Prelude
Curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, this was our first venture out of our small island for nearly two years and it was to very familiar ground – Paris. For many years our weekend bolthole from a busy London working life was an apartment in this city. When you enjoy the life in cities so much it is difficult not to engage with Paris or, at least that Paris that is governed from the Mairie in the Hôtel de Ville; that snail-shell spiral of 20 arrondissments. Beyond the bounding Périphérique lie the wildly-varied banlieues that, despite being part of a vast urban conurbation, have their own administrative existence. So the Paris I know is not large. It would take a brisk-moving walker just over two hours to reach the eastern bulge of the Bois de Vincennes from its western counterpart, the Bois de Boulogne. London’s equivalent administrative area is ten times the size, but is divided into council enclaves, none of which have the centrality and focus of the Paris of the arrondissments.
So very familiar ground and engagement with another vibrant city of culture with a strong presence in the world of photography.
Structure of the Trip
Our visit is in midweek for four nights. As it is a route we have taken many times and Paris is a city we know well, we book train and accommodation ourselves. Occasionally we book hotels using the Mr & Mrs Smith website (https://www.mrandmrssmith.com/destinations/france/paris/hotels) as we accumulate certain loyalty points and they usually provide a small gift at the hotel (often a bottle of wine in the room). We used them for our hotel booking on this occasion.
Train
Eurostar from St Pancras is so convenient for anyone based in London. The departure hall there can be a bit of a scrum but the huge advantage is ending up in the centre of Paris. Booking and managing the whole process is covered extensively elsewhere. The best I can do is simply suggest those unfamiliar with it start with Eurostar’s own website – https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en. For more guidance I do suggest you look at the comprehensive website for rail travellers in Europe, The Man in Seat 61 – https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/london-to-paris-by-eurostar.htm. This takes you through everything you need to know about booking and travelling on Eurostar to Paris and about getting away from Gare du Nord when you arrive in Paris.
Weather
Bright, clear and, therefore, very kind for wandering tourists. The odd spit of rain and the chill on the air means it is not quite sitting out weather.
Areas Visited
Place des Vosges
The Marais is one area that escaped the full force of Haussmann’s 19th century interventions in central Paris. This means that the streetscape is derived from an earlier age and the buildings are less lofty than the Haussmannian seven stories and more elsewhere. It feels more intimate, cosier even. Paris’ oldest planned square (dating from the early 17th century), the Place des Vosges, is the area’s elegant heart. With sunshine and clear sky, as on our first day, it is a wonderful spot to sit (on those green-painted wood and iron benches that adorn so many of the city’s little squares) to watch the locals take their constitutionals, the local children play in the sandpit, the student age groups gather on the grass and the tourists gawp and photograph.
In the arcaded buildings around the square, you too can gawp at some of the vibrant (and bizarre) art in the commercial galleries or take in the small independent shops that are a feature not only of the place but also the surrounding streets. My partner returns, time and again, to the shops that sell own-design jewellery (at prices that start in the tens of euros), such as Cécile et Jeanne in the west arcade and Sous le Sable in the rue de Birague, which leads off the south side of the place.
In the south-east corner is the Maison de Victor Hugo, a museum for this icon of French literary culture. It has a lovely little modern café which has some outside tables in the central courtyard of the house. The cafe can be visited without having to go into the museum which is, in any event, free.
In transport terms the Métro stops at St Paul (1 line) to the south west and Chemin Vert (8 line) to the north east and both are about 5 minutes walk from the place. The place is served by the 29 bus, which runs west past the Pompidou Centre before fetching up at the Opera Garnier (and Galeries Lafayette) and east out to the Chateau de Vincennes. It is one of those Parisian buses whose route one way is along a different street to its route in the other direction. So to head west you have to walk (about 5 minutes) north and east to the stop on rue Saint-Gilles but the return bus drops you, very conveniently, almost on the north-west corner of the place. If you want to head south or north-east, the 96 bus runs from stops just a couple of minutes’ walk away in the rue de Turenne. North-eastward it wanders past the myriad restaurants and bars of the 11th arrondissment. Heading south it takes you past Hôtel de Ville and the still-being-restored Notre-Dame into the heart of the Left Bank and on to St Germain des Prés and St Sulpice.
Mobility Access:
All is flat around here and there are the green benches and plenty of eating options in the area if rests are needed.
Hôtel de Sully
Tucked into the south west corner of the Place des Vosges is an arched stone doorway. Go to it and go through it. You are now in another exquisite small public space, the Jardin du Hôtel de Sully. Linger and then walk on through the hôtel courtyard beyond and out onto the busy rue Saint-Antoine at St Paul.
For those who are not familiar with the French use of hôtel it is, potentially confusingly, three distinct things. First and simplest it is used in the French language to mean the same as its equivalent in English. Secondly hôtel is also an older word for a hospital, the most well-known of which is the still-functioning Hôtel Dieu, adjacent to Notre-Dame. Finally, as here, it also has an older meaning as a grand townhouse or city mansion. In Paris there are several such grand buildings accessible to the visitor. One of our favourites is the Hôtel Jacquemart-André ( https://www.musee-jacquemart-andre.com/en ). Built in the 1870s to house an exquisite private art collection, it is the same sort of combination of splendidly decorated house and treasure of pre-modern art as can be found in the Frick in New York or the Wallace Collection in London. Of course, it also has a gift shop and a café in one of the resplendent rooms. The Hôtel de Sully is much older but lacks a fully visitable interior (it houses the French state’s Centre for National Monuments).
Mobility Access:
There are a few steps down to the Jardin from the level of the Place des Vosges and two or three steps up and down to negotiate moving from the Jardin to the Hôtel courtyard, but otherwise all is flat through to the rue Saint-Antoine.
Museums and Galleries
Don’t forget that nearly every Parisian museum and public gallery is closed on Mondays. Check before you plan.
The Louvre
It is nearly forty years since I last visited the Louvre. My excuse – the constant crowds and the fact that there are always so many other art and photographic exhibition options in Paris to be visited. Perhaps, we thought, at this stage in the life of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for vaccine passes and the concerns about crowded spaces would have thinned the crowd. So with some assistance to manage the standing and walking around this labyrinthine museum palace, we decide to give it a whirl. I am not going to go into the mechanics of buying tickets, how to get in and what to see. There is a plethora of information out there to be found (once again, you can do worse than start with the Louvre’s own website – https://www.louvre.fr/en).
The Louvre is closed on Mondays. Otherwise, timed slots were booked online and we arrived well before our appointed hour to find – queues galore. One to have your TousAntiCovid vaccine pass checked (no longer, of course) and one to get through security. And that is before you reach the top of the stairs in the Pyramide du Louvre that lead down to the cavernous ticket and entry hall.
Mobility Access:
There is a wheelchair loan capability – down in the cavernous hall – we just had to work out how to get down there without standing for periods of time in queues. And, to all those who have the need for stools or wheelchairs whilst they take in the splendours of this museum, the staff turned out to be really supportive. It helped to have one prepared phrase in French “Nous voulons une chaise roulante” – a rolling chair: wonderful. (For the language nerds out there, I do know that strictly it is un fauteuil roulant but when your pronunciation is dodgy chaise is a lot easier to say, and have understood, than fauteuil). It also helps to go to the entrance in the arcade that runs from rue du Rivoli to the Pyramid courtyard. This entrance is used by groups and the staff there are somewhat less pressed than those at the main entrance. Hearing my phrase, they very kindly let me in there and I went down to the Assistance Help Desk in the main hall where they have wheelchairs, folding chairs and canes available for loan. All I had to do was put my name and contact details in a book (very old-school pen and paper) and away I went with the wheelchair, having been directed to the manned platform lift that gives access between ground level of the Pyramid and entrance hall level.
With the wheelchair we joined the queue – and were waved to the front for our vaccine pass check and then on to security. Once inside the labyrinthine galleries there are lifts (elevators) that run between all floors and, to cope with the many changes of level inside each floor of the museum, there are stair and chair lifts. You just need to have a little patience to find and use them. Only in one place did we come unstuck (a chair lift was hors de service). We had to use the short flight of steps and carry the wheelchair up.
As a bonus, the staff once again came to our aid when we tried to see La Joconde (the Mona Lisa). The painting now sits on a specially-built wall in a large room protected from the punters by a waist-high, solid half-hoop of wood affixed to that wall. There is then an empty space (about 2 metres deep) beyond which lies a rope-line running across the space. The punters stand behind this to stare at La Joconde through the screens of their smartphones. To access this area there is another queue, set up using one of those sets of portable barriers used wherever people have to be managed in an orderly way. When we came into the room that queue was more than 100 persons long. There is so much to see in the museum that we decided not to join it. We were just rolling out of the room when we were called back by a staff member who unhooked a barrier and let us into the empty space at the front. I felt I was able to take the time to see the Mona Lisa as a painting, rather than as an icon, for the very first time. Thank you to the staff at the Louvre.
Having dropped off the wheelchair after our visit, the escalators that run up (but not down) from the entrance hall can be used to get out to street level again.
Musée Marmottan Monet
Tucked away on the west edge of the ever-so-elegant 16th arrondissment is the gem that is the Musée Marmottan Monet (https://www.marmottan.fr/en/). It houses a spectacular collection of Impressionist works, with those of Monet foregrounded. No more need be said.
It is served by the 32 and 70 buses. In the case of the 70 bus travelling westbound this drops you at avenue Ingres, a 3 minute walk away across the pretty Jardin du Ranelagh, and eastbound at a stop in rue Louis Boilly (right outside the musée). The 32 bus eastbound uses the same stop, but westbound at Porte de Passy a 4 minute walk away. Metro stations on the 9 line are a bit further away: La Muette 7 minutes walk and Ranelagh 9 minutes.
Mobility Access:
In the museum, you can make use of a folding stool, of which they have a plentiful supply for loan.
Fondation Cartier
The Fondation Cartier (https://www.fondationcartier.com/en), with its regularly changing exhibitions, is in a building which is also visitable for its modern architecture (a Jean Nouvel design) and the small but engaging, eco-aware garden that surrounds it. They have regular photographic exhibitions for those who, like me, are drawn to such things. I was there for the Graciela Iturbide (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graciela_Iturbide) retrospective, which I much enjoyed as I was not familiar with her work.
The transport hub (Bus/Metro/RER) at Denfert-Rochereau is a 5 minute walk south along boulevard Raspail. A 3 minute walk north the other way along boulevard Raspail is Raspail Metro (4 and 6 line), which is also home to the 68 bus stops.
Mobility Access:
As a modern building, the Fondation has lifts between floors. I did not check the availability of folding chairs or stools. The paths in the gardens are not completely flat but, as the gardens are quite small, a wander round should not be problematic and there are places to seat yourself.
Institut du Monde Arabe and the Jardin Tino Rossi
It is always worth checking out the exhibits at the Institut du Monde Arabe, which is another very visitable building from both the perspective of modern architecture and its riverside location (https://www.imarabe.org/en). I went there to catch a photographic exhibition by one of the greats of modern French documentary photography: Raymond Depardon. (His affectionate outsider’s view of 1980s Glasgow has now been published in an eponymous photobook and is well worth a look – see https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/society-arts-culture/william-boyd-raymond-depardon-1980s-glasgow/).
The paved expanse and looming structures of the new Sorbonne Université campus lie to the south of the Institut, creating what can seem a rather desolate space when the students are not flocking around. Instead of lingering, go round to the river and the attractive sculpted riverside Jardin Tino Rossi where, on the sunny day when I walked through, chess players jostled with outdoor ballroom dancers amongst the plantings and the sculptures.
Buses stopping nearby are numerous, although it lies an equidistant 7 minute walk from three Metro stations: Jussieu and Cardinal Lemoine to the south and Sully-Morland to the north. Go for the last of these and enjoy the walk south across the Pont de Sully, taking in the views east and west along the River Seine.
Mobility Access:
As another modern building, the Institut has lifts between floors. I did not check the availability of folding chairs or stools. The ground around the building is flat and the Jardin Tino Rossi is well paved with only gentle slopes to negotiate.
The Hotel
Pavilion de la Reine ( https://en.pavillon-de-la-reine.com ) is a boutique hotel with an opulent modern ambience in a courtyard just off the Place des Vosges in the Marais. It is a chance to visit familiar places and try a few new ones. The hotel, which we have used on three previous visits in recent years, is becoming a little more expensive than we would like, but we are indulging ourselves. We have always found the staff helpful both with service and concierge assistance (this time confirming a restaurant booking that seemed to have disappeared into some dark place in the digital world).
We are offered one of their duplex rooms (we had booked a double) but, of course, the apparent attractions of such a space are anything but when we cannot easily manage the regular trips up and down the internal stairs. The problem explained and understood, we are upgraded to a junior suite on the fourth and top floor, conveniently adjacent the lift. An excellent space with almost all we need from a hotel room: plenty of hanging space and hangers (not always a given, even in better hotels), separate bath and shower with two basins and two TVs (that never go on because for news we use our own smartphones and the hotel’s wifi and for the rest, what are you doing in Paris if you are watching TV?). Minor niggles are the perennial one of no hooks near the entrance door for coats that might be wet from rain. Also, for a man nearly two metres tall, being on the top floor in Paris means intrusive eaves that could catch the head of someone stumbling around in search of the bathroom at night. It was not too intrusive, as I managed to avoid my all too frequent bang of the head.
The hotel lounge area is modern, the deep sofas set quite low, and there is an honesty bar but with tea, coffee and other drinks on tap from the circulating staff. It is a pleasant place to sit and to read and write when recovering from other activities. The week after our visit it is Paris Fashion week. Cue more pretentious people than is usual having self-aggrandising conversations on phones and laptops in the lounge, but this, of course, provides entertainment in its own right. Le Monde, the FT and the New York Times are on hand for news junkies. Sadly, the news is dominated by the early stages of Putin’s terrifying attack on Ukraine and its people which does cast a pall over our full enjoyment of engaging again with this city.
Breakfast (at €34 per person this time) is a little too rich for our taste. There are plenty of breakfast options within less than a minute’s walking distance for less than a third of the price, even if the Parisian café in this area seems to find it difficult to move beyond the the formule of boisson chaude + patisserie + tartine (avec beurre et confiture) + jus d’orange, with the occasional oeufs thrown in if they offer an ‘English’ breakfast formule.
Food
Four nights meant four dinners out in four different restaurants. None were overly expensive; this was a trip for dining simply, not for haute cuisine.
On the Île St Louis (4eme)
On the first night we returned to one of our favourite haunts. Aux Anysetiers du Roy (https://anysetiersduroy.com/en/) on the île Saint Louis is homely, run by the same woman for as long as we have been coming here. In the tiny ground floor room that serves as dining room and kitchen, she and her one staff member serve hearty classic French dishes. Starters of soupe a l’oignon, salade de chèvre chaude, escargots and terrine de campagne precede mains like boeuf bourgignon, cassoulet and confit de canard. Vegetarians are offered one choice in each course. Take a dessert like crème brûlée or tarte fine aux pommes to finish. Wines are equally traditional French offerings and and there is a healthy range of half-bottles and, our usual choice, one of the house wines by the glass or pichet (25cl or 50cl) as well as the usual bottle.
Turophiles Delight near the Pompidou (4eme)
Then a new try out the following night. A few steps to the east of the Pompidou Centre is Pain Vin Fromages (http://painvinfromages.com). This does exactly what it says on the tin. Bar the desserts, the menu is focused on cheese-based dishes with the odd charcuterie plate and salad thrown in round the edges. So come here for fondues, raclettes, tartiflettes and an amazing selection of Master Cheese Plates. All the cheeses are French, of course. This is also a small place, with a few tables at street level and several more in the brick-lined cellar room downstairs. Judging by our visit and the difficulty we had in booking, it is often packed to the gunwales, quite noisy and, for cheese lovers like us, a good deal of fun. Vegetarians have no problems here!
The Traditional Brasserie (10eme)
Hunting around Paris for traditional eateries is a research project in its own right, particularly when old favourites close or upgrade (for us sadly losing the atmosphere that made them so enjoyable in the first place). This is what bought us to Brasserie Floderer.
The origin of the brasserie was a reasonably-priced restaurant that had its Parisian beginnings with the influx of Alsatians (people from the eastern French region of Alsace not canines) around the time of the 1870 war that saw Paris (and Alsace) taken over by the Prussians as they sought to forge a pan-German nation. The upshot was a plethora of popular restaurants the style of which survives today in the wood panelling and white napery and in the black-and-white uniformed staff that serve hearty comfort food and those ice mountains decorated with shellfish.
Brasserie Floderer fulfils every one of these enjoyable stereotypes (https://www.floderer-paris.com). The seafood spectacle is complemented by the foie gras, saucisson Lyonnais, tartare de boeuf, parmentier and that trencher’s standby les choucroutes (sauerkraut with ham and sausage or salmon). Finish all that off with the rum baba, with its liberally-poured sauce of neat rum, or go for the floor show that is crêpes suzette. Vegetarians will struggle here with only three starters fitting the bill.
It is located in one of those quasi-pedestrian roads in Paris known as a cour, which is reached through an opening on the rue du Fauborg Saint-Denis, a road with its own flock of restaurants and bars. We are in the southern section of the 10eme arrondissment, still a true Parisian residential area despite gradual upscaling and the weighty presence of the two major Gares (du Nord and de l’Est).
Whilst on the subject of traditional brasseries we could not come back to Paris without a visit to our long-term go-to, La Brasserie de l’Isle Saint Louis (http://www.labrasserie-isl.fr/en/index.htm). A coffee taken on the outdoor tables on a sunny day, looking out over the river and across to Notre-Dame, still being painstakingly restored after the consuming fire in 2018, is one of those mellow Parisian moments.
Going Local (Place des Vosges – 4eme)
The last night in town sees another lovely find. Only a couple of minutes’ walk from the east side of the Place des Vosges on the rue des Tournelles is Bistrot de l’Oulette (https://bistrot-de-l-oulette.fr/en). A small, calm, shopfront bistro that has traditional French dishes but with less emphasis on ‘hearty’ portions and more of a sense of a modern twist to go with the more minimal but straightforward décor. A delightful find to which we shall return.
Practicalities
Getting Around
For getting around on public transport we prefer Paris’ excellent bus system. Like in London, with a little preparation you can use it as a way to take in the sights of the city as you travel around. Also, although the Métro system is fast and encompasses all of snail-shell Paris, it is not the most user friendly for those with the sort of limited mobility we have to deal with. There are, compared to the London Underground, fewer escalators and every change of lines feels like it involves climbs up and down several flights of steps and walks along those white-tiled corridors that seem longer than they actually are. In the single-decker RATP buses, there is just the step up into the bus to be managed.
As for buying and using tickets for the buses and Métro – look it up on a suitable search engine. There is no shortage of information out there, although I always tend to start with the city’s own transport website (in English, of course) at https://www.ratp.fr/en/visite-paris/english/visiting-paris-and-its-surrounding-areas.
For those to whom the use of public transport is anathema, the taxis are plentiful enough (like London and New York, they disappear if the weather turns foul) and competition from the usual suspects such as FreeNow and Uber has improved the user-friendliness of the Parisian cabbie. G7 (pronounced J-set) is one of the biggest taxi companies and has an English app and an English-speaking booking service at +331 41 27 66 99. And then there is the Velib’ bike hire system for the able-jointed – see https://www.velib-metropole.fr/en_GB/service.
Time Zone
Like many of the countries on the western side of Europe, one hour ahead of London.
Money and Credit Cards
The currency is the euro. We tend to have a small supply of euros given the frequency of our visits to the Eurozone (the countries in Europe which use this currency) – see https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/euro/countries-using-euro if you want a geek’s eye view. Of course most of the time we (and most others) use credit or debit cards for payments.