Deciding that we needed a well earned break myself and a friend decided on a short trip to Paris. We booked ourselves online - very easy to use and efficient service - onto Eurostar direct from Waterloo to Paris for a very reasonable £50 return and after overcoming train delays on the UK side jumped on with about 3 minutes to spare (to the dismay of Eurostar staff who advise a check-in time of at least 30 mintues before travel). Though cutting it fine this does however mean you have no queues or lengthy waits in the departure lounge. (Although I wouldn't advise it if you're of a slightly nervous disposition).
We arrived in Paris at the
Gare Du Nord, and had booked ourselves into what was described as Paris' cheapest hotel, the Grand HotelMagenta, situated around 5 minutes walk from the station. First impressions were cheap and cheerful, it was 18 Euros per person per night for a twin room with basin but no shower or toilet. I'd recommend splashing out on an en-suite room as we found out there was a hidden charge of 3 Euros every time you wanted a shower.
Heading back to the station we bought a book of 10 Metro tickets, these are ieal for sightseeing and work out significantly cheaper than a 3 day travelcard (unless you're planning on travelling everywhere of course), you can get 2 journeys in the most central zone per ticket, and 10 tickets cost 10.50 Euros. So much advised to do this instead. In one afternoon we walked up the Champs Elysees to the Arc De Triumphe, I very much recommend you walk all the way up from the Place De La Concorde, it seems like a bit of a trek at the time but you can take some great photos of the Arc from the central reservations!
From here the walk down to the river and the tower takes you through some upmarket areas of Paris with great little cafes and restaurants, much more reasonably priced than those close to the tourist attractions. You can then walk along the river to the Eiffel Tower. If you want to see all the main attractions I'd recommend you aim to visit the tower in the evenings, the queues for the lifts are much shorter, and the views from the top stunning at night. For just over 10 Euros you can get right to the top and it's definately worth it.
The following day we bought passes for Disneyland, at 53 Euros it seemed expensive but this includes rail tickets from the centre of Paris out to the Metro station by the park. You can get these from the Tourist Information Kiosks in the Gare Du Nord. Disney requires the entire day so it's best as always to fall in with the doors. It's open 10-8pm in winter seasons, plenty of time to go on the 4 major rides. Make use of the Fastpass ticketing system, it's free and you get to jump all the queues for the most popular rides. There's a Disney Village with places to eat after, Planet Hollywood and Wild Wild West themed restaurants etc. The last train leaves just after midnight and the Metro is very well serviced back into Paris centre. Although we'd been warned about the dangers of Paris by night it was no worse than any other major city and we had no problems.
On the final day we visited Le Louvre, a snip at 8.50 Euros for the entire main exhibition, you could easily spend all day there, and there's excellent self-ticketing facilities which mean very small queues once you're inside. The Mona Lisa is of the course the main attraction, and constantly had a huge crowd around. I'd recommend seeing Napoleans apartments as well though if Art is not really your thing.
And finally a short walk along the river brings you to Notre Dame cathedral. It's free admission, beautiful architecture and really worth a visit. Again explore slightly off the beaten tourist track to find some great little cafes, much cheaper, much more traditional, and then from here it was just a short Metro north back to the hotel to grab luggage and jump back on Eurostar.
There were of course a number of things which we missed, boat trips along the canal or guided bus tours around the city, but the best place thing to do is grab a map when you first get there, and decide exactly where you wish to go and what you want to see. The most expensive things are entry into attractions, apart from this you can get away with spending very little if you find cheap travel and accommodation.
Hotel website: http://www.hostelz.com/display.php/31918+Grand+Hotel+Magenta
Eurostar: www.eurostar.co.uk
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Nov 16th, 2004
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