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NO WORRIES PARIS

Category Archives: French holidays

Why see Paris like a starving artist when you can rock it like the Sun King?

19 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by Trailblazer Travel Books in French holidays, Paris guide, Paris luxury accommodations, Paris News, Paris photos, Paris travel

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Luxury retreat, Paris, Paris accommodations, Paris apartments, Paris luxury, Paris villas

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Hanging with Hemingway, Scott & Zelda, Picasso, and the crew for mind-bending soirees at Gertrude Stein’s pad has its appeal. But in reality, life was harsh and fruitless for the many thousands of the ‘Lost Generation’ whose creative juices led them from America to garret apartments in Paris in the early decades of the 1900s.

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A Luxury Retreat on Palais Royal Square (1st arrondissement)

Perhaps Louis XIV’s acquaintance would be a better choice, since the Sun King and his retinue knew only the gilded opulence of Palais Royal, Chateau de Bagatelle, and Versailles. It’s possible these days to get a modern send-up of what court life was like, even if only for a week or so. You can rent Paris luxury apartments, and you don’t need to be royalty to afford them. Villa-style accommodations throughout Paris, are available for roughly the per-person price of a quality hotel room. Two catches: The first is you need to travel with a larger group, say four to eight people, to defray the cost. The second catch is to save euros by cutting back on restaurants and eating in, after gathering a bounty from outdoor markets, patisseries, and charcuteries.

Faubourg

Both these ‘catches’ may be deal-breakers, especially for those who go to France primarily to partake of restaurants. But keep in mind, these luxury retreats are places you will want to be in the morning for coffee, and in the evening to wind down with wine after a day of pounding the cobblestones. Expect deluxe modern kitchens, baths, extra living space, and outdoor areas in prime locales—you won’t be in a hurry to leave.

After deciding to take the quantum bump up in luxury, the question becomes, which one and where?

The overview: Paris is not huge—roughly a seven-mile-wide oval, encircled by the high-speed Boulevard Peripherique and cleaved east-to-west by the river Seine.  It’s divided into 20 neighborhoods called arrondissements. Connecting everyplace to every other is a warren more than a dozen different Metro lines, with several hundred entrance stations.

palaisroyalfountain

Jardin du Palais Royal

Arrondissements differ widely in character.  Here are thumbnails for the most desirable:

LEFT BANK (including parts of the 1st, 4th, and 5th arrondissements)

Two islands in the Seine—Ile de la Cite and Ile Saint Louis—are at the literal and historic center of Paris. Armies from all of Europe crisscrossed this spot for 20 centuries. Today, for tourists, this is where the ‘action’ is. On the Left Bank are the narrow streets with captivating cubbyholes and exotic restaurants. Notre Dame has dominated Ile de la Cite since its first stones were laid in 1163. After several centuries of remodels, the grand cathedral was nearly demolished by Napoleon in the early 1800s, but author Victor Hugo stirred the public to save it with his 1831 novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Not far from Notre Dame (look for a line of people) is Sainte Chapelle. This church housed booty from the Crusades in the 13C, but is known today for its stained glass—15 towering windows, streaming bejeweled light in primarily red and blue hues.

After buzzing the Left Bank, you can exit uphill on Rue Galande on what was the start of the ancient route to Rome. The swerving ascent takes you to Gothic St. Etienne du Mont—built on the site of a 6C abbey that King Clovis dedicated to Sainte Genevieve after her prayers stopped Attila the Hun’s march on the city. Lofted on a hill not far away is the Pantheon, also a tribute to fair Genevieve, this time by Louis XV in 1764, after he recovered from an illness after praying to her. The light inside is heavenly. If you make it this far, it’s wise to press on a few blocks to Place de la Contrascarpe, where Papa wrote A Moveable Feast. One of the best outdoor market streets in Paris, Rue Mouffetard, snakes down from this place.

seine

Seine

ST. GERMAIN DES PRES (6th arrondissement)

St. Germain des Pres is quintessential Latin Quarter—a blend of centuries-old architecture and the right-now glitz of cafe society. Musée Nationale de Moyan Age is housed in the medieval Hotel Cluny, which was built on top of Roman baths that date from the second century. The museum is a walk through time. Across from this masterpiece is another, la Sorbonne, the 13C college to which the Latin Quarter owes its intellectual heritage. But the campus is contemporary when compared to Abbey St. Germain des Pres, not far away, which ruled the roost in Paris from the mid-6C, until clashes with students diminished its influence (300 monks were slain) in the 1300s.

Next to the abbey on the boulevard is the holy triumvirate of Parisian cafes: Brasserie Lipp, Cafe de Flore, and Cafe de Deux Magots. Each place had its own patrons (Sartre, Camus, Picasso, and many other big-brainers) and schools of thought, though esoteric distinctions were often fuzzed by absinthe. Also in the ‘hood is the city’s most ornate church, St. Sulpice, built in stops and starts over a century, beginning in 1646. Inside are frescoes by Delacroix, who loved moving his paintbrush to the melodic groans from the world’s largest organ (count ’em, 6,600 pipes). The heart of the arrondissement (some would say of Paris) is Jardin du Luxembourg, a few blocks from St. Sulpice. Sixty acres of leafy trees, fountains, and statues have been absorbing legions of leisure seekers since Marie de Medici first laid out the park in 1615. The weighty Palais du Luxembourg has housed the French Senate for two centuries—except when it was Nazi headquarters during World War II.

PLACE DE LA CONCORDE (1st and 2nd arrondissements)

Place de la Concorde is meant to be seen from the center of its 20-plus acres—reached via a dash across umpteen lanes of traffic. The place is the austere centerpiece of the Axis Historique, a line-of-sight up and down the Champs Elysees from the Arc de Triomphe through the Jardin des Tuileries to the glass pyramid at the Louvre. The 3,300-year-old Luxor Obelisk stands in the center and two huge fountains act as bookends. This grand space is best known, however, as the primary site for the guillotine that in the late 1700s took the heads of Marie Antoinette, Robespierre and 1,300 hundred other souls loyal to Louis XIV (hmm, maybe being a starving artist isn’t so bad after all).

At right angles to the Axis Historique (forming a second axis) is Rue Royale. The view is past the American Embassy and the lavish Hôtel de Crillon (under renovation) to Sainte Madeleine. This church’s mountainous staircase and forest of columns were built to glorify Napoleon’s conquests. Branching off Rue Royale is the ground zero of haute couture, Rue du Faubourg-St. Honore, the home turf for Chanel, Dior, Prada, and everyone else in the biz. Also in this zone is Place Vendome, a chi-chi address for Parisians since 1702, and home to the Ritz Hotel, watering hole for the rich and well-heeled. You may have gathered that the theme in this part of Paris is old money.

POMPIDOU (3rd arrondissement)

The Pompidou Centre Musée Nationale d’Art Moderne (a name seldom referenced) is a building turned inside-out, its glass facade revealing an infrastructure of colorful tubes, pipes, and elevators. The art inside runs the gamut (if there is one) from Cubism, to Surrealism, to Pop Art. The sprawling grounds outside are always popping. More traditional, must-see museums are nearby: the revamped Musée Picasso, Musée Carnavalet (the history of Paris), and the Archives Nationales. Tradition reigns supreme at Place des Vosges, the oldest square in Paris, having been laid out by bon vivant Henry IV in 1604. Vosges went through generations of squalor, but was respectable by the time Victor Hugo moved in at the beginning of the 1800s. Maison de Victor Hugo, now a museum, takes up several floors in a corner of the place.

placevosges

Place Vosges

A short walk from Vosges is Place de la Bastille, as in ” the storming of the,” which took place on July 14, 1789, thus beginning the Revolution. The prison raid sprang from an alleyway near the place’s iconic spire, Colonne de Juillet, on Rue de Lappe. These days Lappe is a venerable nightclub scene for hipster professionals and artisans who try to set the night on fire. (You guessed it, Jim Morrison died not far away, on Rue Beautreillis.)

ARC DE TRIOMPHE (8th arrondissement)

A dozen grand avenues converge at the Arc de Triomphe forming Etoile—The Star. The most prominent avenue is the Champs-Élysées, with 50-foot wide sidewalks whose cafe tables have provided ringside seats for parades, starting with the Napoleonic Wars and extending to each year’s conclusion of the Tour de France. The view from the top of the arch reveals the Axis Historique, version 2.0, as it extends west for several miles, across the Seine, and through the center of La Defense—the enormous cube-arch (Notre Dame could be garaged inside) at the center of the sky-scrapers of modern Paris.

ladefense_2017

La Defense

A more traditional view of Paris unfolds along a stroll up staid Avenue Hoche, past treed estates with wrought-iron gates, leading to sublime Parc de Monceau. This 40-acre oasis is of the wild, English style (as opposed to the formal Luxembourg and Tuileries). Strollers, joggers, and kids-gone-wild at the park’s playground fill up the space on weekends. Numerous architectural follies (Corinthian columns, Dutch windmill, Egyptian pyramid) accent the Monceau’s wide oval path and pond. The French art of conversation has been perfected on these park benches since the late 1700s.

TOUR EIFFEL (7th arrondissement)

Though Tour Eiffel is the city’s most-touristy spot, the surrounding neighborhoods are where locals live the good life. Several market streets are nearby: Rue Cler, Rue Sainte Dominique, and along Boulevard de Grenelle. Providing room to roam at the foot of the famous tower is Champ de Mars, 60 acres of formal greenspace that lead to Invalides. At Invalides, the city’s masculine side is on display at Napoleon’s Tomb and Musée de l’Armée. Also near the Eiffel Tower are Musée Rodin and Musée d’Orsay, which is set in an ornate former railroad station and houses the art that bridges the gap between ancient (at the Louvre) and the modern (at Pompidou).

Even with all the 7th has to offer, no doubt the star of the show remains the Tour Eiffel. It draws eyes like magnets. Though many visitors will want to go to the top (1,063 feet), the more intimate view is from the 2nd level (a 15 minute walk up stairs), and the more majestic is from across the Seine at Place du Trocadero. From the plaza at Trocadero—flanked by the twin museums of the neo-classical Palais de Chaillot, and the fountains of Jardin du Trocadero—the Eiffel Tower and all of Paris is laid out before you, an immoveable feast for the senses.

tourEiffel2017

From Palais Chaillot

PASSY (16th arrondissement.)

Where? Passy may seem passé to all visitors except aficionados of Brando’s Last Tango in Paris, which was filmed here. But not to Parisians: these enclaves across the Seine (like Villa Montmorency) are where the real monied folks live —the kind that don’t want to be famous in most cases. A historical exception is the former home of Honoré de Balzac on the upper bank of the Seine. Now a museum, the grounds had a back gate so the notoriously indebted scribe could escape his creditors. Throughout this arrondissement (principally on Rue Fontaine and Rue Agar) are the fanciful art-nouveau stylings of architect Hector Guimard, who makes concrete look like meringue, giving a storybook vibe to a row of facades.

By the time Metro line 10 gets to the village square at Notre Dame d’Auteuil, you’ll feel far away from Paris, especially when the scene amps in the summer during the French Open tennis tourney at Stade Roland Garros. Next to the stadium is perhaps the city’s least known jewel:  Jardin des Serres. Five glass-and-wrought-iron greenhouses are placed within a seven-acre garden planted by Louis XV in 1761. Tickets had to be rationed in 1898 when the public was admitted, since the sunlit botanical interiors cured the winter blues for Parisians.

bagatelle

Parc de Bagatelle

The mother of all parks in Paris, Bois de Boulogne, is 2.5 times bigger than NYC’s Central Park and makes the 16th by far the largest arrondissement. Within the Bois is another getaway trip, to the château, orangerie, and rose garden of Parc de Bagatelle. Marie Antoinette spurred the building of the château over one summer in 1777. It soon became the “it” place for exorbitant gatherings. For years, partygoers reveled in the new game ‘bagatelle’—a mini-pool with bumpers that was the precursor to the pinball machine—until times changed and a new contraption called the guillotine became all the rage.

 

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Easter egg hunting in Paris

15 Saturday Apr 2017

Posted by Trailblazer Travel Books in French holidays, Paris tips, Paris travel

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Easter egg Hunt, Paques, Paris Easster

EasterEgg

In France, offering eggs as Easter gifts began in the 4th century A.D. Church law dictated that Christians must abstain from eating meat or eggs during the 40 days of fasting that preceded Easter. On Easter Sunday, surplus eggs from hens that continued laying during the period were used to make an omelette. Legend had it that if on Easter Day, the first thing eaten was an egg that had been laid on Good Friday, you would be protected from illness until the following Easter.

To find the ‘chasses aux oeufs’ around Paris consult the list below:

TOUR EIFFEL

There will be more than 20,000 eggs scattered on the Champs de Mars vast lawn. Children aged 3-10, are welcome to retrieve eggs. Organised by the Secours Populaire, this Easter egg hunt ends with a delicious chocolate tasting.
Sunday 16 and Monday 17 April 10am-5pm.
€5 per child
Metro: Champ de Mars

SACRE COEUR

Two giant easter egg hunts lie waiting. Kids between ages 3-12 are invited to gather as many eggs as they can beneath the impressive Montmartre icon.
April 16 2017, 12.30pm-3pm
Metro: Abbesses
Obligatory reservation: 01 42 62 21 21

VINCENNES ZOO

Vincennes Zoo welcomes anyone between the ages of 7-77 to hunt. A 150,000 chocolate egg hunt is planned.  Perk: 8kg egg – jackpot of the day competition.
April 16 and 17
Activities are accessible through the entrance ticket to the park.  €22 for adults, €16.50 for 12-25, €14 for 3-11.
Metro: Porte Dorée

BERCY VILLAGE

Over a 1,000 chocolate eggs and rabbits have been hidden in the corner of Saint-Emilion court. When the count down begins kids will have only 20 minutes to fill their baskets. The most observant hunters will be offered a surprise by The Gourmande Cure.
April 16 from 2pm – 6pm.
Registration required on site. Free. Metro: Cour Saint-Émilion

 

eggposter

MUSEE de MONTMARTRE

Bring a basket or sack and enjoy the egg hunt in the Jardins Renoir. Reserved for kids 2-12. Reservations obligatory 01 49258941.

April 16, 17, 11:30 to 5:00, 12 rue Cortot, Paris 75018

CHAMPS ELYSEES

Atelier Renault Café des Champs-Elysées is organizing several hunts beneath the hoods. For kids from 6 to 14, the hunts are accompanied by culinary workshops where the children, under the leadership of a famous chef, will be invited to customize a chocolate Renault Sport RS01 with endless sugary toppings.
Sunday, April 16. Mini-hunts at 11am, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm.
Extras: Hunting for the big ones from 10.30am. Two workshop sessions at 2pm and 3pm. All the activities are free.
Metro: Franklin Roosevelt

 

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Paris: an open book

09 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by Trailblazer Travel Books in French holidays, Paris guide, Paris museums, Paris photos, Paris tips, Paris travel, Paris Walks

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DIY, No Worries Paris, Paris, Paris guidebook, Paris guidebook preview, Paris guidebook recommendation, photography, tour eiffel, travel

covnoworriesparis2012

No Worries Paris, a photographic walking guide brings the city to life. A look inside:

NoWorries1

“So many memorable walks at our own pace. Good maps, directions,  and the accompanying text is concise enough to read while on the walk.”  

NoWorriesParisIntro

“A great help for me to plan my trip. I’m glad I’m prepared for what’s in store in the next two weeks.”

NoWorriesParistext5NOWOrrSect2MAP

“We had four full days to spend in Paris in September. We had never been there and wanted to make the most of our time. We decided to use the No Worries Paris guide, and it was a very good decision.”

noworriesparisphoto6

“Everything was beyond amazing!! I will never travel to Paris without using this guide again. Especially loved walking tours through the neighborhoods of the Marais and Latin Quarter.”

NoWorriesParistext5
“The experience, sights and information provided by our NWP was first class. I would happily recommend reading it cover to cover before your stay.”

Illustrated by hundreds of color photographs, NO WORRIES PARIS takes readers on a visually luscious journey along the city’s striking monuments, as well as into crannies of its villages and the full-on glamour of the fashion districts. Virtually all of Paris is covered in 10 Walking Tours, each with its own map. Walks take from a half-day to a day to complete, starting at one Metro stop and ending at another. The tours are complemented by 10 Walk Arounds, which are shorter in length, taking in the sights of a single attraction more on the fringes of the city’s arrondissements.

Practical travel tips and get-around information is included. Newcomers will most likely want to begin with monumental strolls. Francophiles may choose something more edgy and out-of-the-way. The common thread is that each walk is along a visually aesthetic pathway that has a story of its own to tell. Readers who want to get to know Paris by seeing it on foot—pausing occasionally for a gourmet taste, park bench timeout or perfumed sniff along the way— have found the right book.

No Worries Paris is available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Powell’s Books,  directly through the publishers (signed + discount) at Trailblazer Travel Books as well as your friendly independent bookstores nationwide.

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The Rooftop Igloos at Galeries Lafayette

15 Sunday Jan 2017

Posted by Trailblazer Travel Books in French food and wine, French holidays, Paris guide, Paris tips, Paris Wanderings

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food, galeries lafayette, Paris, restaurants

Paris is very cold in January and it would be unheard of to venture to the open-air top floor of a department store for tapas and a cocktail. BUT, Paris’s innovative department store, Galeries Lafayette has come up with a unique idea by plopping a few heated see-through geodesic domes over the rooftop bar.

terrasse

The concept, brilliant, the view, magnifique. They call it a “cocooning vibe where serenity and tranquility reign supreme”.  Who wouldn’t want that?

ice_cube_bar1

Here’s the menu:

Champagne, cocktails
Soft drinks, fruit juices
Hot drinks
Savoury and sweet tapas
Oysters
Foie gras
Regional French products
Seasonal dish of the day

Continuous service from 11.00 am to 8.00 pm. When they will be removed to make way for spring, I’m not sure.

Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann, 40 boulevard Haussmann – 75009 Paris

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Joyeux Noel 2016

23 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by Trailblazer Travel Books in French holidays, Paris travel

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Joyeux Noel, Merry Christmas, Paris

Joining hands around the world to wish you a Merry Christmas. Thank you for making us one of Paris’s top walking guides.

christmascard2017big

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Paris, the “enLITEnd” city

13 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by Trailblazer Travel Books in French holidays, Paris photos, Paris travel, Paris Wandering

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Paris at night, Paris Christmas

 

paris_nasa

It’s December and the City of Light is showing off what it is known for now that the holiday season is in full swing. Taken from the International Space Station (merci NASA), the photo above shows off the brightest boulevard, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, historical axis of the city. The Arc de Triomphe, meeting place of eleven major boulevards, appears as a star at one end. The many forested parks stand out as black polygons.

grandpalaisnight

How did it get it’s nickname? Reason number one:  “La Ville-Lumière” as it was called in the 18th century, was the birthplace of the Age of Enlightenment, famous as a center of education, philosophy and learning  throughout Europe. Reason number two: Paris was one of the first cities to start using street lights during the Great Exhibition of 1889. Having street lights meant people could now do activities after dark that they could not do before. The streets suddenly grew safer. Fast forward to 2016……the tango:

tangoeiffel

A little advice. Sleep in so you can stay up at night, at least until midnight. A whole new sparkly city will emerge, the illuminated monuments almost toylike, cafes: full, flashing taillights wake up the boulevards, and a steady stream of tourist bateaux snake along the Seine. It’s ALIVE!

carrouseldelouvre

louvrepyramidparis

You might find yourself falling in love again. With your partner or if going solo, with this vibrant amazing city.

toureiffelsept2014

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Bonne Année 2016

01 Friday Jan 2016

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Happy New Year, Heureuse Année 2016

Happy_New_Year_2016

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Posted by Trailblazer Travel Books | Filed under French holidays, Paris travel

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Paris: Christmas faire extraordinaire

14 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by Trailblazer Travel Books in French food and wine, French holidays, Paris News, Paris shopping, Paris travel

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Tags

Christmas faire Paris, thingstodoinParis

laDefense

Zip out to La Defense one of these evenings for a little shopping and holiday gaity. Covering almost 3 acres and located beneath the glitzy lights of the esplanade’s skyscrapers,  the Christmas Village with over 350 chalets is the biggest, most authentic one in Ile-de-France.

redball

Fill your bags with a potpurri of unique gifts by craftspeople from across France as well as  Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, Iran, China and Nepal. Santa will be there for the kids afternoons, from 12pm-5pm on Wednesdays, 12pm-3pm on Thursdays and Fridays, and 12pm-7pm on Saturdays and Sundays, right up to Christmas Eve. Local produce, mulled wine to sip, original fashion accessories, Corsican sausages, raclette cheese,  and the sounds of traditional Peruvian flute music filling the nippy air make this a seasonal must-do.

marcheLaDefenseNoel

By métro

La Défense (ligne 1, and RER line A)
Esplanade de la Défense (ligne 1)
Note: Both stations are in zone 3, but can also be accessed using a T+ ticket or a zone 1-2 only pass by Metro line 1. You can’t go there by RER with 1-2 zone pass.

By train

La Défense can be reached on RER A, Transiliene L, Transiliene U, tramway T2, station La Défense. It can be very confusing but ‘Les Quatres Temps’ is color coded. There are many maps around the shopping center.

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Skate on the Eiffel Tower, 184 feet above Paris

10 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by Trailblazer Travel Books in French holidays, Paris Wanderings

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Eiffel Tower events, Paris at Christmas, Paris skating

eiffel

Right now the Eiffel Tower is offering its visitors an outstanding program of free events on its ice rink.

On the program:

Kids on Ice:  A painting on ice workshop, Wednesdays Dec. 9-16 and  December 23 from 2 to 7 p.m.: Introduction to dancing on ice to music from favorite children’s cartoons, skating demonstrations, fun events with Santa.  Enjoy a delicious snack for €5 (a hot drink and a pastry or an Eiffel Tower lollipop) at the ice rink bar or the nearby buffet.

Ice dance every weekday evening from December 11-23  from 7  to 10 p.m.

Demonstrations by professional skaters, introductions to some dance steps then… the ice floor is available for you. Ambience is guaranteed by the playlist and lighting effects. To warm you up the ice rink bar is offering “two glasses of mulled wine for the price of one” ( €5) or champagne at a special price, 2 glasses for €15.

skatingrinkEiffel

Fitness mornings with exercise on ice the weekends of December 12-13 and 19-20, from 10 a.m. to noon. Get fit to music with your skates on, led by a coach. At the buffet you can also enjoy orange juice and an organic seeded pretzel for €6.

Open every day from December 1 to January 31, from 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., the ice rink is available free to all Eiffel Tower visitors.

Access to the first level by the stairs is €3 to €7. Lift ticket for the first level is €4 to €11. Children under 4 years visit the Eiffel Tower for free. Book and buy tickets in advance at: www.toureiffel.paris

Skates (sizes 25 to 47) are free for visitors*.  There are scooters and sled-chairs for the little ones. Disabled people can enjoy the rink too, with easy access and sled-chairs for adults.

*Personal skates are not permitted. Note: as for all skating rinks, gloves are compulsory.

 

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The day has finally arrived: Vive La France, Happy Bastille Day!

14 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by Trailblazer Travel Books in French holidays

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Bastille Day

Happy Bastille Day!

MORT AU ROI !

stormingthebastille

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