Paris: five tips for a good time
Paris: five tips for a good time
1.Cruise down the Seine. Batobus enables you to visit some of the city's major attractions, such as the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, by travelling leisurely down this magical river. There are eight stops and an all-day pass costs €16 (about $22) for an adult and €7 for a child under 16. You can hop on and off as often as you like. A two-day pass costs €18 (€9 child).
2. Indulge in a feast of Claude Monet's stunning art by visiting Monet's garden and home at Giverny, about an hour out of Paris, and next day follow up with a visit to the Musee de L'Orangerie, the Paris gallery that showcases Monet's large works painted in the Giverny garden. On the midsummer day we visited, the garden was crowded but we still found quiet places to sit and wonder at the beauty of it all. A warning: the buses park a long way from the entrance so wear your walking shoes and carry water. Admission costs €9.5.
3. Check out the Musee Rodin, set in a Paris mansion and surrounded by sumptuous gardens, both filled with the sculptor's works, including The Thinker, The Gates of Hell and The Cathedral. Enjoy a fab lunch in the garden cafe. Entrance cost covered by museum pass (see fact file).
4. Attend a concert in the Madeleine Church, a neo-classical-style building with fabulous acoustics. It is a regular concert venue and you can find upcoming concerts on classictic.com. We listened to Vivaldi's Four Seasons, performed by the Violin Orchestra of France. It was sublime, as was the view of the red, white and blue lit-up Place de la Concorde as we left the church. Ticket prices range from €25 to €40.
5. Visit the Musee d'Orsay. This magnificent former railway station boasts the best collection of Impressionist paintings in the world. If Monet, Renoir, van Gogh, Cezanne, Courbet and Toulouse-Lautrec turn you on, this is the place for you. Price covered by museum pass.
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