Paris Breaks

There are quite a few short “how to” articles around on the web for getting the best eurostar deals, some of which have dubious sources but this one is intended to be definitive for what is really quite a simple process:

How to Find Eurostar Deals for London to Paris by Train

Eurostar Deals

Here’s a brief introduction to Eurostar Deals for those unfamiliar with the international high speed rail service.

What are eurostar deals?

The Eurostar fast train service under the English channel is one of the most famous railway journeys in the world, joining the world capital cities of London and Paris from city centre to city centre. Launched in 1994, the prestigious Eurostar trains have helped to make journeys quicker and more convenient for buisness and leisure passengers, when compared with the traditional ferry crossing or short haul air flights. Eurostar deals are best value travel packages with inclusive return tickets for the Eurostar train and an optional hotel stay for two or more people.

Air travel versus the Eurostar train

There are several advantages of the Eurostar over air routes

* city centre terminals
* fast check in and boarding
* less inconvenient security measures
* less environmental impact

Current deals

Eurostar Deals from London can include a central Paris Hotel with a return rail fare for a reasonable price provided two people are traveling and staying together and sometimes there is a stipulation that you have to stay over a Saturday night. So weekend eurostar deals are particularly worth looking out for.

Connecting to Other Mainline Stations in Paris

Arriving at Gare du Nord, the other mainline stations are all within easy reach but you should allow an hour to get to Montparnasse, forty minutes for Gare de Lyon and Orleans, a bit less for St Lazare and Gare de l’Est. The Paris metro is very frequent and efficient but if you are more used to the London Underground then it’s important to realise that the metro stations are closer together, so a journey of just a couple of miles will comprise of more stops, and therefore take a little longer than in London, but this is balanced out by the fact that the lines are not so deep underground, being mostly cut and cover tunnels, so there are not so many steps corridors and escalators to navigate except in the biggest interchange stations such as Montparnasse and Chatelet.

The RER metro service also runs from Gare du Nord providing a faster journey but to less destinations.

Non stopping Eurostar Deals to France bypassing Paris

Paris is wonderful to visit as often as possible and it’s great that you can get eurostar deals for short breaks weekends or even day trips but the eurostar can also be used for getting further into France quickly. It’s always been possible to combine a eurostar ticket to Paris with a TGV journey from one of the other Paris terminal stations to somewhere further down. I used to catch one to La Rochelle on the West coast, but this generally meant allowing a full day for the journey. Now there are some direct services such as to Avignon in the summer and Winter Ski Train Eurostar deals to Moutiers and Bourg Saint Maurice which is wonderful news for winter sports enthusiasts who want to get to the alps without all the fuss at the airports and difficult onward journeys.

Today is July 14th, “Bastille day” as we know it in English. Anybody who has had sense to book a Paris break to coincide with the national day is ensured a good street party tonight, with fireworks and fun.

Vive La Revolution

One Day entry into Disneyland Paris with 2 nights in a two-star Hotel, from £102.00pp

The above offer is available for weekdays and weekends, with no restrictions right through July and up until 31st August 2008.

At Disneyland Paris they are celebrating a 15th anniversary and there are some spectacular new rides, attractions and Disney characters such as The Twilight Zone, Tower of Terror and Stitch Live, which is the first of its kind, as a real-time interactive animation experience. That means it’s like being inside your own cartoon story.

** Book One Day entry into Disneyland Paris with 2 nights in a two-star Hotel, from £102.00pp **

The Picasso museum - for art lovers Paris breaks

When the Picasso museum in Paris first opened it was launched as a “museum for Picasso’s Picassos,” and that’s exactly what it is. The French state acquired the world’s greatest Picasso collection in lieu of his family’s paying enormous inheritance taxes. So now 203 paintings, 158 sculptures, 16 collages, 19 bas-reliefs, 88 ceramics, and more than 1,500 sketches and 1,600 engravings, along with 30 notebooks - works spanning about 75 years of the artist’s life and ever-changing styles, are all on show to the public in a magnificent old setting.

The building - Hotel Sale houses the French Picasso collection

The beautifully restored Hôtel Salé means literally the “Salt Mansion” because it was built by a man who made his fortune by controlling salt distribution and taxes in 17th century France.

Picasso often lived in old houses, such as the Boisgeloup and Vauvenargues chateaux, and his workshop on the rue des Grands Augustins, Notre-Dame de Vie. So he would probably have have The Hotel Sale, one of the most beautiful in the Marais district, being the painter who once told Gertrude Stein: “I want an old house.” The building is named after its sponsor, Pierre Aubert, Lord of Fontenay, responsible for levying a tax on salt. The hotel, typical of the Marais, overlooks courtyard, surrounded by public passages, and a garden, was built between 1656 and 1659 by the architect Jean de Bouiller. The carved decorations, including the sumptuous staircase, were entrusted to the brothers Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy and Martin Desjardins.

By the end of the seventeenth century, the hotel was used by a variety of agencies. Embassy of the Republic of Venice, an institution for young people, and as a Central School of Arts and design. The latter purpose considerably changed the layout inside the building. In 1964, the City of Paris bought the Hotel Sale, which is now classified as a historic monument. From 1974 to 1984, the hotel has been refurbished and restored to much of its original condition. ( Pic by Daquella manera )

Picasso Museum Opening Times

From April to September : All days 9:30am-6pm except Tuesday when closed.

From October to March : All days 9:30am-5pm except Tuesday when closed.
( also closed on Dec 25 and Jan 1 )

Address of the Hotel Sale

5 rue de Thorigny, 3rd arrondissment

Nearest Metro station

St-Paul, Filles du Calvaire, or Chemin Vert

Addmission Prices

Admission 9.50€ adults, 7.50€ seniors and ages 18-25, free for children younger than 18

The paintings and exhibition

(Picture by jane vc. )
Many people go to Spain to see Picasso’s paintings but the range of paintings on show in the Picasso museum in Paris includes a remarkable 1901 self-portrait, The Crucifixion and Nude in a Red Armchair, Le Baiser (The Kiss), Reclining Nude, and Man with a Guitar, all painted at Mougins on the Riviera in 1969 and 1970. Also the wicked Jeune Garçon à la Langouste (Young Man with a Lobster), painted in Paris in 1941. Several intriguing studies for Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, which shocked the establishment and launched cubism in 1907, are also on display. Because the collection is so vast, temporary exhibits featuring items such as his Studies of the Minotaur are held twice per year. Also here is Picasso’s own treasure trove of art, with works by Cézanne, Rousseau, Braque, Derain, and Miró. Picasso was fascinated with African masks, many of which are on view. So a tour of the museum will lead the visitor to understand the man and his art by putting the different phases into context. Cubism didn’t come from nowhere, you can see how Picasso and his peers where fasciniated by primitivist art and how those imported artifacts influenced his own revolutionary artistic style.

This short film set in the 18th arrondissement of Paris is called “Audition” by Laura begins with picturesque street scenes around Avenue Rachel in the 18th arrondissement

Olive Street Films 

Paris, 4* Holiday Inn Paris La Villette, 2 nights from £139.00pp
Available on selected dates from 1st July
Located opposite the museums of music, science and La Grande Halle within direct reach of the main historical monuments, cultural and shopping areas of Paris.

This month of May marks the 40th anniversary of the events in Paris which have become known as the “Students Revolt” but was actually much more than that. Looking back at the full picture, below it is a period when the whole of France, not just Paris, breaks with slow, gradual reform and is on the verge of creating a whole new society based on common ownership and worker participation. General de Gaulle was for a time, convinced that the game was up for capitalism in France, and possibly all of Europe.

But the trades union leadership, although ‘communist’ by name called on their workers leaders on theshop floor to end their occupations and handed control back over to the bosses.

In the aftermath of France ‘68 the authorities clamped down on youth culture with an increased police presence in the capital with the CRS riot police walking around in groups of six or ten with machine guns slung over their shoulders and this continued into the 1970s right up until the creation of the Partie Socialiste and the eventual coming to power of an initially radical President Mitterand, which was a direct result of the tumultous events in Paris and the rest of France during the spring of 1968.

Diagram credit: Clare Doyle, author of “Month of Revolution”

Le Buci

Originally uploaded by Andyroberts

Le Buci is the name of the restaurant bar you can see in this picture which was taken from the hotel room in le Petit Trianon which is one of my favourite hotels for Paris breaks. The road streching into the distance leads to Pont Neuf and La Samaritaine while to the right is the rue St Andre Des Arts with leading to place St Michel.

So this is downtown Paris, the latin quarter, left bank, rive gauche.

It’s a lively area with plenty going on at night but not just for tourists. Lots of people actually live here. To the left there are some fabulous seafood stalls and restaurants. and to the far right, the famous pub St Germain and the main Boulevard St Germain with the cinemas and metro station at Odeon.

You can get here by RER metro from Gare du Nord in about twenty minutes so quite doable for overnight Paris breaks.

Flickr: Discussing All Night Shoot to Paris

Originally uploaded by AndyRoberts

Paris is probably the most photogenic city in the world so any photographer would want to spend some free time in the Parisian streets, especially Londoners. Keen photographers who congregate on the Flickr photosharing site have formed into groups for arranging meetups and photoshoot events and the London Flickr group is one of the best organised. Now they’re even making arrangements to take a trip to Paris together, taking advantage of the special Eurostar deals for clubbers.

Instead of dancing the night away in some ‘boite de nuit’ they’ll be walking along the banks of the Seine in the middle of the night then catching the early Eurostar home in the morning. Perhaps some of them on the first visit will fall in love with the city, as many do, and want to return again and again for longer Paris breaks than just a quick overnighter.