Travel Blogs - Since 1997
Free Travel Blog Join for Free! Sign in FAQ Advanced Newest
Home
Destinations
Our Travelers
Forums
Flights
Hotels
Cars
Hostels
Tours
Travel Insurance
40,552 travel experiences from 146 countries shared this week Find travelers near you Who's in

Parisian Delights


Destinations > Europe > France > Paris > Travel Blog: The Honeymoon. Well, for ... > Parisian Delights


byrnedm
about Byrnedm

TravelPod Badges
byrnedm is a Founding Member

Send a message
Subscribe to this Travel Blog Get email updates
Unsubscribe Unsubscribe
Print Entire Travel Blog Print travel blog
Bookmark this page Bookmark
Byrnedm's TravelStream™

Create a FREE Travel Blog - Join TravelPod! Paris Hotels


Byrnedm's travel blogs:

About This Travel Blog
Entries (114)
Guestbook (7)
 
Support My Travels



The Honeymoon. Well, for the 1st half at least.

Table of contents

24 votes rate it
Visitors: 15822 - 904 this month


This is a featured travel blog! This is a top pick!
Can Not - Previous Entry
Je t'adore - Next Entry

Parisian Delights

,
Flag of France
Friday, Aug 17, 2007  22:00

Entry 7 of 114 | show all | print this entry
View all photos & videos  View as slideshow


01 Rue Lepic
01 Rue Lepic

02 Anything
they can do.....
02 Anything they can do.....

03 Basilique du
Sacre Coeur
03 Basilique du Sacre Coeur
Enjoying this travel blog? Donate to byrnedm's travel fund today!

· Montmartre, Paris, France
· GMT +1:00 hour

Paris. First Impressions
We've arrived. With bags in tow we managed to negotiate the Paris metro and check into our room, room 43, in Hotel Bonsejour Montmartre (BTW, the Paris metro is as easy to navigate as all other metro systems... assuming you have some semblance of a sense of direction and you're not colour blind to the point that you cant tell the difference between red, blue, green etc lines). We're in the Montmartre area of the city and once again we seem to have landed on our feet; we have a lovely 4th floor room with a balcony overlooking a picture book Parisian neighbourhood ... or at least what we deem to be a Parisian neighbourhood - narrow, winding cobbled streets lined wine stores, supermarkets, boulangeries, cafes, bars and restaurants. We're a minute walk from any of the above and we can envision spending some of the 4 nights we'll be here sitting on our balcony sipping wine and watching the world go by.


Who are the people in your neighbourhood
We have only just arrived and haven't seen much of the area, let alone Paris itself. We have however been able to get out for a quick look around. This area, Montmartre (Montmartre Hill), is a hilly district situated in the north of the city. It's quite bohemian and laidback, attracting the writer and artist types (Picasso had a studio around these lanes somewhere) who hang about in its cafes and bars. The areas biggest attraction however is the mammoth Basilique du Sacre Coeur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) perched atop Montmartre Hill and offering great views out over Paris. We visited the sight this evening and were impressed with both the basilica itself and of the city sprawling off into the distance. About the only thing we could tell about the rest of Paris from up there was that it's big. Very big. And while from up here it seems to go on forever, the city centre area is supposed to be compact enough and eminently walk able (we'll let you know tomorrow if it is or not).

So until then we'll bid you all adieu. Tomorrow we plan on doing some serious walking. No doubt we'll finish tomorrow (and the next day, and the next....) on our balcony sipping wine. At €3 a bottle we'd be mad not to.

(Final) Day 4 Observations (August 17th 2007)

· Paris is very multicultural
That's obvious. What might not be immediately obvious is that it's also a huge source of tension over here.

· Stereotypes
Everyone walks around carrying baguettes in their arms. It may be a stereotype but it happens. At least here in Montmartre. Some people even eat them on the move.

· Parisian Delights
All the narrow lanes in this area are towered over by cream coloured buildings, much like in various areas of London. Gives the place a classy look, much like in various areas of London.

· Fruit
Yep, they have fruit shops here. Tons of them. Hard pressed to find any in Caen, especially ones that were open.

· It's cheap
How about €2-3 for a bottle of wine. $0.51 for 1litre of Volvic mineral water. I know its French and all but good luck trying to get that for under €2.50 in Ireland.

· Foreginers a plenty
I know this includes us but there really are tourists everywhere. Not that it's surprising... with 80m million tourists a year, France is, by far, the most popular tourist destination in the world.

· Outdoor drinking
It's acceptable to drink on the streets over here. Yep, and this being Paris you're not likely to find the local drunk falling around with a bag of cider cans or cheap lager. Nope, here it's all wine. From the romantic couple sitting on a park bench to the wino lying besdie it, they'll all have a bottle of wine... and maybe a baguette.

· WIFI locked
Nobody seems to leave their WiFi networks open over here! If this keeps up we'll have to pay to upload these entries in some crappy internet cafe with French backward keyboards. Keep that in mind if you wanna give out to us about the lack of contact when you do eventually get around to reading these entries.


Latest Comments (3)

Congratulations to you both! (reply)
Aug 21, 2007 21:55 EST by whatboundaries

What a huge undertaking! First a wedding and now this great trip. I am a few steps ahead of you in Europe it seems, and reading your TravelPod has reminded me of my stay in Paris... With the unfortunate experience of getting pick-pocketed my first day in the train station..

Best of luck to you on your travel journey and your life journey together.

Cheryl (whatboundaries)


Tell us more about Montmartre and Hotel Bonsejour (reply)
Aug 20, 2007 11:25 EST by randy_from_nb

Hi!

I enjoyed reading your entry about Paris and Montmartre. It just so happens I will be in Paris first weekend in October and staying at the Hotel Bonsejour with a balcony and private shower too!

How was the hotel and staff? Did you find it difficult to travel to the other arrondissements in Paris? How close is the Metro to the hotel? Is the area seedy like the Moulin Rouge are... show all


Hi Dave and Meg (reply)
Aug 19, 2007 17:54 EST by finlaysinead

Glad all is going well and you're both enjoying the sites in Paris - warning re Sacre Coeur area = the transexual / transgender red light district (which I discovered with 70 teenagers in tow!).
Recommendations - do walk along the Champs - ignore all pedestrian crossings (drivers do) - and if you're going to climb the tour eiffel do it at night - much nicer view!
Take care


Post a new comment
If you like this entry, search for other entries by byrnedm, from or try a new search.
Can Not
Go to top of page
Je t'adore

 
Table of Contents
1 - 20 | 21 - 40 | 41 - 60 | 61 - 80 | 81 - 100 | 101 - 114
Previous | Why couldn't we spend 5 days here?show all entries
 (show entry-less map pins)

1.Wondering how far we'll go - Kingston, Canada Jun 26, 2007
2.An end in sight - Wicklow, Ireland Aug 13, 2007
3.The Normandy to Normandy - Irish Sea, Ireland Aug 14, 2007 ( This entry has 6 photos 6 )
4.Closed - Caen, France Aug 15, 2007 ( This entry has 4 photos 4 )
5.D-Day Overload - Caen, France Aug 16, 2007 ( This entry has 10 photos 10 )
6.Can Not - Caen, France Aug 17, 2007 ( This entry has 4 photos 4 )
7.Parisian Delights - Paris, France Aug 17, 2007 ( This entry has 3 photos 3 ) ( Comments 3 )
8.Je t'adore - Paris, France Aug 21, 2007 ( This entry has 30 photos 30 )
9.R&R - Dijon, France Aug 22, 2007 ( This entry has 5 photos 5 )
10.Room for two more bears? - Bern, Switzerland Aug 24, 2007 ( This entry has 10 photos 10 )
11.On a High - Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland Aug 25, 2007 ( This entry has 12 photos 12 )
12.Loads of water... and decay - Venice, Italy Aug 28, 2007 ( This entry has 14 photos 14 ) ( Comments 1 )
13.The Renaissance Migraine - Florence, Italy Aug 31, 2007 ( This entry has 16 photos 16 )
14.Straighten Up - Pisa, Italy Aug 31, 2007 ( This entry has 3 photos 3 )
15.Museumus Giganticious - Rome, Italy Sep 03, 2007 ( This entry has 34 photos 34 )
16.Different - Naples, Italy Sep 06, 2007 ( This entry has 10 photos 10 )
17.Ashes to ashes - Pompeii, Italy Sep 06, 2007 ( This entry has 12 photos 12 )
18.Befriended - Durres, Albania Sep 07, 2007 ( This entry has 7 photos 7 )
19.Bedridden - Tiriana, Albania Sep 10, 2007 ( This entry has 6 photos 6 )
20.Leaving's harder than we thought - Ohrid, Macedonia Sep 13, 2007 ( This entry has 8 photos 8 )

Previous | Why couldn't we spend 5 days here?show all entries
 (show entry-less map pins)
1 - 20 | 21 - 40 | 41 - 60 | 61 - 80 | 81 - 100 | 101 - 114

Back to Entry - Back to Home






Explore Paris, France
Travel Blogs
Run Moron Run by flashpackers
Paris, France by tbassplayer
Paris at last by tracystravels
Voila by tracystravels
Cara Lutetia by sutiramisu
Forum Discussions
Street Food by kitkatgo
Eurail/Interail by cheli
What would you go do in the past! by 2olives
Why travellers don't have careers by introducinlyric
Where are you going for your summer by kitkatgo
Photos and Videos
031 Orangerie in Versailles Gardens Notre Dame
The Tower The City Hall
03-Qupid and Psyche 08 - Versailles
Hotels in Paris
Sofitel Paris Forum Rive Gauche
Atel Residence Foch Paris
Hotel Du Square D Anvers Paris
Hotel Bonne Nouvelle Paris
Bleu Marine Paris
Hotel Britannique Paris
Hotel Kensington Paris
Absolute Paris
Concorde La Fayette Paris
Square Caulaincourt Paris

 

Paris Travel Blogs (2,375)
France Travel Blogs (3,434)
Paris Forum Discussions (153)
France Forum Discussions (243)
Paris Photos and Videos (28,421)
France Photos (5,000)
Paris Hotels (1752)

 



Africa | Asia | Australasia | Europe | Middle East | North America | South America | Central America | Caribbean
Home | Toolbar | Store | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | About | FAQ | Jobs | Contact Us
Copyright © 1997 - 2008 TravelPod.com, a proud founder of travel blogs on the web. All Rights Reserved.