Paris, je t’aime! Toujours.By: Ana

Going to Paris is always lovely and surprising. Even if it’s the fourth time I went there, I’ve still discovered lots of amazing sights to visit, places to go out to, as well as nice districts to walk through. Having your girlfriends with you is even better, because you can always stop for a “café au lait” on a heated terrace, stay there for hours chit-chatting and enjoying the view of the people passing by.

If you arrive later and are kind of tired, but still want to visit the city, you can take a short walk on the shore of Seine and enjoy the view of Paris by night, with the beautiful streetlights. Then you can take the subway to Trocadero, where you will have an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower. At nightfall, approximately 336 projectors illuminate the Tower making it look like gold. If you get there on sharp o’clock, you will see for five minutes 20,000 sparkling lights on the Tower, playing with your imagination. You can go afterwards and have dinner at a nice Bistro downtown.

I recommend Le Petit Châtelet on Rue St. Denis, where we also stayed. If you are in Paris and want to dive into the history of France, you should visit Château de Versailles. You can take the RER from Paris, which stops near the palace. The interiors, the decors and the gardens with their fountains during summer time are fascinating. We received an audio guide at the entrance, which lead our journey through the palace. Even if I’m not such a big fan, I must admit it was interesting listening to the stories with kings and queens and imagining all kinds of scenes.

You must see the Queens chamber, with a decoration that keeps the memory of the three queens who occupied the room: Queen Marie-Thérèse, Marie Leszczinska and

Marie-Antoinette. It was here where they spent most of their time and where births were public, nineteen "Children of France" being born here.

I discovered another great museum, Musée d’Orsay, which I liked better than the Louvre Museum. It was built in the former Orsay railway station, and it’s by itself the first “work of art”. You can find there paintings from famous artists like Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Gustav Klimt, Claude Monet, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent Van Gogh as well as sculptures, graphic art, photography and decorations.

Nice memories brought me back to Montmartre district, well known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Coeur. Artists such as Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh and Picasso lived in Montmartre in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Walk around, get lost on the tight streets, and admire the splendid buildings and the painters from Place du Tertre.

Besides the beautiful museums and gothic architecture you can admire, we were also lucky to catch glimpses of the Paris Fashion Week. Whilst there we took a walk down the Tuileries Gardens and watched all the celebrities and people working in the industry going to the designer's Autumn/Winter Ready-to- Wear catwalk shows.

Do not forget to go and visit the Lafayette Galleries for some (window) shopping, where the world’s top fashion brands have stores. The interior of the store is

impressive because of the beautiful stained glass dome and if you go on top of the building for a coffee on the terrace you will have a splendid view over Paris.

Last but not least, if you have any money left, go for drinks or even dinner at the Parisian Buddha Bar, famous for its music and atmosphere.

My Recommendations:

• If you are searching for a place to stay, and you go together with more friends on vacation, you can check the websites booking.com or waytostay.com for apartments in Paris. We found a beautiful one downtown, near Châtelet, at a reasonable price.

• If you are hungry and don’t have much time to waste or money for eating every time at restaurants, you can choose a French bakery-café, with healthy, casual food, like la Brioche Dorée. You can find there delicious French food products like croissants, pastries, sandwiches, the French Quiche Lorraine, pies, salads or hot meals.

• Depending on where you’re living, you can get a special Paris Metro Pass called “Paris Visite” or a pack of 10 metro tickets at a lower price, that you can use anywhere in Paris. Pay attention because the tickets are not valid for longer routes outside Paris like Disneyland or Versailles.

• If you are under 26 years old, you won’t pay any entrance fees at the big, prestigious museums like Louvre, Musée d’Orsay or Château de Versailles. It’s free for young

people born in the European Union.

• If it’s cold and rainy outside, do not, I repeat :) do not go up the Eiffel Tower, unless you want it to be a bad experience.

• Other places to visit or to go to: Place Châtelet, Rue de Rivoli, Place de l’Opera, St. Michel, Notre Dame de Paris, Les Invalides, Les Halles, Centre Pompidou, Disneyland.

• Save a few hours for your trip to the airport, so you won’t be held up by traffic congestion. You don’t want to miss your plane back home as I did once.

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