Every now and then I try my hand at a travel competition. I was looking
through the very useful Club Together magazine and saw a competition for a
weekend in Paris with Silver Travel Advisor and Kirker Holidays. To my
surprise and delight, I won!
It’s great when you win a weekend break in Paris (thank you Silver Travel Advisor!), especially when it’s provided by a good company (Kirker Holidays) who make everything go so smoothly.
The Eurostar trip from London to Paris was uneventful – similar to standard class on UK mainline trains through miles of flat French countryside. However, on arrival in Paris we were met by our driver who soon got us to our hotel (the Astor Saint Honore). The hotel was great – traditional with friendly and helpful staff and very relaxing. The room was quiet, not large but equally not claustrophobic.
The great thing about the Kirker weekend break was the complimentary tickets. These included tickets for the Metro, a museum pass (beat the queues!) and Seine cruise, all of which we made good use of.
There’s so much to see in Paris that one weekend can only scratch the surface. However, the hop-on / hop-off bus is highly recommended. Four routes cover most of tourist Paris and are a great way of seeing a lot in a short time. This was our second break in Paris and we managed to take in places new to us. The Sacre Coeur is well worth a visit with amazing views over the city. It’s quite a climb, so unless you are fit take the funicular (€1.80 or one Metro ticket).
I particularly love Paris for its many street cafes where you can relax with a drink and watch the world go by. We were lucky and stopped at La Mascotte on Place de l’Alma. It’s clearly popular (many locals meeting up here) with friendly service, simple food cooked well and reasonable prices (for Paris).
The weekend was soon over and we were collected from our hotel in a smart car and delivered back to the station for the journey home. So a big thank you to Paris and to Kirker for a great, and unexpected, city break. The only downside? … wish it could have been longer!
