Paris From The Sky

Since I came to Paris in September, I have seen the city from up high more times than is really necessary. So much so, that I have now come to the point where I am reluctant to part with money to see Centre Pompidou, Invalides, Panthéon and Sacré-Coeur from over 200 metres high up yet again. However, for the past couple of weeks this is exactly what I've been doing.

I have seen Paris from Tour Monparnasse, which was impressive but left me a little disappointed, perhaps due to the terrace being closed. From the Sacre-Coeur, which was interesting as you get to see a little more of northern Paris. And attempted to see the view from Paris' hot air balloon in Parc André Citroen; not a successful attempt as apparently the smallest breeze will cause them to stop the balloon rides for about two days which is really rather annoying when you have traveled from the other side of Paris to do this for your friend's last day. Lesson learned: call first.

My favourite view is still the one from Arc de Triomphe, it was high enough to see the important monuments but also not too high to still make out some details. The only disadvantage are the 284 stairs you have to climb first! I'm still yet to see the view from Notre-Dame but this also includes seeing the bells, so I'm not too reluctant to do that. And I still haven't seen a view of Paris at night....which could mean a fifth visit to the Eiffel Tower.

The View From Sacré-Coeur

From Tour Montparnasse

From Institut du Monde Arabe

From Arc de Triomphe

From Centre Pompidou

Culture Shock

I have been so cultured recently, and have ticked quite a few things off my Paris Checklist and then some! I managed to get to the Catacombs, Cimitere de Montmartre, Promenade Plantée, Musée d'Orsay and go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. All are worth going to, with a personal favourite being the Arc de Triomphe. There is something about being in the middle of a busy city, high above the hustle and bustle, that I love.

As for the things that weren't on my list: if anyone in Paris at the moment is interested in cinema and/or French historical monuments, then I urge you to go to the 'Monuments, stars du 7e Art' exhibition at La Conciergerie. The exhibition is on until 13th Feb and is really interesting. I would also recommend the 'Reporters Sans Frontiers' exhibition at Le Petit Palais to anyone. It's evocative and shocking (in a tactful way): on until 27th Feb. I also found myself at Le Mosquée last week, a Moroccan/Arabic style tea room with very sweet tea and cakes, saving my crumbs for the little birds flying around inside.

Being cultured for a whole week deserves a little relaxing (read: drinking) time so my friends and I made the most of the weekend (starting Thursday night) and went to some really fun places: Café Charbon who do 1 litre cocktails for 19€ which was pretty good between four of us, L'International which was hosting a gig in its basement room, La Machine du Moulin Rouge which is a fantastic club venue where we got to see a short film about All Tomorrow's Parties; great film, terrible music (in my opinion) and finally, au contraire to the unenjoyable music at La Machine, a playlist that would make Snobs proud in Pop In's sweaty basement room.

All in all, a fab week which has come to an abrupt end with the start of university classes. Ici, la fin de la vie de loisir et le début du grand stress!