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It as been a few years since we last stay in Paris.So this year we decided to have 4 days in the city before visiting the Christmas market in Northern France.We found it quite hard to find a hotel the ones in the centre round the Champs Elysees area are very expensive.
We looked at La Defense the business area where prices are lower.These hotels are full most of the time and get a lot of wear and tear and poor reviews.Plus you have to pay around 20 euros a day on top to park the car.
So we picked a hotel a little further out an Ibis hotel in Nanterre a suburb of Paris.This was a nice clean hotel with good reviews and free parking under the building.They served as much as you wanted breakfast for about 7 euros we had a nice clean room and enjoyed our stay there.You can check the Hotel out here Ibis Hotel Nanterre
When you stay on the outskirts you need to check on the public transport.The 258 bus route from outside the hotel took you to La Defense metro station about 3 miles away.Bus seemed to be every 5 mins I have never seen so many people get on a bus before but it was part of the experience.In the metro station line 1 takes you to most of the tourist destination in Paris.
Our Hotel Breakfast
On our first full day in the city we took the metro line 1 to the Louvre museum.You get off more or less under the glass Pyramid you pass through a marbled shopping street and straight into the ticket area.It took about 5 minutes to get the 12 euro entrance tickets because it was the middle of December there was only a small queue.
The museum covers several buildings and floors you need to be fit if you want to see it all.We got in just after opening time and made for the Mona Lisa first.You can get close to the picture and join a line moving passed it so you can take a photo without any one in front of you.
The thing I liked most about the museum was the building itself the painted ceilings the floors the views from the large windows.Doing all this walking makes you hungry the museum as several eating areas at reasonable prices for Paris.
Louvre museum
For our second day it was a walk round the Champs Elysees and the nearby streets.So it was back to La Defence metro line 1. You can get off at the Champs Elysees or the stop before Franklin D. Roosevelt. Which is where we got off as it is nearer the Arc de Triomphe end of the street.
If you like shopping arcades and cafes this is the place to be.Most of the big brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton have store on the street One thing that surprised me was the number of Cinemas on the street. I counted 7 / 8 multi screen cinemas you do not see that in the UK.
From the Champs Elysees we headed towards the Opera and Boulevard Haussmann.To visit Galeries Lafayette where most of the top designer brand have a stand.It is worth a visit just to see the glass domed ceiling.
Ground floor of Galeries Lafayette
The Christmas market if you are in Paris just before Christmas at the top end of the Champs Elysees is a large market on both side of the street
For our last day in Paris we decided to visit the Pere Lachaise cemetery.To see some of the graves of the famous people who have been buried there over the last 200 years.As it was a Sunday morning we decided to drive there about 5 miles from our hotel.There was little traffic and we got lucky and manage to park outside the cemetery main gate in the last parking spot.
We arrived just before 9 am just as they opened it took us about an hour to find Jim Morrisons grave not easy to find.We spent a couple of hours walking round and found several of the famous people buried here.As we were leaving I saw a couple of groups with local guides.It is such a large place if you want to see everything you are probably better with a guide.The cemetery is still being used so there is very little in signs to guide you.
SHORT BREAKS are available, including in July and August, minimum 4 nights.
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Paris France
Venus de Milo in the Louvre museum
The picture everybody wants to see at the Louvre the Mona Lisa
Galeries Lafayette
Louis Vuitton store on the Champs Elysees
Gucci store on the Champs Elysees
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