Fortieth Birthday - Paris weekend

The last part of my birthday celebration was a gift from Ollie - a long weekend in Paris over the August bank holiday. We had never been together, and I hadn't been since I last went with David a couple of years ago.

Late on Friday night we arrived at our hotel, Le Pigalle (in the Pigalle area) just in time for a cocktail in the hotel bar. It was such a great hotel with a very comfy bed so I would definitely stay there again.

On Saturday morning we wandered all around the Pigalle area - the 9th arrondisement. We had breakfast at Rose Bakery, coffee at a cool shop called The Rocketship that I've popped into before, and we took a couple of pastries up to Sacre Coeur to devour while enjoying the view over Paris.

For something a bit different (and because the weather was hinting at rain), we did a cheese and wine tasting in the cellar of a cheese shop in Canal St Martin. It was a fun two hour pit stop and we learnt a bit more about all the cheese we indulge in. I also discovered a new cheese, Epoisses, that I really enjoyed.

The Pigalle is a trendy area, so we ate dinner locally at Les Affranchis (where it turned out I had been to before with David), and then checked out a couple of the cocktail bars conveniently located in our street.

Arrived in Paris!

Cocktails at Le Pigalle's bar (Pigalle is the old red light district)

Our hotel - a great location

Wandering in Pigalle

Stopping for coffee in The Rocketship

The local basketball court is regularly updated by different artists.
Almost makes me want to play!

One of our dinner venues

Sacre Couer

Views of Paris

The main reason to go to Paris, chocolate eclairs!

Canal St Martin

Ready for our chesse and wine tasting

Held in the cellar of this cheese shop

The main reason Ollie chose Paris was because I had wanted to see Claude Monet's gardens in Giverny which is a day trip from Paris. On Sunday we took the train to the village for the day. I was expecting something park like and open but it was actually over a relatively small area. On one side of a road is the famous 'Japanese Bridge' with the water lillies and willow trees - very pretty. On the other side of the road is Claude Monet's house and rows and rows of brightly coloured flowers - he was not afraid of colour. The garden was very bright, and his house was the same. A bright yellow dining room, and a blue and white kitchen.

The village of Giverny isn't much to speak of and there is a short street of cafes and touristy shops we wandered around afterwards. We found a patch of garden to have a drink in while we waited for the train back.

Dinner on Sunday night was another local hit at Buvette where they serve small plates of french dishes to share.

Breakfast before heading to Giverny

Claude Monet's gardens (that's the bridge at the end)

All those water lillies

Claude Monet's house

His yellow dining room

Cider while we wait for the train

For our last morning, we wandered down to the Jardin des Tuileries for a view of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre (just to remind ourselves where we were). As it happened we were next to the Musee de L'Orangerie so popped in to see Claude Monet's actual Waterlillies painting!

Before flying back we had lunch at Pink Mamma a popular local Italian (we took a break from French food!).

Claude Monet's Water Lillies (one part of it anyway)

The Louvre

Ah, Paris...