Time and time again Paris has been hailed as the most beautiful, romantic and iconic city in the world; it has set the bar for other cities in so many ways that it is almost impossible to sum up this incredible city in just a few hundred words. When Napoleon III commissioned Baron Georges-Eugéne Haussman to redesign Paris in 1853 he began the creation of something truly great. The city of Paris that we recognise today, with its huge Boulevards like Le Champs Elysee and rows of giant, regal looking townhouses, was the brainchild of this visionary planner. Today one can look out over Paris from the top of the L'arc de Triomphe and see these majestic Boulevards fanning out from this epicentre, and every so often a enchantingly iconic structure dots the cityscape.
A week in Paris is not nearly enough, though luckily Paris is the type of city where there is one or two definitive experiences. The Eiffel Tower and the Trocadero, Sacre Coeur and Notre Dame, The Palace of Versailles and The Louvre… the list could go on and on. There is also of course the classic idea of getting amongst Parisian culture; that innate desire to don a jaunty beret, hop on a Velib bike and cruise down Le Champs Elysee - possibly with a few copies of Camus and Balzac fastened with a leather belt sitting in the basket.
Though before anyone gets carried away, there is a way to capture this Parisian cultural experience without going overboard. Why not spend a morning perusing through the world famous Shakespeare & Co. bookshop, then take a stroll along the Seine walkway or hop on a metro and marvel at the ridiculousness of the Pompidou Centre; or even check out some second hand shops in Quartier Saint-Germain-des-Prés. An evening could be spent in a contented, red wine fuelled haze in the Bistros of the Mouffetard district; or if you’re feeling a bit up-for-the-craic, a trip to Showcase nightclub under one of the Seine’s many bridges is the place to see and be seen.
Paris lives up to its fantastic reputation in almost every way. It can be a mainstream trip to Disneyland and up the Eiffel Tower with the kids kind of excursion, or a smoky, husky kind of an adventure into the café culture of Paris’ uber stylish underbelly. So why not head on down and check it out, a trip to Paris can be whatever you make of it.
