"Paris" a Paris Travel Page by vichatherly

The wonderful capital city of France. Plenty to see and do in this place. I've popped over the channel a couple of times now to visit. Plenty still more to see on my next visit.

Went to Paris for the first time properly, apart from a few drive throughs, in July 2004. We went not for the football, but to see Lance Armstrong win his sixth Tour De France. An excellent weekend!

My second visit to Paris was for the UEFA Champions League Group game.

Manchester United played LOSC Lille Metropole in the Stade De France on 02 November 2005. We lost 2-0.

The game was moved from the town of Lille due to their ground not being ready to hold such a big game.

My visit was pretty short, only staying the one night. I managed to cram a few things in though. Arrived on the flight from England about 21:00 and set off to meet mates who had arrived by minibus earlier in the day. We had decided beforehand to meet at the Moulin Rouge, as it was a place where we both knew that taxi drivers could understand where to go to. This worked very well and I was soon in a bar not too far away from the famous windmill.

After an evening’s entertainment, I woke in the morning and headed off, with those that wanted to come, to take a look at the Eiffel Tower. There we spent a few hours climbing up to the top. Sometimes the climb was very slow, as the after effect of the Parisian beer still had to work its way out of the system.

Then it was off to meet the others and have a bite to eat. We met them in one of the good branches of the "Hippopotamus" restaurant chain near the hotel.

Then we had to make our way slowly towards the Stade de France for the evening’s game against LOSC Lille Metropole. Stopped off for a few drinks around Gard Nord...can't exactly remember the name of the bar other than it was opposite Gard Nord and was full of pictures of French rugby player...oh yes and also the beer was very pricey. As the bar became more crowded and the money was running out we moved off to a slightly less expensive bar around the corner.

It was then off to get beaten by the mighty Lille and back to the bars around Boulevard de Clichy to drown out the memory.

The morning came and most of the lads left Paris by either mini bus or Eurostar. I had decided beforehand that I might as well get a late flight back and spend the day in Paris.

I then walked around and explored Montmartre with its artists at work. This is an excellent spot to take in the artistc side of Paris. It can be abit touristy but all you need to do is ignore all the hawkers and portrait artists and you'll have a great time. Then I took in the the beautiful Sacre-Coeur, and then to round off a cultural day it was off to the Musee D'Orsay for a few hours. I had to make my way back to the airport and so took a leisurely walk up the Champess elesee and a look at the Arc De Triomphe. I then took the coach back to CDG airport and the flight home.