Paris and northern France (June 23)
This short four day trip saw us head for Paris via the stunning town of Arras, where we stopped a couple of hours for a late morning coffee and brunch.
Arras is only an hour south of Calais and so was ideal for a leisurely pit stop en route. I have absolutely no idea why I’d been whizzing past such a beautiful place with such incredible and complex history during previous journeys into or through France.
It has a huge cobblestone town square, gorgeous gothic cathedral and stunning town hall. It also has a very Dutch feel to it, so I did a bit of research and discovered its Flemish-baroque style is down to the fact that the region used to be controlled by the “Spanish Netherlands” with the town having changes hands a few times over the centuries (French, British, Spanish, Austrian, Belgium, Dutch) and was also at the centre of things in WW1, indeed Emma’s grandfather served here. It’s simply stunning and I can’t understand how I’ve missed this place…
Paris is a place I’ve visited numerous times in the past, but usually for work or when passing through going somewhere else! So this time we decided to stay for a few days and take in the sights at a more leisurely pace, I’ve only seen a few of the famous places from a distance so it was nice to see them close up.
We booked into HPB accommodation in a small village to the east of Paris called St Simeon, taking advantage of the outdoor pool and peaceful rural setting before heading into the city centre early on Saturday morning.
The train journey should have been an hour, but because of local staff shortages and engineering works we ended up doing a detour via replacement buses and the metro, but it actually worked in our favour given where we were deposited (even though we ended up paying twice owing to the routes being run by different operators).
We started our trip at the Louvre before strolling through the Jardin des Tuileries past the Place de La Concorde and down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. The weather was kind to us so we used up a lot of shoe leather taking in the sights as the sun burnt off the clouds giving us 30 degree temperatures.
The gardens were alive with people doing yoga, exercising or just relaxing.
By amazing coincidence we discovered (through spotting a FB post) that an old friend and work colleague, Jakub was also in town after having been here on business earlier in the week, so we arranged to meet and catch up for a beer (or two).
We met just south of the Arc de Triomphe before setting off for the Eiffel Tower and then onto a bar. We both love travelling so had a lot to talk about.
It was so nice to meet up again after a few years, both of us having taken a different path from the place we met.
Oh and a mention about Parisians, who I had heard can be a bit grumpy, especially with the English! Not a bit, everyone we met were unbelievably friendly and helpful, from the bus driver at Gare de Colulommiers who left her bus to check we were on the correct transport route to Paris, to the Parisian passenger to escorted us to the right train at Chessy to the waiters and bar staff everywhere who could not have been kinder at our attempts to massacre the French language.
Our third day (second in Paris) took us to a different part of the city, the area surrounding Montmartre. We took the train again.
By the time we got to Central Paris the thunder and rain clouds had passed and we enjoyed a beautiful walk up to Basilica of Sacré Coeur in the blazing sun, and a nice wander through the markets and restaurants at the top.
We looked up a restaurant that my youngest daughter, Sarah had recommended but it was rammed, so we headed off to another.
We then took in a few sights this side of the city including The Moulin Rouge and the Opera House.
Our final day
After breakfast we headed off to the beaches of the North, exploring the coastal region south of Boulogne towards Calais. Some great empty beaches to be found with acres and acres of white sand and dunes. .
The temperatures were in the mid twenties again, with lots of sun. We spent the best part of the afternoon exploring. Our favourite place was Cucq just to the south of Touquet. We even went in for a dip!
It was the perfect way to round off the four day break before heading for an evening Eurotunnel crossing.
STOP PRESS – Normal service has been resumed.
I may have spoken too soon about the wonderful and good mannered Parisians .. we encountered THE most belligerent SNCF woman with an awful Jobsworth attitude and no common sense or ability to exercise discretion.
Having purchased a ticket at the unmanned station at Coulommiers, we boarded the train and settled down to our journey. The trains here are pristine and the journey was pleasant and very good value at €5 for the hour long trip. On arrival at Paris we went to the exit barrier only to be stopped just before we reached it (almost certainly the subject of “tourist” profiling by the authorities). We were then presented with a €50 euro fine “each” for not validating our tickets before we boarded (at the other end) – we discovered all too late that all rural French train stations have little “validation” machines, so once you’ve had a ticket dispensed via a “sales” machine you have to go and find another machine somewhere else on the platform to validate your travel before you travel… “sacré bleu”!
Lesson learned – when alighting a train you must speak French and look like a local to avoid tourist profiling (don’t wear a rucksack or speak English).. It was such fun watching the lady SNCF official and Emma sparing… I’ve never seen Emma so incensed (ever)… Emma was even encouraging police involvement given the injustice and unfairness of it all (made worse by Miss Nasty’s attitude), but it was only when we were told (with an accompanying smirk and obligatory shrug of the shoulders) that the fine would double upon their arrival did we coughed up and walk away (it was probably a bluff but by then we couldn’t be arsed).
Miss “nasty” SNCF was the ONLY bad experience the entire trip, everything else was fantastic and everyone else so polite. However, we were pleased on one level that the rude and belligerent Parisian stereotype had been well and truly upheld…
We’ve found a link that explains the “rule” which I can now understand, but for foreigners who have never encountered this bizarre arrangement before – it’s easy to see how genuine mistakes can be made.
Hey Lawrence well done with the blog,
We had to do do a similar thing with the train ticket in Florence’, I recall. So impressed with the travelling, I retiring this year planning to partially live canal boat, and if can sort the doggy sitters , do some long travels. Great read Aka Alison Patey x