My Other Life in Paris

I wish I lived in Paris but I don’t. So on a recent 3-day trip to Paris I decided to live the life I often wished I had. I pretended I really was Parisienne.

To start in the right frame of mind, I caught the Eurostar to Paris and made sure I got to St Pancreas station in London early. This is a gorgeously restored train station, I recommend you head upstairs to the Champagne Bar and indulge in a glass of Champagne with a bowl of strawberries and cream while sitting under the soaring roof – oysters are another good option. (Note: if you’re in London and simply want to visit Paris on a day trip via Eurostar, you can book that too.)

After whisking across the channel in no time at all, I checked into my cute little boutique hotel in the Bastille area and was ready to explore.

Plus de vin? Oui.

Paris is a great walking city, with the metro to fall back on if your legs get tired. I walked down Rue de Rivoli to near the Louvre, and found my way to a French wine tasting in a very old stone underground cellar. Olivier, our charming sommelier, talked us through our sampling of wines from Champagne to the big reds, and with his endless supply of facts and anecdotes it was interesting and enjoyable for everyone from beginners to fanatics.

Wine tasting in Paris

The samplings were generous, as were the bread and the cheese platters, so a good party mood developed fast. So much so that at the end of the two hours, about 10 of us who had been complete strangers a couple of hours earlier asked if we could buy some bottles and stay and drink them in the cellar. This may not be a standard outcome of the wine tasting, but Olivier was happy to oblige and soon joined us as well.

Before long it was 10pm and we persuaded Olivier to join us for dinner in a café he recommended in the Marais where we practiced our new knowledge on the wine list to help wash down the delicious bistro dinner.

Now I can’t guarantee that if you do a wine tasting all these extras will happen as well, but I am fairly sure you’re going to have a good time anyway.

Learning about French wines... almost as goos as tasting them

And as I stumbled back to my hotel at 1.30am I felt I was off to a good start in my new Parisienne life style.

Paris, Sunday stroll on the Left Bank

The sun was shining on a late-summer morning, so I headed off to place St-Michel on the Left Bank to get my first coffee for the day. My plan was still to indulge in as many things Parisian as possible, while capturing as much of it as I can on my camera so I will have those reminders forever.

I head west into the St Germain area, and stopped for breakfast in the lovely little Rue de Buci – cobblestones, cafes and sunny on both sides of the street, and lots of locals in the cafes as well, not just tourists. I try not to stare at the very parisian young man with the lime-green smoking jacket and the two extraordinarily large dogs sitting across the way from me – perhaps I should get a dog too?

Suitably prepared for the day now, I continue down to where Rue de Buci meets Boulevard St Germain, turn right and browse the lovely little markets, lots of jewellery, clothing, shoes and arts and crafts to tempt me. I only just managed to resist the temptations at the stall full of wonderfully bohemian summer sandals, and was unable to resist the modern and stylish designs at one jewellery stand, where I acquired a lovely new bracelet.

Then I headed down to Boulevard Raspail, where every Sunday the median strip of the road converts into a fantastic farmers market. Not only can I sample the cheeses and fruits and patisserie, but it’s a photographic paradise as well, the whole Latin Quarter and St Germain is, so don’t forget your camera, too. This is a market full of local people doing their shopping though, so be aware of the other people around you who may not want their shopping interrupted when you are trying to line up that perfect shot.

Next on my list for the day is Musee d’Orsay, but first I have one more stop, at Eric Kayser, Artisan Boulanger, on the corner of Rue be Bac and Rue de Verneuil, just before the museum. It is impossible to walk past a shop with this quality and range of drool-inducing breads, tarts and patissieries. It would be a crime not to sit down, have a coffee or hot chocolate and sample one of the enticing wares, the only hard thing is deciding which one!

My tips for Paris’ museums and galleries

Paris is full of art galleries and museums, with enough diversity to have one for everyone’s tastes. My favourite is Musee d’Orsay with its sculpture and Impressionists all perfectly displayed in the beautifully converted old railway station.

I am not alone in this, when I saw the queues to get in I was glad I had purchased my Paris museum pass in advance and could head straight in through the signposted door on the side and not have to wait. The bonus feature is that after I have wandered the galleries and soaked up the beauty, I could head to the top floor (5th) and out onto the little external terrace, which gives me a birds eye view of Sacre Coeur. There is also a spot inside on the top floor where you can take a picture of Sacre Coeur through the back of the massive clock face, very cool, I am feeling very arty by this stage.

Over the bridge to the Jardin de Tuilleries, I can see the Arc de Triomphe to the left – however, today, I am heading right towards the Louvre. I’m not going to do a second museum today (save this one for later), but if you’ve always loved those pictures people take from inside the glass pyramid looking out at the old façade, you can join the queue that goes in through the pyramid, as this takes you down to the entrance hall where you would buy your entrance ticket.

But instead of buying a ticket today I just ride the escalators and take the stairs and take those photos and leave again without spending a cent. Instead I head over Pont de Neuf to Notre Dame – the climb up to the top to see the gargoyles properly is well worth it. Then I strolled round the back of Notre Dame so I could see the famous Flying Buttresses and then headed across the bridge to Ile St-Louis. Time for another rest and relaxation break, its been quite a bit of walking.

The streets of this tiny island in the middle of the Seine have a great range of cafes and bistros – I certainly enjoyed my long slow lunch of parmesan and artichoke soufflé with a glass of chardonnay. These are also good browsing streets, with many jewellery stores and upmarket food stores, as well as about 27 outlets of the famous Bertillon sorbets and icecreams, with a queue at every single one.

My own private Montmartre

Next morning I head to Place de Abbesses in Montmartre, and had a restorative breakfast in the sun. There is a funicular up the hill to Sacre Coeur but I love the winding backstreets here, so I walk up – take Rue Yve le Tec lined with all sorts of trendy and interesting shops, and then go left on Rue de Trois Freres, right onto rue Drevet and up the classic Paris steps at the top.

I then find myself in Place du Tertre, the picturesque but oh so touristy heart of Montmartre, right next to Sacre Coeur. Apart from the crowds it is quite charming, and although I didn’t want to sit for a portrait or caricature this time, I liked standing back and watching at least a dozen other people being drawn, from amongst the fifty or so artists filling the square – this is a competitive business!

I took the 300 step climb to the top of Sacre Coeur for the fantastic view – look for the signs to the side of Sacre Coeur for the crypt and climb – you are at an equivalent height to the top of the Eiffel tower at the top here. The crypt is worth a look too and is free – the climb costs 5 euro.

After resting on the steps for a while in the sun, I headed back towards Place du Tetre but turned right just before it and headed a couple of blocks down Rue du Mont Cenis – there’s another classic set of Montmartre stairs here, and look out for the house on the corner with the large mirrored window – you can do some neat photographic tricks with it.

Down the steps and a block to the left is a strange sight for most cities but makes sense to me in Paris – the Montmartre vineyards, still in production apparently, but closed on a Monday so I couldn’t sample the wares. Back up a couple of blocks on Rue des Saules to Rue Lepic, I cant resist the original old windmill on the corner, I guess the Moulin Rouge did not think of it first after all. A couple of blocks further on, at the corner of Rue Tholoze, I pull up a chair with a fantastic view and order a cold beer while I rest.

Jumping on the metro, I head east to the Cour St-Emilion stop, in the lovely Bercy suburb where old wine warehouses have been converted into a complex of wine bars, shops and restaurants, all with great outdoor seating, perfect for my sunny day. After browsing the shops and sampling another nice wine, I head towards where I am staying in Bastille and pass by the Viaduc des Arts.

Paris in black and white, taken on my Segway tour

I enjoy stretching my legs on the Promenade Plantee, a stretch of old railway line along the top of the viaduct which has been turned into an urban garden filled with everyone from joggers to families to grandparents out for a stroll. The walk back along the same stretch at ground level is just as good, the viaduct runs for many blocks and houses clothing, homewares, jewellery and all sorts of eclectic stores. I am excited to find a favourite of mine, Cecile et Jean – I have previously shopped in their San Francisco branch and knew if was French but hadn’t known where their shop was – to celebrate this happy co-incidence I add a new large cocktail ring to my jewellery collection.

I fall in love with the Paris Segway tour

As evening approaches I head west again to Trocadero. It doesn’t matter how many times I see it, I get a real thrill seeing the Eiffel Tower, whether its through the trocadero fountains or from directly underneath. Today I am here to try something different – I’m going sightseeing around Paris on an evening Segway tour.

Me on the Segway

Now I confess this doesn’t sound particularly Parisien, but with the wonderful array of parks, walkways and bridges in Paris, as well as being flat, it’s an ideal spot for these wonderful machines. Some locals living in the area have been so intrigued by seeing the tours go past that they have signed up to try them out, so I figure that’s good enough for me.

In the first five minutes of learning how to ride them (and that’s really all it takes) I realize this is about the coolest machine in the history of travel and I want one of my own. But for now I settle for about five hours of whizzing around from sight to sight on Segasaurus (no, I didn’t pick the name) in my little group of 8 seggers (yes, that is the official name for us riders) and our guide, getting a fun ride, a history lesson and great photos all in one.

We stopped off for dinner near the Louvre and headed back past the Eiffel tower after 11pm, which in summer time is when the light show on the tower comes on for a couple of hours. It was somewhat of a test of my balance and segway control to try and take photos of the Eiffel tower lit up at night while trying to stand still on my Segway, but I got away with it without visible bruises. I had to save the convivial drink until after we gave the Segways back, as it’s not very cool to be drink-driving on these lovely machines.

The nighttime tour is advertised as about 4 hours, but they were very flexible to the group and since no one in our group was in a rush to go anywhere else afterward, we got a whole 6 hours including our leisurely dinner stop. So for my final night in Paris, I head home late and happy, just how I imagine my life in Paris would always be.

Footnote: prebooking my airport transfer to Charles de Gaulle Airport for the next morning did slightly ease the pain of having to leave.

-Vicki P

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s Paris tours and things to do in Paris.