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Bookmark & share3-Day Hors d'Oeuvre
Three days in Paris will inevitably leave you yearning for more, but at least you'll have some idea of why people go ga-ga for the place. On the first day, get up high and see Paris from above - it's a flat city and rewards the climber. Try the Eiffel Tower - it may be a cliché, but the view is still magic - or even a balloon tour. The roof of Notre Dame is a marvellous place to take the measure of the city's topography; tip your hat to the blackened gargoyles then trip downstairs for a look at the fabulous interior. Finish the day with dinner in Montmartre.
On the second day, go wild over art - this is Paris, after all. Check out the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée Rodin; recover with a pastis on the Champs-Élysées before tackling the Louvre. Then enjoy a night of mirth and gaiety in the Marais.
Start the third day slow, with brunch on the place des Vosges. Wander off to see the famous dead at Cimetière du Père Lachaise, then take in a concert, opera or ballet at the Palais Garnier or Opéra Bastille, or a play at the Comédie Française, before heading off on a bar and club crawl in Ménilmontant.
A Top Day in Paris
After a tiptop Paris night, a tiptoe Paris day might be in order, but let's (unreasonably) assume that I wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in my friend's belle époque apartment near Place de la République on a Sunday morning. To market, to market - in this case my favourite, Marché Bastille, to stock up on anchovy fillets, trompettes de la mort (a type of mushroom) and other 'essentials'. Afterwards, I'll wend my way through medieval Marais, stopping for a grand crème (coffee with cream) and a pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant) at Ma Bourgogne in the scrumptious Place des Vosges. The landmark bridge Pont de Sully leads to my favourite island, Île St-Louis, but once I reach the Île de la Cité, I'll eschew Notre Dame in favour of the smaller, more delicate Ste-Chapelle. Before lunch (somewhere on the Rue Montorgueil market street) I'll window-shop at the boutiques of Rue Étienne Marcel or have another look at the antique clothes for sale in the Galerie de Montpensier (it's Sunday!). Though close, the Louvre is just too daunting for a postprandial visit; instead I'll rent a bike from Fat Tire Bike Tours and play chicken with the traffic in the middle of Place de l'Étoile, where motorists entering the roundabout have right of way. If I feel culturally peckish, I'll make my way to the Musée Auguste Rodin and have a kip under the sculptors sublime The Thinker. As far as I'm concerned, any corner cafe works for an apéro (sundowner), but since I'm having dinner at Juan et Juanita in Ménilmontant, I head for L'Autre Café; they've just got to have a bottle of Pastis 51 with my name on it.
Author: Steve Fallon
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