oil-painted portrait by Leonardo da Vinci.
The Louvre was also central in author Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code' which sadly failed to transfer to the cinema with quite the same impact as the excellent book.
A stroll along the banks of River Seine brings you to the Ile-de-la-Cit with its imposing Gothic cathedral.
Notre-Dame, which took some 180 years in the building and will forever be linked with Esmeralda and The Hunchback, is naturally on the tour route as is the Paris Opera House. Sadly we didn't see The Phantom, so maybe he's still part of author Gaston Leroux's imagination!
The Arc de Triomphe and that amazing roundabout at the end of the Champs-lyses was an eye-opener. The triumphal arch honours those who fought for France in the Napoleonic Wars while beneath the actual arch is the 'Tomb of the Unknown Soldier' dating back to the First World War.
It was then on to the city's best known landmark, the Eiffel Tower.
Itself a global icon, ithe tower was designed by Gustave Eiffel and built in 1889 and today it is thought to have been visited by more than 200million people and that makes it the most visited paid monument in the world. Incidentally it's just 12 euros to go up.
At 324 metres, its height is equivalent to 80 levels of a conventional building and the views from the top are superb.
At certain temperatures the whole structure (which weighs in at well over 10,000 tonnes) can move up to seven inches while there are a series of lifts and stairways with several viewing platforms to enjoy the whole Paris panorama.
We also visited many other attractions including the imaginative and quirky Pompidou Centre, named after the former president Georges Pompidou and is reminiscent of the 'inside-out' Lloyds Building in central London.
In our five days, we enjoyed at whole experience and French cuisine, often dining close to our hotel as the Gard du Nord area has numerous restaurants.
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Weather for Biggleswade
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: East
