A summer in Paris

With strolls in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, picnics in the Jardin des Tuileries Garden, romantic trysts in the Jardin du Luxembourg and cultural expeditions to the Centre Georges Pompidou, it’s impossible to resist the allure of a Parisian summer. So, it’s best to succumb and indulge in all these delights, along with enjoying an ice cream by the Seine, sipping a good glass of white wine on the terrace of a bistro on the Rue Mouffetard and spending a sweetly soothing night at the Hotel Monte Cristo.

 

 

Let's talk about the Rue Mouffetard...

… And mention that you’ll find a market in full swing every morning.

Stalls brimming with tempting fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese and fish vie for your attention on the cobblestoned street.

Enjoying a coffee in the heart of this array of colours, aromas and clamour is one of those little nuggets of happiness that will remain long in your memory.

 

Then we escape to...

If the sun is pleasantly warm you can walk to the Pantheon and the Latin Quarter, where one of the famous green seats of the Jardin du Luxembourg will be the setting for your lunch break.

If the summer heat is a little too much, head to the Institute of the Arab World where the exhibitions are always fascinating (and they serve lovely mint tea!). Or visit the Jardin des Plantes, with its magnificent iron and glass greenhouses and its Grand Gallery of Evolution.

 

 

 

Across the bridge…

You are already facing the Seine. Before you is the Ile de la Cité, where the Conciergerie, the Sainte-Chapelle and Notre-Dame Cathedral stand in all their magnificence!

Upriver is the romantic Ile Saint-Louis, which is also well worth a visit. On the opposite bank is the Marais with its winding streets lined with 17th century mansions, its Place des Vosges, designer furniture stores and fashion boutiques.

And tomorrow? 
Tomorrow, the Louvre, and after coffee at the market, head in the other direction, to the Port Royal and Ernest Hemingway’s Montparnasse before watching a film at the open-air cinema in La Villette. 

Welcome to Paris!