A Weekend In Paris...In The Spring!

It's no secret we love a getaway. And over the years Paris has proved a popular destination for us to visit, as a couple and with others.

A few of our Paris posts:
Fun Fact Friday: Oui Oui Paris j'adore
A Weekend In Paris
A Week In Paris

Our recent trip to Paris involved taking the Eurostar from St Pancras in London to Gare Du Nord in central Paris. From Gare Du Nord we made our way on foot to our apartment in the Monmarte district, a slightly uphill 15 minute walk.

The friends we were meeting at arrived earlier that day and were already checked into our Airbnb - a great 2 bed flat just 10 minutes walk to the Sacre Coeur, an area we had fallen in love with when spending a week in Paris.

Friday evening was spent catching up and agreeing plans for the next 48 hours.

Saturday involved a 10am start and visit to the boulangerie over the road to stock up on fresh croissants and baguettes. The perfect way to start our day in Paris. Once well fed we started the day. Thankfully we had a Metro station just 4 minutes walk away so we could start the day quickly. Our first purchase was book of 10 Metro tickets for €14.90 allowing us to travel freely.

The first stop of the day was Notre Dame. On arrival the rain was pouring so we went straight to Sainte Chapelle, a gothic style royal chapel and home to Kings of France in the 14th century. It is most famous for it's 15.5m stain glass windows that tell stories from the bible.

We had hoped our time in the chapel would let the rain finish, unfortunately the rain got worse. Nevertheless we continued and headed to Pont Nerf, the bridge that now holds all the love locks. We had got our friends a lock and wanted to give them the opportunity to add theirs to the 1000's already locked in. From there we headed to the Notre Dame and then the snow started.

That was our time to head for the Metro and to lunch back nearer the Sacre Coeur. We wanted to revisit the La Taverne De Montmarte  - a must if you like raclette, warm fires and delicious food. We sat and chatted for almost 2 hours in the warmth before braving the snow.

From the Sacre Coeur we strolled to the Moulin Rouge, through quaint market squares and past building topped off with windmills. We had never walked that way before and really enjoyed the views.

By the time we reached the Moulin Rouge, quite the sight in the snow, we all agreed that we should head back to the apartment to dry off. That led to our friend offering to cook us dinner and when an Italian offers you dinner - always say yes! It was a much needed refuel and delicious.

Our stroll back also included taking in some interesting artwork - something you can find in so many places in Paris.

After dinner we decided to head to the Eiffel Tower. Even though the snow was still falling we wanted to see the tower lit up. What we did find on arrival was that security has really been stepped up, to get under the Eiffel Tower you now need to go through security checks. In addition you can't get to the tower itself as fences now guard the bases.

After that we called it a night so we could get a good night sleep and prepare for the next day.

Sunday started the same way Saturday did, with fresh treats from the bakery.

This time our destination was Arc De Triomphe. We planned to head up and enjoy the view but with clouds settling in we decided against it and instead decided to walk the Champs Elysees.

We detoured to Pont Alexandre III to enjoy the view of the Seine and take in the Eiffel Tower

And ended our walk down the Rue de Rivoli, a road packed with shops and restaurants next to the Jardin des Tuileries. We stopped in at Cafe Rivoli for a croquet monsieur and chips and then Framboise Les Moments Crepes for crepes. It was all so good. 

After being well fed we continued to Carrousel du Louvre, a shopping mall under the Lourve that is well worth a visit. From here we got the Metro back to the apartment to head back to the apartment. 

Sadly our journey back was ruined by EuroStars' terrible handling of a system failure. After arriving 90 minutes before our train we were made to queue in freezing temperatures for the 90 minutes, without the queue moving. At 5 months pregnant it was far from ideal and there was not a signal member of staff telling us what was going on. Our train was eventually delayed meaning we spent our journey stressed that we miss our connection to get home to Birmingham. 

Thanks to an epic effort by Laura, carrying our case up three escalators we were able to make it from St Pancras to Euston in 15 minutes and made our train with 2 minutes to go. 

Next time we head to Paris we may be doing it as a family of three and we can't wait to see what that trip will hold.