Category: Great Touristy Things to do

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Great Touristy Things to do

All change at the Catacombs – no 2hr wait !

Catacombes in Paris

For years I have wanted to visit the Catacombs as it is a huge tourist attraction. It is the ossuary of Paris which, from 1786, has held the uprooted skeletons of 6 million Parisians, some up to 900 years old, moved from over-flowing cemeteries into a small part of the 186 miles of tunnels created by limestone mining for the stone to build Paris.

Descend the 19 metre spiral staircase (130 steps) walking for about 45 minutes / 1½ miles with 200 other people, 12 at a time, through the cavernous chambers displaying the carefully arranged bones.  What has stopped me going ? Lovely guests queued for an hour last week and in Summer it is more like 2-3 hrs with no cloakroom / toilet facilities.     But that has all changed!

There is now a Catacombs ‘jump the queue’ ticket costing €27 including an audioguide which you book online. It is not part of the Paris Museum Pass package.

Book early, or ask me to do it for you.  I tried to book in 10 days time at 5pm and there were only 17 places left. If not, you have 2 other choices :

  • Queue for an ordinary ticket for €15 including audioguide and turn up, as even the official website heavily suggests, mid-week in the late afternoon. Last slot is 7pm.
  • Or try my cunning plan, be in Paris on the 1st Sunday of the month when most museums are free as my untested hypothesis is that this is the one day people will not pay to go to a museum…

Of course it is something to do in Winter and the hottest days of Summer as it will be the same ambient temperature down there all year round.

Will keep you posted when I go.

 

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Want to know what previous guests said about 52 Clichy ?

Wonderful oasis in the heart of Paris : The minute we open the street door into the quiet garden entry we realized how lucky we were to stay at 52 Clichy. We choose the spacious apartment which had everything we needed and more. Our host Rosemary did a beautiful job of making us comfortable…We will be back to this wonderful home and host.

John and Pam, USA. Stayed in the Apartment in September 2016. Reviewed on Trip Advisor.

READ MORE…

 

 

 

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Eating Experience Great Touristy Things to do Helpful Information

The very best view of Paris

The circular steps inside the Arc de Triomphe

I think the very best view of Paris is from the Arc de Triomphe and it is even better in Winter than in Summer because Paris is so beautiful when it is lit against the night sky.  Climb these 284 metal steps to get a view of the Paris rooftops and the red, white and blue side of the Eiffel Tower (the other 3 sides are white).  If you are there when it is dark stay until, on the hour, it sparkles for 5 minutes.  Also giggle at the madness which is the sight of buses, cars and scooters on 8 unmarked lanes of cobblestones swerving and screeching below.

On the way down you go through the obligatory shop, but it is one of the best museum shops and don’t miss the small but poignant exhibition on WWI to the right by the stairs. Your Paris Museum Pass works here.

The perfect way to start this evening view is to queue for one of my favourite restaurants, the Relais de Venise, at 6.45pm ready for doors to open at 7pm – the restaurant will fill up completely! There is a fixed menu of green salad with walnuts then a plate of Steak and Chips twice.  The only decision to make is how you want your steak cooked and which of the 3 choices of red wine to order.

If you have space you can order dessert without any guilt, knowing you can walk it all off up Avenue de la Grande Armée to the Arc de Triomphe, just as Napoleon planned it for his army.

Tell me if you agree is it is the best view of Paris.  Come and stay – check availability here.

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Categories
Eating Experience Great Exhibitions Great Touristy Things to do

What to do in Winter in Paris ? Wrap up and hit the major museums

 

It is a question a lot of guests ask – what to do in Winter in Paris. It is cold in Paris in Winter. Wrap up warm and set aside a morning for just 1 of the 3 wings of the Louvre. Use the Porte des Lions entrance facing the Seine so you can dash straight up the stairs to the 1st floor, through Spain into 16th, 17th and 18th century Italy and do battle with the selfie-sticks in front of the Mona Lisa. 13th, 14th and 15th century Italy follow then downstairs for a bit more of Italy including Michelangelo’s The Dying Slave before doubling back into Etruscan, Roman then Greek Antiquities in order to gaze at Venus de Milo. Lunch, just across the road at the excellent and very reasonable Le Fumoir beckons. Don’t even consider eating anywhere in the Louvre.

If you’re interested in exploring all the museums Paris has to offer, book for before the 25th February 2016 and accept the FREE offer of a 2 day Paris Museum Pass (pre-paid entrance ticket). This Pass entitles you to jump the long, long line for practically every museum and attraction you may want see.  So no cold feet.

Check availability HERE.

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Want to know what previous guests are saying ? Click HERE for my reviews.

 

 

Categories
Events Great Touristy Things to do

A Winter MUST DO before it disappears – Ice Skating for Free on the Eiffel Tower

Ice skating at the Eiffel Tower 1st stage

Until 31st January on the 1st floor of the Eiffel Tower, 57 metres up, included in the price of your entrance ticket, you can go ice skating for FREE, all day long if you want, on the 190m² ice rink!

There is a bar and a huge range of skates for children and adults as well as sleighs for the really young and disabled. It appears most people don’t believe it because there really are not very many people skating.

Drink a mulled wine and then try and walk across the parts of the floor they have taken up and newly replaced with glass – my stomach does a turn just thinking about it!

Come and stay at 52 Clichy and I will tell you all about the other fun things to do over the Christmas period. BOOK HERE…

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Want to hear what people are saying about 52 Clichy : read the reviews HERE

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2016 Events Great Touristy Things to do

Don’t miss these amazing exhibitions in Paris

Portraits at the Court of Medicis

Don’t miss some of the most amazing exhibitions in Paris.

 

At the Musée d’Orsay ‘Splendour and Misery.’  Pictures of Prostitution, 1850-1910 will close on 17th January – if you are over 18 you will be allowed behind the red velvet curtain !   http://bit.ly/1moVbAf

 

The Elisabeth Louise Vigée le Brun exhibition at the Grand Palais will disappear on 11th January but you have a little more time to catch Picasso.mania – until 29th February.    http://www.grandpalais.fr/en

 

Also the Jacquemart André Museum has a more manageable but delightful exhibition until the 25th January of Florence : Portraits at the Court of the Medicis.  http://bit.ly/1Oy7eBg      Here you can also have a decent cup of tea afterwards!