Paris Breaks

As of 1st July 2009, VAT on all restaurants and cafes in France has been cut from 19.6 per cent to 5.5 per cent, a huge reduction leading to big savings for consumers. This translates into a saving of approximately 10 per cent when passed onto customers, meaning a meal typically costing €15 (£13) will be reduced to around €13.20 (£11.40).

The move aims to boost consumer spending in the busy summer period throughout France and attract more visitors on Paris breaks from the UK, offsetting the slightly weaker Pound Sterling against the Euro.

Paris 6th Arrondissement – St-Germain, Luxembourg

The last few Paris breaks I’ve taken I’ve always stayed in the St Germain area, at least for part of the trip. I know my way around, it’s convenient and there’s always something to do nearby. The 6th is also the heartland of the Paris publishing industry and for me, the most colourful Left Bank quarter.  Waves of young artists still emerge from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, later making merry in one of the many lively side streets. The secret of the St Germain des Pres area is to explore the narrow streets, hidden squares, and lovely gardens. Everywhere you turn, there are historic and literary associations but it’s also an area for modern cuisine, night spots and shopping. My favourite Paris bridge the Pont Neuf can be glimpsed down one of the streets coming off the five way intersection at le Buci and the magnificent but unfortunately empty building of La Samaritaine beckons from across the Seine.

Paris Breaks in the 4th Arrondissement

Ile de la Cité, Ile St-Louis and Beaubourg

The fourth arrondissment of Paris has everything and more for central Paris breaks. This area is geographically and historically the whole reason why Paris exists where it is now. The two islands in the middle of the Seine river formed the perfect place for settlement, defence and trading. The best place in Europe to found a capital city.

Notre Dame

Notre Dame de Paris the famous landmark dominates the Ile de la Cité and surrounding left bank to some extent as well whereas the Ile St-Louis has aristocratic town houses, courtyards and antiques shops. Also on the Ile de la Cité there is another Gothic church the Sainte Chapelle. Notre Dame seems to be surrounded by more building of authority – the police headquarters and law courts. But you can also find France’s finest bird and flower markets along the side walks of the island banks. Marie Antoinette was sentenced to death here in 1793.

Ile St Louis

The Ile St Louis, was in previous times nothing more than a cow pasture and popular dueling ground, but now is home to dozens of 17th century mansions and 6,000 lucky Louisiens, its permanent residents.

Pompidou Centre

The 4th arrondissement of Paris is also home to the controversial seventies building the Centre Pompidou, which is actually one of the top three attractions in France these days because of the high profile modern art exhibitions held there. let’s not forget the Place des Vosges, a square of perfect harmony and beauty where Victor Hugo lived from 1832 to 1848 and penned many of his famous masterpieces. Victor Hugo’s house is now a museum.

Central Paris Breaks

Wherever you stay on a short paris break you are likely to be visiting or at least wandering past the 4th arrondissement of central Paris so if you can manage to secure a hotel right in the middle of that are it will be fantastically convenient, if somewhat expensive. You could also stay nearby in the Marais or the Latin Quarter and still be just a few minutes walk across some of the most beautiful bridges in the world.

It seems obvious that rail travel must be more efficient than air travel right? So why are some airlines able to offer ridiculously cheap headline prices for international travel? Well there are two reasons. One way they fund the flights is by getting obscure airports toe PAY them to deliver visitors, and the other is a loophole in the fuel taxes which allow aviation fuel to go untaxed due to the lack of an international agreement between governments. If you don’t think this is right, then you might like consider  further ecological arguments for taking the  eurostar train instead of the plane.

Eurostar’s 186 mph high-speed train service has become the number one choice for travellers between London, Ebbsfleet, Ashford, Paris, Brussels, Lille, Calais, Disneyland Resort Paris, Avignon and the French Alps. But that’s not all – don’t forget that Eurostar is also a more environmentally friendly option. Flying between London, Paris and Brussels generates ten times more emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) per traveller than going by Eurostar.

Ten times as much CO2!

Eurostar is also committed to generating even less carbon dioxide emissions per traveller in future years and has pledged to achieve a reduction of 25% per traveller journey by 2012 (compared to 2006).

Taking the train is now the only socially responsible green way to travel where its an alternative to flying.

I can watch this Paris Break Dance video because the music is bearable and the Paris sights he’s break dancing to are familar and well photographed. The style is slightly dated, referring back to 1990’s dance music perhaps, but very french and at least not based on aggressive posturing.

As well as the most famous Paris landmarks such as Tour Eiffel there is some great footage of parts of the Latin quarter so try and watch the whole video and see how many Parisian arrondissments you can recognise.

La Tour D’Argent is a fine restaurant in Paris.

The 1867 Universal Exposition brought to Paris some of the most celebrated and important people in the world – heads of state, artists and all kinds of French and foreign personalities. On June 7th, the Café Anglais hosted perhaps the most extraordinary dinner ever held, “The Dinner of the 3 Emperors”, which contributed so greatly to the restaurant’s success and renown.

The guests were Alexander II, Czar of All the Russias, his son and namesake the Tsarevitch, the King of Prussia, Wilhelm I and the Prince of Bismarck. Rarely has a restaurant seen so prestigious an assembly brought together around a single table, not for a state summit, but simply for their pleasure. A glance at the menu suggests that their pleasure might be seen today as a little over-the-top.

An interesting footnote: on leaving the restaurant, Czar Alexander II complained that he had not had the opportunity to taste foie gras, a typically French delicacy. Claudius Burdel, a loyal servant of gastronomy, explained: “Sire, it is not the custom of French gastronomy to serve foie gras in June. If you can wait until October, you will certainly not regret it.” Faithful to his word, Burdel sent a terrine of foie gras to each of the three emperors in the autumn. This specially prepared foie gras was later known as the “Foie Gras des Trois Empereurs”

Choosing ten sights for Paris breaks

1. The Eiffel Tower – icon of Paris

When most people think of Paris thy think of the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower was originally built for the 1889 World Exposition. When the tower was first unveiled, Parisians thought it was a towering monstrosity, and it was nearly torn down. Since then, over 200 million people have visited the Eiffel Tower, and it has become a national icon for France as well as Paris. The tower is impressive to look at by day or by night when it’s lit up, and offers a spectacular view from above, or below.

2. Notre Dame de Paris – The Cathedral

The Notre Dame catholic cathedral took over a century to build, and was once the centre of medieval Paris. It is probably the most typical cathedral of Europe. Being situated on an island, there are great views of the flying buttresses from the river banks.

3. The Arc de Triomphe and The Champs Elysees

The great arch “Arc de Triomphe” was built by Emperor Napolean, and offers a fantastic view down the Champs Elysees and all around. No trip to Paris is complete without seeing the sculptures and reliefs that adorn the arch. The wide pavemented boulevard offers some spectacular shopping opportunities, as well as an assortment of cafes.

4. Versailles

Near enough to Paris to be included in any Paris Break itinery is the Palace of Versailles. Versailles was home to the King of France, as well as the seat of their government for more than 100 years. A walk through this remarkable palace, will ensure you feel like your walking in the footsteps of nobility. Inside you’ll find the Hall of Mirrors, which consists of 250ft of sheer glass.

5. The Louvre

The Louvre is the most famous museum or art gallery in the world, and quit rightly so as it’s home to some of the most famous works of art in the world.

6. Pere Lachaise Cemetery

On the outskirts of central Paris, The crypts at Pere Lachaise Cemetery are amazing to discover. There are some extremely famous people buried here, including Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde and Richard Wright of Pink Floyd fame.

7. Seine River Cruise

See the majesty of Paris glide by while riding in a glass boat on the beautiful river Seine. You’ll get to see the Eiffel Tower, old historic bridges and even the Notre Dame Cathedral.

8. The Musee d’Orsay

One of the most visited museums on the planet, the Musee d’Orsay has the largest collection of paintings and sculptures produced between 1848 and 1914. If you’re a lover of art, then this is a destination sight you won’t want to miss on even the shortest Paris trip.

9. The Sorbonne

Founded in 1257, the Sorbonne is one of the oldest universities in Europe, and many a great thinker has wandered its halls and enjoyed the surrounding Latin Quarter.

10. Sacre Coeur and Montmartre

The basilica of Sacre Coeur breaks the horizon from miles around, dominating the highest point of Paris. Consecrated in 1909, it boasts gold mosaic interiors, and offers a magnificent view of the city below.

So those are the ten chosen highlights for planning Paris breaks but you could probably add a dozen or so more just to make it completely impossible to cram everything essential into one visit to Paris.

Vélib, Paris

Originally uploaded by batigolix

After arriving by Eurostar or other means, Paris breaks are usually spent wandering around the city on foot supplemented by rides on the metro or bus. Here’s a way to discover other parts of Paris which you might not encounetr otherwise. The vélib or “vélo libre” is a public bicycle rental programme in Paris, It is a great way of exploring the city. The system was launched in July 2007and has grown to 20,000 bicycles and 1,450 stations, roughly one station every 300 metres throughout Paris city centre, making Vélib’ the largest system of its kind in the world.

To use the system, you need to take out a subscription, which then allows an unlimited number of rentals. Subscriptions cost €1 per day, €5/week or €29/year. With a subscription, bike rental is then free for the first half hour of each trip and you can make an unlimited number of free trips each day so long as you return the bike to a station within half an hour of each rental. Any trip that lasts longer than 30 minutes incurs a charge of one to four euros for each subsequent 30-minute period. The increasing price scale is intended to keep the bikes in circulation. So you just use the bike to get from one part of the city to another, then you put it back into the system and keep doing that for only €1 a day or less! Brilliant for getting to places like Pere Lachaise cemetery or the the Bois de Boulogne.

With the free bicycle scheme you can turn Paris breaks into a little home from home.

This simple map of Gare Du Nord may be useful on arrival by Eurostar or indeed the boat train for Paris breaks. As you can see, The metro (underground), RER (larger metro), bus and taxi exit points are clearly marked so you don’t need to wander around Gare du Nord wondering which way to go.

Gare du Nord map for Paris breaks

Of course these onward journey points are all well signposted at the station itself but it dosn’t do any harm to reassure yourself you know where you are going especially if it’s your first Paris break from the UK.

Motivations for taking Paris breaks are almost as varied as the number of visitors, with shopping breaks, sightseeing trips, romantic Paris and Parisian food an drink being high on the agenda but Paris is also a hot destination for the nightlife – the famous “boites de nuit” nightclubs. People from the counties around London can so easily plan weekend Paris breaks for the nightlife, which in some areas never closes, and then start to recuperate in comfort on the Eurostar journey back to London.

Paris Jazz Clubs

Here is a selection of five Paris Jazz clubs just from the 18th Arrondissement, the famous Montmartre area.

Au Clairon des Chasseurs

3, Place du Tertre Montmartre

Métro: Anvers

Entrance: Free, one drink minimum
Music: every night 21h – 02h

A Paris… Comme commença si souvent Francis Lemarque, il y a la tour Eiffel, les Grands Boulevards, l’arc de Triomphe et Montmartre. Et à Montmartre, il y a le Sacré Cœur, qu’on aperçoit de partout quand on arrive. Et au pied du Sacré Cœur, presque à l’ombre même de ses grandes formes blanches, il y a une place, toute petite et très célèbre : la place du Tertre. Le plus facile pour y accéder c’est de prendre le funiculaire d’en bas ! Et place du Tertre, il y a le « Clairon » comme en parlent les habitués.

Autour de Midi

11, rue Lepic 75018 Paris

Métro: Blanche

Established in 2001, in the heart of Montmartre , “Autour de Midi”… et Minuit” offers two very distinct and complementary atmospheres : a traditional French restaurant on the main floor and a jazz club in a wonderfully cosy ‘cave voutée’ down below.

Bab-ilo

9, rue du Baigneur 75018 Paris
Métro: Jules-Joffrin.
Entrance: 5 €

Music: Concerts de Jazz les samedis, Musique Brésilienne jazz les dimanches de 18h à 22h, sometimes Jazz on Friday
Il y a quelques années que cette drôle de péniche s’amarra rue du Baigneur. Éclats de jazz, de rire, de vie, de cœur, ce n’est pas un bar de nuit, c’est un bunker de verre : un lieu de résistance… … à la bêtise ambiante, à l’acculturation générale et aux coups bas de la vie…

Le Blue Note

14, rue Muller 75018 Paris Métro: Château Rouge
Music: Mostly Brazilian Jazz.

Le Houdon

5, rue des Abbesses 75018 Paris Métro: Abbesses
Bar le Houdon transforms from humdrum café to makeshift jazz venue Friday and Saturday. The musicians are topnotch and the price is right.

There are also many jazz clubs perfect for Paris breaks in the areas around Champs Elysees, Luxembourg, St Denis and scattered all over the city in fact.