Paris

Our stopover in Hanoi was smooth. It was about 3 hours and I managed to find myself in a business lounge for about an hour of that time, which was pleasant, although Asian spicy food at 2am is never fantastic.
The second flight on Vietnam Air was 12 hours long and I slept spasmodically.
On arriving in Paris it was efficient through immigration and customs and then onto the RER train to Gare de Nord. From there we changed to the metro to catch a train to Richard Lenoir station, near where we
had booked an Airbnb.
Steve, Sandy and I dropped our bags at a Nannybag where we could leave them till we could get into our accommodation.
Then we walked through the neighbourhood to the Bastille markets, which are a magic outdoor markets full of quality French food and other things. We bought some pastries, baguettes and dips and enjoyed a little picnic in the market.
We then walked past the Bastille monument and towards the Marais district.
We explored a 400 year old church within throwing distance of the Bastille, admired some patisseries, and then walked through the picturesque Place de Vosges, with its art galleries, restaurants, historic buildings and beautiful garden. Victor Hugo’s house is also a museum in the unique aristocratic neighbourhood.
We then walked through the Jewish neighbourhood and visited some Jewish shops, and bought some Yiddish traditional food, including a vegetable borek.
We visited the Museum Carnevalet which is a museum about the history of Paris which has only been recently opened after a renovation lasting at least five years. It is located in a beautiful building built be Louise IV and a real feature of Paris. The museum was free entry and well worth visiting.
Afterwords we went just across the road into an exhibit of design in an old library which was worth visiting just for its historical maps and books.
It was great just wandering through the neighbourhoods of Paris on a quiet Sunday morning.En savoir plus