Yes!! We went to Paris for Lunch! How marvellously indulgent is that. Having a British Passport really opens up the world.
When I first arrived in the UK back in 2001, I was on a South African passport with the accompanying ancestral visa. Having this was, in my ‘book’, just the ultimate! It meant I could live and work in the UK, it also meant I could apply for visas to visit Europe and the USA…I really thought that was the ultimate.
But as the years went by, I realised more and more what a real gem the ‘little red book’ is, the places I could go……instead of having to apply months in advance, spending a fortune and having to take off a lot of time (sometimes losing out on work due to visa appointments), the time got nearer to my making the decision to become a British Citizen (although that was a given anyway…I really wanted to be a citizen of the UK from when I first arrived), and apply for my British passport…..and now I have it. 🙂
I have a list of ‘things I want to do’ when I get my passport, and one of them was to just book a ticket on the Eurostar and visit Paris for the day. Thanks to my ‘wish angel’; aka my daughter, as part of the celebration of becoming a BC and getting that little red book, she, along with two of my sisters arranged a day trip to Paris for lunch!!!
Wowww, amazing!!! What an extraordinary feeling it was to be able to just get on the train and go….no visas, no limits! I didn’t really appreciate the freedom having a British passport would give me.
We set off really early in the morning of the 24th April, the day after my birthday and headed for Ashford where we were due to meet the Eurostar.
5 minutes to go…..Paris for Lunch by Eurostar
To say that I had butterflies of excitement would be an understatement. I hadn’t ventured to Europe, or Paris for nearly 8 years…it just got tooooo expensive for the necessary visas, and after the trauma of getting a visa for our trip to Iceland I had decided I wasn’t planning any further trips until I had my British passport….but finally we were on our way!!!
Paris for Lunch by Eurostar…and a bit of a selfie there 😉
Bubbling with excitement and barely able to keep my feet on the ground, we finally reached Ashford then whoosh, the Eurostar whizzed into the station and without further ado we were on our way!
I could scarcely contain myself. My grin almost reached my ears. It was really awesome to be able to share this trip with my daughter and we chatted and planned and took dozens of photos…and we hadn’t even left the UK yet!!! LOL
Suddenly, like Alice, we were hurtling at speed through a tunnel and under the sea…or was that Nemo?
I still marvel at the engineering feat of the Eurotunnel. How extraordinary to be able to travel beneath the sea in a train…..okayyyy so it goes through a tunnel, but you know what I mean!
Before we had drawn breath we were in France…..although if you had woken up after a sleep you’d think you were in England….the landscape is exactly the same. The modern accoutrements of roads and telephone wires, houses and bridges etc are of course somewhat different, plus they drive on the wrong side of the road on the continent, but other than that….the landscape is just the same. I recall in 2008 seeing the rapeseed fields in England and after popping out the tunnel on the other side, seeing exactly the same fields in France. It’s weird.
The excitement built the nearer we got to Paris and then we were there, on the outskirts and none too soon we drew to a stop at Gare du Nord. The last time I had been there was in 2008 and of course prior to that, the most marvellous trip my daughter and I made in 2005 for my 50th.
Heading straight for the Metro we planned our journey through the maze and soon we were in the centre of Paris and a short walk from Notre Dame.
the maze of the Paris Metro system – remarkably easy to use
Wow, that building is just awesome. I love that it stands on its own little island in the middle of the Seine; il de la cité….quite appropriate.
We didn’t go in but set off to find the restaurant that my daughter had in mind for lunch. It was a place she had visited previously on a day trip, and felt it would fit the bill. We tramped about, along the West Bank, down lanes and across bridges but the restaurant was nowhere to be found!!! Eventually she got onto google and located the place…right where we had initially been!!! LOL. By then I was beginning to despair and time was flying by. As usual, channelling my inner tourist, I was really keen to see as much as possible, but as she reminded me, the purpose of the trip was to have ‘Lunch in Paris’…
The restaurant, la fourmi ailée, was an absolute delight. The interior is quirky, and very very French (naturellement)… 
We made our way to a table at the rear of the restaurant and I spent the next few minutes simply gawking and admiring…..the place is a delight. Two of my favourite features were the painted ceiling and the books from floor to ceiling. We selected our meal and placed our order with the delightful waiter…oh that French accent….it’s amazing how the French accent combined with the language can turn a simple phrase like ‘clean up your mess and wash the dishes’ sound like music to your ears…unless you understand what’s being said of course LOL
I do love it. And yes I think I do love Paris in the springtime. I’m so lucky to have my birthday in spring in the northern hemisphere….in South Africa I was an autumn baby (which explains why autumn is my favourite season), but of the joys of seeing the trees smothered in glorious clouds of pink cherry blossom, the parks alive with hundreds of spring flowers; a rainbow of colours….
Although the weather was overcast and a bit wet, after lunch we set off to see ‘as much as possible’. I really wanted to walk along the West Bank of the Seine to Pont Alexandre III.
Pont Alexandre III
So after a second visit to Notre Dame we set off, but instead of sticking to the riverbank we did a sort of zig-zag and strolled along cobbled streets that meander here and there, leading to tiny squares, secret parks and hidden churches, enjoying the marvellous French architecture, patisseries, charming little shops and quirky lanes that lead you further and further into the depths of the city.
I adore how in Paris all the cafes have chairs on the sidewalks….they look so chic!
It fascinates me that some of the houses and buildings still have the pockmarks from exploding shells and bullets during WW2 occupation.
The architecture is wonderful, in many places so old and deteriorating, so bad you wonder how it stays up, but that all lends to the charm. We discovered amazing street art, secret symbols and charming murals.
We managed to flash past some of Paris’s most well-known landmarks and saw a few in the distance.
We killed two birds with one stone….from a roundabout on the Champs-Élysées
we could see the Arc de Triomphe,
Arc de Triomphe
from Pont des Invalides we managed to see the Eiffel Tower in the distance,
the Eiffel Tower in the distance
while at Notre Dame we saw the amazing statue of Charlemagne,
Charlemagne
were just a stones-throw from Fontaine Saint Michel,
the famous ‘Metropolitain’ sign
and the infamous ‘love-locks’ bridge.
One of the things I find most fascinating about Paris are the plane trees…they are so beautifully sculpted like soldiers in a row.
All too soon we had to make our way back to the station.
…is it really that late already???
On our way back to Gard de Nord we stopped for a quick look at the ‘Wall of Love’; now a landmark in its own right, this love-themed 40 square metres (430 sq ft) wall in the Jehan Rictus garden square in Montmartre, Paris, France. The wall, created in 2000 by calligraphist Fédéric Baron and mural artist Claire Kito, is composed of 612 tiles of enamelled lava, on which the phrase “I love you” is featured 311 times in 250 languages.
The ‘Wall of Love’ in Montmartre
We also bought and devoured one of the most delicious Nutella crepes I have ever had, and viewed the fabulous Sacre Coure in Montmartre….one of my favourite areas of Paris.
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica and often simply Sacré-Cœur
Along the way we walked past the Grand Palais
Grand Palais
passed through the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10thand 18th Arrondisement and stumbled across a protest march near Avenue Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Then suddenly we were back at the station….6 hours in Paris had whizzed by and it was time to board the Eurostar for London….tired but elated!!
We had just been to ‘Paris for Lunch’.
19 ; 01 à Londres s’il vous plaît
Paris both repels and fascinates me. I find some of the buildings to be quite ‘cold’ although the wrought-iron balconies are charming.
I find the wrought-iron balconies on the buildings rather charming
The parks are wonderful and of course the famous landmarks are wonderful to see up close….or not so close 😉
Although I seldom visit a place more than once and try to see everything I can on any one visit, I suspect that there is so much more to Paris than meets the eye. I shall look forward to another such visit….it would be sacrilege not to! 😉
Bonjour and au revoir Paris…..till next time
I am a 61 year-old single parent of a most wonderful daughter aged 35+. Born in South Africa, I crossed the seas in October 2001 to visit my sister and her hubby who were living in Ireland at the time. I loved Ireland and after deciding that London was where I wanted to live, I returned to SA poste-haste to obtain my ancestral visa (my grandfather had the good sense to be born in Wandsworth) and never looked back…..after living and working in the UK for the past 15 years I recently obtained my British Citizenship and relevant passport and hope to put it to good use.
High above the castle keep, the flag of England with the cross of St George flapped wildly in the wind alongside the Union Jack.
And at night the sun sets over the North Downs casting long shadows and highlighting the verdant green fields. Stunning.
There’s as oast-house cluster a stones-throw away that makes a most charming scene at night with the lights shining from the windows. That’s another perk of the countryside, you can leave your curtains open at night and enjoy the darkness, the sky a canopy of twinkling stars on a clear night.
One of my dream journeys, I had previously, with my daughter, watched the Orient Express roll into Broadstairs Station on a couple of occasions – to the wide-eyed envy of the seaside town’s residents.
My daughter who is a genius at planning surprises and arranging things she knows I’d like to do, bought tickets for a trip on this elegant train from Victoria Station to Paddock Wood.
Outside, a band made up of 3 delightful ladies, entertained the waiting guests with tunes from the 40’s. Soon we were all swinging along to familiar tunes! How splendid.
That aspect is so exciting I cannot even begin to express what it means, except to say that being able to just jump on a ferry and cross to France is beyond amazing. No more stress of having to book appointments and apply for a Schengen visa, to pay for a lawyer to give me a letter to say I am who I am (£85!!) for 25 minutes of his time…I should have an income like that!! And then to make another appointment to collect the visa and meanwhile unable to work or having to cut short an assignment in order to collect it. Being self-employed is great and I love the freedom of it, however it’s very difficult to organise things where you have no control over the schedules/dates made by officialdom.
To be fair I’d say at least 96% of my clients like my cooking…..but now and then we get someone who considers they have a discerning palate and find my meals unsatisfactory. Thank goodness this doesn’t bother me, I know I cook nice meals. 😉
The views out to sea are far and flat. Perfect for a sunrise and sunset. What does surprise me though is that they haven’t built any wind-farms out to sea!! It seems the perfect place really…no shipping to speak of and it doesn’t seem to be on a migratory route for birds.
I saw a motor-home similar to the model I want to buy for myself in 4 years’ time… I quizzed the owner about how comfortable it is to live in for an extended period, how spacious it may be within, how easy to drive, packing space, sleeping space, if light on fuel? It seems to be good from his account. I’m thinking something a wee bit bigger would be good for me. I shall keep looking. Most importantly I have to be able to stand up in it and have space for my computer and a stereo!! Oh and my helicopter camera.
The focus of the exhibition has been these 3 ladies and some of their significant dresses; dresses that were seen at major functions, for state occasions, glittering balls, overseas visits and so on. Every dress had to be carefully considered, made to measure and to suit the event, as well as keeping up with ‘fashion’ trends.
Not Just a Granny 
You must be logged in to post a comment.