6 Tips for Enjoying Paris

Last summer my husband, Jonathan, and I enjoyed a fantastic two-week holiday in France.  We spent some time with friends in Normandy visiting various places that I wrote about here and here.  We also spent three days by ourselves in Paris.  I know - how romantic, eh!


I thought I would share a few tips of things that worked for us and helped us enjoy Paris.  There are about a million things to do and see in Paris and everyone has their own tastes and agenda when they visit so these are just things that I thought were interesting or worked for us.  


1.  Plan your visit to the Eiffel Tower for late afternoon/early evening.  It was so much fun watching the colour of the metal change as the setting sun bathed it in different shades of orange and gold and to watch as the lights come on as day turned to night.  By the time we left the Eiffel Tower was all lit up against an indigo blue sky.

2.  My tip for a great evening's entertainment is to find a quiet place to stroll.  I've already mentioned one place that is great, but I'm going to tell you about two others that we enjoyed.   There is nothing better than going for a quiet, peaceful, and if you are with the right person - romantic walk.  You can saunter along and watch the setting sun and do some people-watching and chat about the day.
One of the walks we took was along the Seine.  We started at Pont de Sully and then walked along beside the island that Notre Dame is on and finally went across Pont Neuf.  There were people out enjoying the weather, playing their guitars, talking, and drinking wine.  I loved having the view of Notre Dame from across the river and watching as the lights came on.  From Pont Neuf you have a view down the Seine to the Eiffel Tower.

These next photos were from another evening when we enjoyed the Jardin des Tuileries. This garden is right beside the Louvre and is a classic formal French garden with gravel walkways through avenues of trees, sculptures, ponds that reflected the setting sun, and chairs everywhere so you can stop and soak in different views as you walk along.

3.   Go early to the Louvres as line-ups are crazy later in the day.  You can also buy your ticket in advance online although we didn't do this and had no trouble getting in.  We were in line at 8:30 and the doors opened at 9:00 and the line-up was only a fraction of what we had seen the day before mid-afternoon when it snaked around both courtyards and out along the street.

4.  Visit Sainte-Chapelle.  It could well be that I'm the only one who had never heard of this beautiful chapel, but it is definitely worth a visit.  Sainte-Chapelle is like Notre Dame's beautiful, but shy cousin.  Everyone visits Notre Dame, but if you walk just a short distance across the island you can visit this little gem.  It was built in 1248 and has the most extensive collection of 13th century stained glass windows anywhere in the world - and believe me they are amazing.  I loved all the painted designs on the wall which you can see in the photos below.  Every panel and pillar is painted in a different intricate pattern and the ceiling is covered in stars.  Gorgeous!

5.  Decide on what the most important things you want to see are and then book your hotel near there - that way you are sure to see it.  Jonathan's number one thing to see in Paris was the Louvre and mine was to see the Eiffel Tower at dusk.  So we found a hotel that was right near the Louvre so it was no problem getting into the line-up early as it was only a 5 minute walk away.  The hotel was also very near the subway so we could easily get to the Eiffel Tower.  In case you are interested we stayed at the Timhotel Palais Royal and would recommend it if you are looking for a small very quiet hotel.  Our room was comfortable, had an ensuite bathroom, and included breakfast.

6.  Pack clothing that is both comfortable and looks good - especially your shoes and purse.   I only took two pairs of shoes with me - a pair of comfortable walking sandals and some athletic shoes.  We weren't planning on doing anything fancy so I knew that what I was taking would be enough and my feet were comfortable the entire time.  Nothing can make a trip worse than having uncomfortable footwear.  As for a purse - I swear by using a small sized bag so it isn't too heavy and I made sure it was a cross-body style so that your hands are free, you can keep it safe, and it takes the pressure off your shoulders.

Yes folks I sat in the Jardin des Tuileries and took a picture of my feet   

I wish I was going back to Paris this year, but we can't have amazing trips every year now can we?  Maybe next year though.  A girl can dream.

Linked to Inspiration Friday At the Picket Fence

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My Road Trip with Bob Dylan

William and I just got back from our March Break road trip.  I thought the road trip would be about checking out the universities.  Turns out I was wrong - it was about Bob Dylan.  


We had a lot of fun.  Our road trip went like this ...


We drove four hours the first evening and listened to a couple of Bob Dylan albums.


The next day there were huge Vs of Canada Geese flying overhead migrating north.  I wanted a picture of them so asked William to take one while I was in the washroom at the gas station.  I came back and he told me he had not been able to get a good photo of the Canada Geese, but he did get an awesome photo of a seagull eating garbage.  Impressive!  (by the way, here's his best photo of a seagull minus the garbage - I knew you would appreciate that).

I did manage to get a photo (of sorts) of the Canada Geese.  I couldn't get over how many birds there were flying together in long strings across the sky.

We drove for about five hours (listening to Bob Dylan for much of the drive) to Sherbrooke, a small city in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.   It is such a pretty city with lots of red brick buildings, a few rushing rivers going through the downtown, 

and plenty of gorgeous clapboard houses painted in an array of pastel colours.  

Do you like my rubber-necking-while-driving skills?

Bishop's University is an older university with a mix of old and new red buildings amongst groves of pine trees.

The next day we drove to Ottawa and Hull ... we listened to Bob Dylan albums and William read me some of Bob's poetry (after all this contact I'm totally on first name basis with him).

Parliament Buildings in Ottawa seen from across the river in Gatineau

I had never seen Ottawa in the winter/early spring with ice and snow around so it was fun to see it at a different time of year.

Samuel de Champlain statue in Gatineau/Hull (you can see a photo of where he left from in France in this post)

After taking a tour of Carleton University in Ottawa (sorry - no photos as it was raining and I didn't want to get my camera wet) we drove to my parent's cottage.  And as we drove we listened to Bob Dylan!  

The drive through Algonquin Park was so pretty.  I'd never been there in the winter and the frozen lakes, birch trees, deep green of the evergreens, and soft grey of the deciduous trees were beautiful.

There was still lots of snow around and ice on the lake at the cottage, but the air was warm and the snow and ice were melting rapidly.  

My Dad dug down in the snow and uncovered the daffodils that had already sprouted up several inches in my Mother's garden.  I wonder how they know it is time to start growing when they are covered in a layer of snow.

A few days later William and I drove home from the cottage listening to  - you guessed it - Bob Dylan.  After listening to his first eight albums (and most of them more than once), I have decided that my favourite is "Bringing It All Back Home".  Seems fitting for a road trip, don't you think?

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Day Trips Around Normandy France - Honfleur

France is so gorgeous that you can literally take a different day trip every single day of the week and always find something amazing to see.  Recently I showed you the the day we spent at gorgeous Étretat and today I wanted to show you Honfleur.  


Honfleur is a quaint historic coastal town located on the estuary of the River Siene.  We visited it on a lovely warm summer day - one of those days when the sky is so blue it almost hurts your eyes and it brings all the colours to life.  

Our French friends took us to Honfleur via a small town called Vieux-Port which is part of la Route des Chaumières (which translates as Route of Thatched Houses).   Vieux-Port is about a 45 minute drive from Honfleur and well worth stopping at on your way.   It is a postcard-pretty town along the River Seine famous for its tudor-style homes with thatched roofs and holly hedges.

  

I have never seen plants grown along the seam on thatched roofs, but they did that quite often here - on both gates and homes.  It apparently helps strengthen the seam.

When you finally do arrive at Honfleur after enjoying the gorgeous homes in Vieux-Port, you will not be disappointed.  Honfleur is the kind of quaint town where you find yourself spending the day ambling along pretty streets, climbing narrow stairs, poking your head down alleyways, enjoying the hustle and bustle of the harbour, and just generally soaking up the atmosphere.  Whenever my husband and I visit places like this we always wonder why we live where we do.  

At the heart of Honfleur is the picturesque harbour.

If you are thinking of visiting Honfleur with children - you might want to take a ride on the vintage merry-go-round near the harbour.

Sainte-Catherine Church in Honfleur is the largest wooden church in France.  I loved the patterns made in the wood shingles down the front side of the church.

It has a ceiling that was built to look like a ship's hull,

The town is full of lovely touches like this beautiful door, the chimney pots, the mermaid inset into the wall, and the window boxes full of flowers.

Of special significance for Canadians - well really for any history buff - is knowing that this is where Samuel de Champlain set sail from in 1608 to establish Quebec City.  They installed a plaque on a wall dedicated to him.

Writing this brings back such fond memories for me.  

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