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We had such a gorgeous 4 days in Paris even the metro/train/bus strike didn't deter us from exploring and enjoying every minute of the city!
We stayed in cute modern hotel called la manufacture about 40 mins walk from the Latin Quarter near the Place D'Italie. The first afternoon we made the most of the metro still running and wandered around Montmarte which was one of Kate's fave places last time she was in Paris 10 years ago! It was a bit dissapointing to see the number of junky shops on the way up to the Sacre Coeur but we really enjoyed wandering along the Rue D'Abbesses which is full of lively places to eat & drink & local fromageries, bakeries, fruit & veg stores etc. We stocked up on some local cheeses & a baguette & some fruit before heading off to see the Eiffel Tower at night. It was pretty chilly and raining and the golden glow of the tower lit up at night with it's sparkling lights bubbling up & down like champagne bubbles on the hour was yes maybe a little cliche but so pretty & so Paris!!
The next day we headed to the Latin Quarter & St Germain area and walked through the Luxembourg gardens, past the Sorbonne, Parthenon, & univeristy student hangouts & explored the pretty boulevards, bookshops & cafes. we sw the famous Lady & the Unicorn tapestries in the medieval museum ( Kate thought that was one she would defo have to do on her own but the free entry due to the public strike meant that Peter had a quick look too! We had glass of wine or 2 at funky wine bar in St Germain called the cafe de la mairie ( highly reccomend it!) then walked home before heading out to a little Basque/Parisian bistro (Chez Gladines) near where we were staying where Kate tucked into some Escargot and we enjoyed a Toulouse style hearty casserole & some red wine! The waiters were so lovely there & it had such a buzzing & relaxed vibe we headed back there on our last night. Once the waiter found out Peter was Scottish we kept getting free shots of their strong liquor a bit like a grape version of whiskey as the waiter loved whiskey & disliked the English so felt an affinity with the Scots!
The next day we headed to the Rodin Gallery & wandered around the gardens taking in the impressive sculptures ( and alternately jumping around to try & warm up a bit!!) and also in the Gallery itself.We then had a little bistro lunch & walked around the Boulevard du Montparnasse known for its cafes where Picasso, Matisse etc used to hang out but found it a lacking a bit of real atmosphere although it was nice to imagine what it would have been like back in the 20's. There wasn't enough time to visit the Montparnasse catacombs which would be a kind of goulish yet interesting experience... something to save for next time! Later that night we braved the crowded & minimal metro to walk along the Champs Elysees down to the place de la concorde where Marie Antoinette got the guillotine & back up to the Arc de Triomphe, stopping along the way for the world's most expensive beer ever!!
The next day we headed to the Pompidou Centre & spent hours wandering through the huge modern art gallery which had such an amazing collection of famous paintings ( a couple of pretty w***y paintings such as the " Blue Canvas" which was just that!! & some interesting sculptures/installations. It was such a huge collection we were pretty knackered by the end of it & enjoyed the lovely views over Paris & the interesting " inside out" architecture of the building. We then wandered back past the Notre Dame & Kate was excited to find the famous Shakespere & Co bookstore she had read about due to its massive collection of antique books & support of writers over the decades who lived for free & worked in the bookstore.
The next day we headed to the Musee d'Orsay ( previously a railway station & a pretty cool building with its big clock overlooking the city from the 1st floor). We spent a couple of hours wandering through the Impressionist & Post Impressionist collections ( and dodging the tourists who seem to enjoy taking their photo standing in front of a famous painting ?*%!!) There were some beautiful artworks & such a huge collection of famous painters in there we had previously seen in books so it was so fantastic to be standing in front of them in real life! We had orginally decided we would not go inside the Louvre as Kate has been there before & we are not big fans of classical devotional art but we were persuaded to brave the Louvre inspired by a poster advertising a "exhibition gallery" of Amstel Kiefer's work who we absolutely loved at the Guggenheim in Bilbao...... after getting lost a couple of times we eventually found the mere 3 artworks & felt a bit duped!! We were a bit museumed out although we did the obligatory & over rated Mona Lisa & Kate also looked at the Carveggio drawings exhibition but on the whole the overwhelming size of it all & being a bit museumed out we didnt spent much time there. We perked up again wandering around St Germain & loved the atmospheric Rue Du Seine full of all the private art galleries , stylish buildings & cute cafes on our walk back to the Place D'Italie & then we had another great dinner at our fave little Basque bistro near the Hotel.
Over all we had such a lovely time & loved the vibe of the city with its numerous local neighbourhoods & pretty architecture, people, culture, history & food & look forward to coming back again one day together..
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