All of us have been to Paris on previous occasions so we did not need to go rushing around trying to see everything but could just enjoy being in Paris and going to see new things or revisit old favourites.
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The first of these was Centre Georges Pompidou, what an amazing building withall of its "insides" on the outside. I t also has one of Paris' most trendy and expensive cafés at the top of it but what a view, both of Paris and of her beautiful people who frequent this café! At the side of the building is the comical looking Picasso fountain where there are loads of people watching people watching the world go by.
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Next was a walk through the Marais District, once a marshland, now reclaimed land and home to, amongst others, the Jewish Quarter, where better to stop for lunch!
From there a short walk takes you to Paris' Cathedral Notre Dame with its infamous gargoyles, it really is an astounding building and no visit to Paris is complete without a walk around this monument. Being summer, the "Left Bank" across from Notre Dame was lined with artists and the café's were all filled to bursting with people watching people being watched. |
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We ended the day with dinner courtesy of Susan, my older sister, as a birthday present to Annie and myself. We ate in a bistro on my father's favourite street, Rue du Sommerard which is lined with busy restaurants and hotels, one of which my parents stayed at on a previous visit to Paris.
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Another easy way to see the sights of any city is to take a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of the city which is what we spent the next day doing ending up standing in awe under the Eiffel Tower.
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From there we went somewhere new for all of us, the Musee Marmottan, once the private residence of Paul Marmottan who donated it and it's contents to the French nation. Housed in this museum are 65 works by Claude Monet, donated by his son Michael. It really is almost unbelievable to stand in the middle of a huge circular room and, no matter which direction you look in, you are looking at a Monet original!
Across the road from the museum are the Jardin du Ranelagh, a fantastic park for kids with huge play areas, donkey rides and an old-fashioned carousel where the children have small wooden lances and try to catch a hanging ring each time they go around, what fun!
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All too soon it was time for a last visit to the Patisserie before going to pack up and catch the train back to London. The good news is that Paris is just a short train ride from London and an easy place to keep visiting.
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