Coming back from the Channel Islands, we’re make another quick stop in Paris. We stay at the Novotel Gare Montparnasse – surprisingly nice for a chain hotel.
We walk heaps (best way to see Paris, of course) – in St Germain and the Latin Quarter, from Montparnasse to Champs-de-Mars and the Eiffel Tower. A longer walk than might be expected, as the Eiffel Tower looks deceptively close.
Arc de Triomphe is within a nice walking distance from the Eiffel Tower:
Like Cafe de Flore, the Champs Elyssés cafes charge exorbitant prices.; EUR 30 for a soft drink, a Perrier and half a lemon. All the same, it’s something cosy about huddling close together under a parasol in the rain, drinking citron pressé and watching life pass by on the main street of Paris.
On the next table, a Dutch family with four kids and two large dogs must have thought the same. They folded out large maps, didn’t order anything, yet stayed forever. That seemed to be perfectly fine with the waiters. In principle, I like that. However, they were an annoying lot, not minding who their kids (and dogs) bothered.
Much nicer was the young Brazilian couple on our other side. Probably on their honeymoon, they were drinking champagne and eating caviar. They seemed to be enjoying themselves tremendously and asked us to take their picture.
Seeing Paris in her late teens, Alex is a bit disillusioned. Slightly overwhelming, she thinks. A bit overrated, even…
I see it differently. I’ve been in Paris about 40 times, yet I discover something new every time – an interesting building I’ve passed a million times but never really looked at, a bridge I’ve not seen before from that particular angle, a new hidden little park where I can sit down and read a book in peace. Paris is just too full of pearls to ever tire of. It will always be one of my favourite cities: the details, the atmosphere. It could never ever be boring!
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