While the traditional time to travel to Paris is the Spring or Summer, there is a huge advantage to being there in the winter. Despite the frigid conditions (an unusual cold snap), there were very few tourists. Which made the sublimation into the Parisian way very seamless – no lines for museums and a landscape devoid of gawking tour groups.
The anonymous with whom I shared the sidewalks seemed oblivious, almost blase at times to the painful exquisiteness of the boulevards, architectural details, Seine, mosaic floors… even the tiles in the Metro.
Now I don’t want to bore you with a detailed travelogue of what we did, save for a few highlights: tea and macarons at Ladurée; the marvellous Deyrolle on the Rue du Bac (will do a separate posting on this amazing museum-like store); the Porte de Clignancourt – home to the Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen – a large antique flea market founded in the 17th century (look out for separate posting); hot chocolate at Le Train Bleu – the most resplendent set of rooms in the Gare de Lyon; pain de mie in the Place des Vosges; falafels in Le Marais; Montmartre in the snow and our roof-top ‘loft’ which gave us a bird’s eye view over the chimneys and Sacré-Cœur in the distance… of which we never tired.
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