"Parisian Charm" a Paris Travel Page by SirAliztare

Paris is a beautiful city. Emerging from Le Gare d'Nord, after an interesting trip on the Eurostar (an English gentleman displaying the most mild, but yet most amusing, case of xenophobia) I was greeted with that familiar smell of coffee, cigarettes and sewage that in Paris makes the place even more charming, but in London amounts to a bad experience by the Thames. Wandering through the north of the city, along Rue du Poissonerie and into Rue de Panama, one is almost taken back to a colonial age. I was just here for one night, but my guide was always going to make sure it was a good one.

After enjoying a delightful lunch in Place de Clichy, we went back to the hotel room to cool off before hitting the Paris nightlife. We took a metro down to the Champs Elysees and enjoyed an expensive, but very observent drink, watching the militant consumers making the most of the late shopping.

Down in the Latin Quarter is where Paris really gives me a thrill. The first time I went money was very much an issue, but this time we emerged from St Michel metro station and were immediately thrown into the centre of Paris nightlife. It did, however, remind me a little too much of Picadilly- too many tourists, but how can I complain?

We went to a Greek restaurant and danced on tables, while sweaty men smashed plates on the floor, and then moved onto a Cuban bar where the mojitos were divine. The night ended in an Irish bar in Montmarche, where the barman insisted I drink sambuca with him.

I awoke the next day, quite unaware of what had really happened the night before, but these scraps of memory stick in my mind as a rather enjoyable night.