Soaking up the Parisian atmosphere
I recently had the opportunity to spend a weekend there in October with a friend. I quickly found that a weekend was not enough time to explore and appreciate everything this fantastic city has to offer. We flew from Cork Airport to Charles de Gaulle Airport. On arrival, we took the train to the city centre, which took approximately 30 minutes. Once we arrived in central Paris, we made our way to the hotel by taxi.
During our stay, we stayed at Hotel Atmosphères on Rue des Écoles. This beautiful boutique hotel is located not far from Notre-Dame Cathedral. We found the staff very friendly and helpful, and the breakfast each morning was lovely. There is also a bus stop directly outside the hotel.
To visit some of the main tourist attractions, the No. 62 bus stops outside the hotel and travels through the city. Alternatively, you can take a hop-on, hop-off bus tour. After settling into our hotel, we decided to take this tour, as it allowed us to familiarise ourselves with the city and see which attractions were nearby. Afterwards, we had dinner at Le Restaurante, which served beautiful French cuisine at affordable prices.
On our second day, we left the hotel early to avoid the queues at the Eiffel Tower. The views across the city and the River Seine were spectacular. We then went on to visit the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe.
We decided to have a light lunch in a small restaurant called Pom’Cannelle on Rue des Deux Ponts on Île Saint-Louis. It serves beautiful quiches, salads and ice creams, and it is always a good sign when you see plenty of locals dining there.
We then visited Sainte-Chapelle, which is perhaps one of the most beautiful buildings in France. Its stained-glass windows are breathtaking. On our way back to the hotel, we walked the length of the Champs-Élysées to Place de la Concorde, a distance of approximately one mile, before taking the Métro to Notre-Dame, which was not far from our hotel.
After visiting Notre-Dame, we dined at Le Pré Verre on Rue Thénard, which was also close to the hotel. This sophisticated restaurant is very popular, so I would recommend asking your hotel concierge to make a reservation, as it can be difficult to secure a table. We found the food unique, with some very interesting and excellent combinations of flavours.
On our final day, we visited the Louvre Museum before taking the Métro to Montmartre to see the Sacré-Cœur. For lunch, we stopped at a small café called Café La Palette, which offered a menu to suit every taste. After lunch, we wandered through the beautiful nearby Luxembourg Gardens.
We headed back to the hotel early, stopping along the way to visit the lovely Cluny Museum. It is housed in a wonderful medieval mansion and is home to beautiful unicorn tapestries.
On our final evening, we took a dinner cruise along the Seine. It was absolutely fantastic to see the city illuminated at night, particularly the Eiffel Tower. This is definitely a must while visiting Paris. After dinner, we went to see the Moulin Rouge show with VIP passes, which allowed us to skip the queues.
Unfortunately, a weekend is far too short to experience everything this fantastic city has to offer. I cannot wait to return and explore more of Paris.
