A trip to grey Paris

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Last week was half term and since we haven’t been out of the country (apart from to Jersey, which doesn’t really count) since 2019 I fancied going somewhere a bit different. However we are trying to avoid flying, with its massive carbon footprint, and were a bit nervous about ferries, so we opted for the train. And the easiest ‘overseas’ places to get to by train are Paris or Brussels. We dithered about whether to go, and whether to go to one city or two, or do something else… and we already had commitments on the first Saturday and the second Sunday. So in the end we opted for a six-day Paris sojourn. I have only been to Paris once, when my friend Helen persuaded a group of friends to accompany her there for a birthday trip in 2020 (immediately before the Covid lockdown), and the rest of the family have never been. So basically anything we did would be new. However as a family we are not very good at getting round a lot of sights quickly, so we opted to not try to fit in too many things otherwise it would just be too frustrating when we didn’t manage it! Also Little One didn’t want to be dragged around an endless series of museums. We tried to achieve a balance between visiting interesting places and being a bit more relaxed. The six days went past rather fast, and there are still loads of interesting places we didn’t get a chance to visit. Paris is definitely a pleasant city, although last week it really was a case of ‘grey Paris’ rather than the expected ‘gay Paris’ – the week started fairly cloudy but the last few days were especially grey and dull – and now it seems we brought the French weather home with us! All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2024.