“I love Paris in the Spring time.” So goes the Cole Porter song and I have to agree! We recently spent a couple of days taking in the sights of France’s capital city and enjoyed the whole tourist experience.

Our break started with a relaxing train journey from St Pancras, London to Gare du Nord, Paris, a journey lasting just over two hours. It really is a fantastic way to travel – no extended waiting times at the airport or having to travel all the way into Paris having landed – the Eurostar takes you right into the centre of the capital.

Who could visit Paris without going shopping? One of the most amazing stores is the Galeries Lafayette on Boulevard Haussmann. This department store is absolutely huge with nine floors and six annexes, with a central art nouveau area that extends upwards over four floors topped with a stained glass cupola. Wrought iron gilded banisters wind their way around each floor but the higher you climb the more you notice the shabby plasterwork!
You could be fooled into thinking that the streets of Paris are paved with gold rings! No less than three times in the space of ten minutes someone swooped in front of us while we walked up Boulevard Haussmann and picked up a man’s gold wedding ring. Each time they presented the ring to us with a flourish and asked if we had lost it. Sensing that this was a scam we made a hasty exit. If you search the internet for the gold ring scam it is explained in detail. You have been warned!

Our trip was fleeting but great fun – we had a fab meal one night and a dreadful one another – cafes were expensive but you can’t soak up the atmosphere without sitting down and watching the world go by. The pound may be very weak against the Euro but there are great deals out there on Eurostar packages that make it very doable. We enjoyed ourselves so much we are doing it again later in the year! Bonne Chance!