After the summer in central France where I spoke almost no French ('international centre' which means English is the common language) I decided actually sign up for a French course in Paris. Also I didn't have time/energy to visit Paris for most of the summer, but I managed a brief weekend at the very end of my visit and developed a taste for the joys of this most beautiful of cities- combined with a delicious romance which makes it very sweet. So I have spent the autumn travelling back and forth between family time in UK, brief forays to Dublin and the Netherlands, and language study and love. This has given me a chance to check out the various transport options. For the last-minute booking there was the dreadful, but cheap, all-day coach journey with hours waiting in the rain at Dover for a ferry ( too wet to go outside) and inevitable late arrival into the heart of the Paris rush-hour, and drop-off in a deeply depressing station on the peripherique. When I was more organised I found a 44 Euro train ticket from the local exquisite Gare du Nord direct to London, but even this was delayed by the recent fire in the Chunnel. The third attempt was to fly in from Dublin on one of those ridiculously cheap Ryan Air specials. What they don't tell you is that you arrive in a distant nonentity of a place optimistically called Beauvais, and then get to spend over an hour squeezed on a tiny hot coach to get to another depressing carpark on the peripherique!!
Enough of the travel dirge- once here getting about Paris is a joy: wide boulevards to walk along, superb metro and best of all a nearly-free bike scheme which works! By waving your credit card at one of the machines dotted throughout the city you can get a one day or week's access to the Velib - thousands of identical bikes which you pick up where you are and drop off where you want to go. Then if it is raining you can get the metro home. The only trick is checking that the bike has wheels, chain, pedals and saddle etc before choosing your vehicle..seems like it is entertainment for some folk to figure out new and creative ways of breaking them. However mostly it is a pleasure to ride on the many bike lanes and devise new routes which include going along the canal banks, or down by the Seine on a Sunday when the roads are closed to cars.
I have had a few 'tourist days': following a walking-guide leaflet through the history-packed Ile de la Cite and admiring the decorative guttering, chic boutiques and cosmic icecreams. Spent some time searching for the best hot chocolate in town - a silver pot of liquid heaven, so rich you are not sure if you will ever be able to leave the stylish cafe. Oh and I have visited a few museums which leave me speechless. Best not to try and describe the art of ages.
