Paris 2015, One Last Visit

There are feelings of nostalgia that come through when flicking through travel photos almost 18 months after the trip. On this occasion, we rediscovered some unpublished photos from our last trip to Paris in July 2015. This was perhaps our 8th visit to the French capital and a place that will forever hold happy memories in our hearts. This was also the month that Olie's family came to visit and we played 'tour guide' in London and in Paris at the iconic sites. So this is it. Recapping the last night in Paris. Au Revoir.

Strasbourg and Paris, France

It is perhaps a little strange to be blogging about Christmas markets in France during the peak of Summer, but when the content is about the oldest Christmas markets in the world - then it is all worthwhile. This blog post covers the weekend in December when we continued our annual tradition of visiting Christmas markets overseas - selecting Strasbourg, France and a short stop in Paris for the festivities along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. We chose to visit Strasbourg as the first Christkindelsmärik in the world was held around the Cathedral in 1570 and every year tourists are drawn to this UNESCO listed city to buy vin chaud (hot wine), biscuits and wooden decorations. 

Paris, France - Part 2

Our second trip to Paris within 12 months and we once again love so much how easy it is to take a train from London to this beautiful city of lights. This trip (in contrast to the last minute rush of the 2011 visit) had plenty of prior planning whereby we managed to purchase our Eurostar tickets for £69 return. The key is to buy the tickets up to three months in advance of travel for the cheapest seats. We also secured our accommodation booking around the same time, selecting the lively area of St Germain in the Latin Quarter as our base; instead of the fringe area of last trip next to the Eiffel Tower.

Paris, France

One night in Paris left us in awe of the city. We fell in love with the architecture, cafes, gardens, food and despite words of caution from our English colleagues, we found Parisians to be ever so helpful even though our ability to speak French was limited to 'Bonjour' and 'Merci'. This Paris trip (no doubt the first of many) had been planned at the last minute as Olie was required to travel there for training. It would have been unfair to leave Mei behind and soon a compromise was reached so we could experience Paris for the first time together.