We decided to spend an extended weekend in Paris to stay and catch up with Nic, Stacey’s Sister. We haven’t seen her for a couple of years plus she is the reason for us having the opportunity to live in England for a while. It also coincides with her birthday which provides another reason to go and help her celebrate.

A quick train ride reaching speeds of just below 300Kmph delivered us from St Pancras station in London to Gare du Nord station in Paris in under 2.5 hours but, due to an IT issue with the boarding systems (damn IT systems), we arrive a little later than expected. Eurostar do however provide a guarantee for their services which presented us with a partial refund for the 90-minute delay leaving London.

Slightly late but still feeling fresh we make our way from Gare de Nord to Place de Clichy via Paris’ Metro rail service. We have been given a tip to download and use an application named Bonjour RATP to help us navigate our way through Paris. It’s simple to use and helps us right through the weekend. (IT systems redeemed after a bad start)

Nic has moved into a nice flat in the Place de Clichy area within the 8th arrondissement which puts us within walking distance of all the tourist spots but is far enough out of the centre to avoid the hustle bustle. Her flat is a peaceful hideout that has that French charm with light streaming through the windows on to the old parquetry floors. The view from the window is across a small private courtyard and over a typical French roofline.

Paris is currently frantic as it prepares for the Olympics in July 2024 with plenty of building work, cleaning of building facades and road closures to allow the construction of the temporary event stadiums. We haven’t been to Paris since Christmas / New Year 2014-15 so we head out on foot over the next few days to reacquaint ourselves with the typical tourist spots of Moulin Rouge and Sacre Coeur Basilica at Montmartre while keeping away from the tourist streets. Stacey and I find walking one to two streets back provides the best view of how a city really looks and feels with Paris no exception. The architecture is more intact plus you get glimpses down streets of the big-ticket items.

We also find some vantage points of the city that we haven’t visited previously. There is a retail building named Galeries Lafayette which holds high-end brands that has a magnificent dome at its centre and provides a rooftop area to shoppers. There was an area set aside for the coverage of the French Open at Roland Garros when we visited with the remaining space allowing 180-degree views of Paris capturing the Opera House, Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile. Well worth a visit.

To top it all off we visited a number of great coffee shops and restaurants that served the foods that France is famous for, with the walking compensating for the calories. The French are renowned for using butter, everything is better with butter. Plus, we indulged in one of our favourite simple meals consisting of a baguette, pork rillettes (we call “Piggy in a Pot”), Camembert cheese and apricot jam. It may sound a bit strange but try it, you may just like it…