We are just back from a quick visit to Paris to meet up with friends. It was mighty cold in Paris but this morning it was also sunny and bright so we were able to wander around the Latin Quarter and drawn in the ambiance without getting wet. We got very cold, but it is still winter, so we can't really complain.
We were meeting friends staying at the Novotel Eiffel Tower, but we stayed in a small hotel near the Ecole Militaire, so we walked over to their hotel to admire one or two sights in between. The Ecole Militaire itself is a rather fine building with a wonderful view down the Champ de Mars. The paths in the park were rather soggy after the rain and snow and frosts, not helped by the City doing some tree chopping work, taking out some of the London Planes. The stumps and cut surfaces had gone practically vermillion - an interesting effect.
There is also a little bit of iron work at the end of the Champ de Mars with a restaurant part way up. I believe Alain Ducasse has this concession currently - the menus looked fabulous but with prices to match (300 Euros per head including wine for the Menu Decouvert).
We ate at a much more workaday corner bistrot near the Novotel - the food was OK but the way the staff coped with our friend's three sons in wheelchairs was particularly impressive - Paris is not known for being wheelchair friendly.
This morning we had a hot chocolate and a croissant in a Bistrot near St Michel, within sight of the Sainte Chapelle. Paris is expensive, but it is so pretty and chic and full of atmosphere!
I'd love to visit Paris - I don't know why, given the amount of times I've been to France, I've never been to Paris. I must persuade Malcolm to take me for a romantic weekend!!
Posted by: Anne Donald | 16 February 2010 at 07:06 PM