There are many ways to Paris, but if you are someone who lives in the UK, you have the wonderful opportunity to take the Eurostar train from St Pancras to the Paris Nord terminal. The tickets vary in price up to £300 one way but if you are lucky you can get it for as cheep as £60 return!

Alright, there is always a good reason behind a cheep ticket and it is mostly bad weather however, if you are there to see the city you are all good as all the queues get shorter!

• Hôtel Kyriad
• €350 for 2 people, 1 room including continental breakfast

Hôtel Kyriad was a place we’ve found on the Internet. Relatively close to the city centre and fairly good price. In fact, there shops down the street and the Latin Quarter is just 10 minutes away on foot. The hotel is not just around the corner of the Place d’Italie square with Metro line 5, 6 and 7, but there is a brilliant cafe 30 seconds away from the front door that is open very late. Good vines, good French food and good atmosphere.

The Metro system consists of 14 lines which are numbered and are assigned different colours. It was opened in 1900 and is one of the busiest metro system in the world – still, it is spacious and comfortable. Just for comparison, the oldest system in the world was opened in 1863 in London.

Ticket machines are fairly straight forward with English language built into them. I’d like to mention though that don’t be surprised when the machine spits out all the tickets one-by-one when you buy the ‘Book of tickets’.

• € 1.90 – for a single journey
• € 18.60 – Book of Tickets (10)
  

Both trains and metros traditionally use steel wheels. On the way to our hotel, we needed to catch the Metro Line 6 and was surprised to see that it run on rubber wheels like a bus. Aside from the regular tyre maintenance and the increased energy consumption, these trains have some great advantages:

• Smooth and quiet ride (think about the people living around the train tracks);
• Can climb steeper slopes;

Fast acceleration & stopping time thus, more frequent trains;

Traditional underground trains use 4 rails. At least in London they do. The trains runs on 2 and the other 2 are used for the positive and negative electricity rails.

This is a bit more complicated when it comes to rubber-tyred rails. There are 6 rails all together. The trains runs on two flat ones called the runway. Next to the runway on each side there is a running rail which is essentially a normal train rail. This has two purposes: It acts as a backup track in case of a tyre failure and also makes it possible for steel wheeled trains to use the same track!

Behind each rubber tyre there is a steel safety wheel that is elevated and does not touch the steel rail only in the case of tyre failure. Lastly, there is a vertical guiding bar on each side. An extra horizontal guiding tyre runs on these bars to keep the train on track. The electricity is picked up through brushes from these guide tracks and the return current flows to the inner running rails.

This is the city centre in the picture below. If you travelled during the day, there is no better way to get an initial glimps of the city than going out for a walk. There is much to see, it is all free and the best thing: nobody’s around! We caught a bus from our hotel at Place D’Italie and had a meal first at the Cafe Le Dante (circled in pic).

The Notre Dame is a Gothic Catholic church build in the 12th century. The names means Our Lady, lady as in Mary – the mother of Jesus. It used to be the cultural, economic and spiritual centre of Paris. Even though it is 800 years old, in the early 18th century they’ve found an acient altar burried underneath dedicated to the Pagan god Jupiter – Roman god of the Sky and Thunder.

Did you know the gargoyles were only a 19th century addition by Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc whot overseen the restoration?

Tarea is currently closed as we speak in 2019 due to the 15 April fire. You can take some photos though from Rue de la Cité when you walk across the Pont des Coeurs bridge.

The most iconic features that survived are the 3 Rose Windows.

• West Rose Window (front): Oldest but not original. Original was built in 1125.

• South Rose Window (right): Largest out of the 3. Almost 2x the size of the Big Ben clock faces. But this window also doesn’t have the original stain glass pieces.

• North Rose Window (left): Not the biggest, not the oldest, but it is has the original glasses. And it survived the fire!

Pont Neuf bridge is the oldest standing bridge across the river. Since it was built in the 16th century people used its convenient location across the river to commit suicide or crime. Naturally, the bodies ended up in the water. After the bodies were found in the Seine, they were publicly displayed at the Morgue of Paris for possible identification.

Translates to New Bridge. The oldest stone bridge in Paris. It connects the South Bank with the North Bank where the Louvre is. It is said to have two spans as in the middle there is the island where the Notre Dame is. Henri IV ordered its construction in 1578 and added 384 ‘mascarons’ or grotesque faces. He liiked women, and these faces are the faces of their husbands. There is one woman among them!

A Roman Catholic church situated opposite the Louvre that was reconstructed in the 13th century. The origianl church has a Merovingian origin. The Merovingian dynasty was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. It was destroyed in 885-886.

Notre Dame’s services are held at Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois.since the 2019 fire.

The French Cuisine? I think up till this date I’ve been living under a rock. There are literally restaurants and small cafes everywhere in Paris and are all amazing. The price range is also more or less the same so it’s a no brainer where you sit in.

Time matters, so when you are on the go the last thing you want is to waste time by searching hours for a cheap restaurant. The competition between the cafes are so high that they can’t afford a bad review. Everything we visited was excelen.

For refence here are some tha twe liked.

I’ve got this habit that when I arrive to a new country, the first thing I eat is a burger – after a long day of travelling I just don’t feel like risking it. Le Dante is the first cafe we viited right after our arrival. It is a quaint cafe situated on the South Bank at the corner of Rue Dante and Rue Galande. The cafe was surprisingly not too busy and it was obvious from the inside decoration and lighting design that this place is quite fancy. We didn’t know at the time but Notre Dame is just around the corner!

If you are visiting in winter time make sure to get a glass of mulled vine. It’s amazing!

• Burger: 18€
• Mulled Wine: 6.20€

I’ve got another habit that I like to practice on my first night when I arrive to a foreign country. After a nice meal I am now up for something local that I find unusual.

The very first evening is the time for a random stroll in the city to pick up the vibe. Especially alongside the river Seine. From Notre Dame there’s plenty to see towards the Louvre. Once you are ready for a late night snack, the Cafe de la Comedie is waiting for you just outside the glass pyramid.

This is a typical Parisian cafe with a heated terrace. It was a cold, rainy November evening when we were there and these cafes are super inviting and warm. Snails are one of the specialities and well … why not give it a go?

• 6 Snails 12€
• Coffee 3.50€

You are on holiday so a penny here or there does not matter. Cafes are well aware of this. 6 snails were 12€ and 12 pieces for 22€. We went with the 6 piece first. You know, new stuff. But it was so amazing especially with the fresh French baguette and it was so comfy underneath the warm halogen lights that we ordered another 6. When we payed, the waiter not only refused to count the 2×6 snails as the 12 snail offer, but he added some kind of service charges on everything.

It is not much really but thought I should mentioned this. The place is still gorgeous and comfortable and the food is excellent. Not to mention, we saw 2 girls having a chat at one of the tables when a homeless men approached them. I haven’t heard the conversation but the guy ended up getting a gigantic box of food.

First you’ll get a pair of tongs and a snail fork.

Next, the waiter delivers the heroes of this dish. It is in a rich herby olive oil with a hint of garlic.

It is a bit tricky to pick up, but try to hold the shell with the tongs.

Finally, dive in with the fork.

Close to 120 years ago, this guy called Anton Rumpelmayer moved to France with his family form the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.

They loved tea houses so they opened one in Paris. It is named after Anton’s daughter-in-law: Angelina. In the early 1900s tea houses were considered pretty fancy where poets, artists and politicians gathered.

Angelina was recommended to us by a friend. We paid a visit after a long walk in the pouring rain in 3 degrees of C from the Arch de Triomphe. But hey, if you want to see something in Pairs, you don’t get afraid of water, do you?

You will find Angelina at No.226, Rue de Rivoli, close to the Louvre. There is a bit of a line waiting outside, but it didn’t take us more than 10 minutes to get in. The first thing you will notice is how different the architecture is compared to the rest of the city – Austro-Hungarian architecture.

Let’s talk a little bit about the cakes. We chose the Pistachio Mount Blanc & Trocadero. Well, they are amazing. Since we were close to frozen to death and literally soaked, a nice warm chocolate drink did the trick. We tried both the normal and the white hot chocolate drinks and yet again: amazing.. Although the competition is so high thsed days between brands that you can get comparable quality eve at Tesco. If you go to Angelina go for the whole experience. It is a very fancy place with elegant door men, polite waitresses, space, unique architecture and just a great place to have a nice conversation.

• Mont Blanc Pistache: 9.70€
• Trocadero: 9.30€
• Hot Chocolate: 8.20€

Chances are when visiting the mighty Eiffel Tower you will get off at La Motte-Picquet – Grenelle metro station. If so, Cafe Le Pierrot is literary just around the corner.

Before queuing in to get on top of the Eiffel Tower, we had a nice burger on the terrace. I love watching the street and the people passing by. Everyone is so elegant, wearing fancy coats and dresses. And I don’t think it is a money thing. It is more of a style thing and what is freat about it: they inspire you!

Back to the food. The burger is the best I had in Paris. Even though lot of burgers come with bacon in them, you can’t really taste them. Not this burger. I loved how pronounced the taste of the bacon was. A nice coffee after and ready to see the world from a different perspective.

• Burger: 16€
• Espresso: 2.70€

This place was just around the corner of our hotel, 2 minute walk from the Place d’italie metro station.

Nothing special, just a lovely cafe with a nice atmosphere. It has a large smoking/heated terrace and is open till very late. We ordered food around 11pm. I’d like to point out here 2 awesome French food here that you should try:

• The Onion Soup
• Foie Gras

The onion soup used to be the food of poor people back in the Roman times. Onion grows easily and was always available. The French are one of the kings of food thus, topped it up a little bit in the 18th century with beef broth, pieces of bred, caramelised onions and cheese on top.

Foie gras has a different story. Have you heard of force feeding? Well, Egyptian people came up with it 4,500 years ago. It seemed a good idea to keep birds around the house, force them to eat as much as possible and than eat the poor, fat thing. Foie gras is made from duck or goose liver. They are force fed by a feeding tube. The process is called gavage. Anyway, it tastes really, really good.

A great restaurant a few steps from the Place de Clichy metro station very close to the Moulin Rouge.

Try the Duck Confit here. You won’t be disappointed. It originates form Gascony, France & brought in by the Romans. The duck is preserved in salt and herbs for 36 hours before it is slowly cooked in its own fat for an additional 4-10 hours.

• Confit Canard: 15.50€
• Creme Bulee: 5.90€

The touristy locations are super crowdy. If you are much of a photographer, it is impossible to get a shot from the slefie taking Instagram stars.

Fortunately, there are other not-so-popular spots that saves you some frustration. Or just pick a rainy day!

Walk across the Pont d’Iéna bridge towards the Palais de Chaillot. Go up the stairs and you will find one of the most popular touristy locations for snapping a pic of the tower. The best time to come here is when it’s raining.

Behind the Palais de Chaillot there is the Trocadero roundabout. Walk to the left a little on Avenue Paul Doumer and take the first turn to Rue Benjamin Franklin.

A few meters down the road there is a nice garden and next to it Rue le Tasse. This street is private property but when the gates are open – which is pretty often – you will have a nice view on the Eiffel Tower. But this is not our final stop.

The next street, parallel to Rue le Tasse, is Avenue de Camoens. I believe there is not much to say here as you will appreciate straightaway the views on the tower. This is not a very touristy place and the composition is quite alright.

This is the tall tower that you see right in front of the Eiffel Tower. We haven’t been on the top but seeing the pictures from their website, it’s worth it.

• Adult ticket: 18€

• 20 minute line if you do not have tickets (in November)

• Tickets: 19.40€/pp to the top (stairs to 2nd + lift from 2nd to top).

• There are 3 stories. You can walk up to 1st & 2nd by stairs or take the lift if you pay extra. I recommend the stairs as it takes literally 5-10 mins to each level and is an adventure.

• The top is further up from the 2nd floor than the 2nd floor is from the ground. You have to take the elevator from here.

• There are toilets on all floors and a shop, small video museum and restaurants on the first floor. Look how cool the toilet is!

• The top comprises of a double level. The bottom is enclosed with windows and it has a nice cozy atmosphere. Though it get’s very cold on top. The iron structure is cold too so make sure you wear thick shoes.

What is interesting, there are these merchants everywhere on the ground around the tower selling their goods. If you stop for a second and listen with your eyes closed, you can here the phrase ‘5 for 1€‘ coming all around like in a Dolby Atmos cinema.

It is 1805 and there is this guy called Napoleon who is the emperor of the French. War is rumbling across Europe and Napoleon’s been very busy nicking pieces of other countries to himself. He goes a bit overboard though… England, Austria and Russia declare war on France. In response, the witty Napoleon decides to surprise his fellow enemies and goes on a killing spree.

Austria is a no brainer but the Russians are a different story. It was a long journey to Austerlitz and the French are tired but the witty Napoleon comes up with a great plan. When the Russians happened to cross a frozen lake, he ordered his troops to fire some cannon balls on the ice. I’m sure you’ve got what the end of the story is. This was such a brilliant tactic – resulting in the death of 20,000 Russian solders – that Napoleon built himself the biggest arch ever made at the time. But he could never walk victoriously under the completed Arc.

It was only completed 15 years after Napoleon’s death. 4 years later, in 1840 they moved Napoleon’s body to its final resting place through the Arc.

If you visited Avenue de Camoens to snap an awesome picture of the Mighty Mistress, go back to the roundabout and follow Avenue Kléber towards the Arc de Triomphe.

I’d recommend not to take a metro or a bus. This is a nice walk and there’s plenty to see.

I’d also like to point out the side roads. There is a double lane road in the middle for the main traffic and on both sides there are small side roads. This is great to park your car if you lived around or just ride your bike.

If you feel like shopping walk across the Av. des Champs-Élysées from the Arc de Triumph. Even if you don’t, still walk. There’s plenty to see. After a 30 min walk you’ll reach Jardin des Tuileries where Angelina is. Make sure to stop by for some sweets.

Every now and then it’s good to be a bit into conspiracy. I like the sound of what Dan Brown has to say with his Da Vinci Code and to be fair, these are such secrets that we probably will never discover what really happened.

Also, don’t forget what Barney Stinson said:

“A lie is just a great story that someone ruined with the truth.”

The Equator devides the Earth halfway between the North and South Poles. Because we have the poles, there can only be one specific Equator line.

But we do not have West and East Poles… So where is the line between them?

A long time ago every nation had their own chosen prime meridian – a line which longitude is defined to be 0°. This usually passed through their capital. Then built maps based on this and used the line to measure distance to other places.

The French had their own prime meridian too passing through Paris. This was quite famous as in the 17th century they used complex Mathematical calculations based on this line to determine the shape of the Earth.

The world was changing, the countries had to agree on one common prime meridian everyone uses so in 1884 at an international convention it was decided that the prime meridian should pass through Greenwich, England.

The French were very proud of their meridian, and it took some time for them to accept this change. To commemorate the famous Parisian meridian, Jan, the Dutch artist built 135 bronze medallions in the streets of Paris along the Paris Meridian. They all say the word ‘Arago’ – referring to François Arago, who once recalculated with greater precision the Paris Meridian Arc.

The 3 meanings of the rose:

• guidance – the Rose Line acted as a compass. According to Dan Brown, any meridian line is called a Rose Line. This name originates from the 32-point compass that comprises of ‘quarter winds’ to pinpoint the direction. The 32 points perfectly resemble the 32 petal rose.

• secrecy – Romans used to hung a rose on the door to indicate that something confidential is going on inside.

• Womanhood – In the old days, the planet Venus was a symbol to the goddess of Venus – goddess of female sexual love and beauty. Why? Because the planet draws a perfect pentagram on the night sky every 8 years – the 5 points of the pentagram is taken when Venus approaches the Earth closest within these 8 years. The ancients were so stunned by the perfection of the shape Venus draws, that they made it to be the symbol of beauty, perfection and the cyclic qualities of sexual love. The rose called Rosa rugosa has 5 petals and a pentagonal symmetry – just like Venus.

Picture the Earth in the middle of the drawing above. Venus draws a pentagonal shape in every 8 years around our planet. If you connect the closes points to Earth, you’ll get a perfect shape of pentagram – the sign of womanhood.

A 32 point compass.

Sain Sulpice is thechurch where Silas searches for the keystone. The Priory keystone has been said to lie ‘beneath the Sign of the Rose. ‘ The Rose Line in Saint Sulpice is not precisely on the Paris Meridian. In fact, it is a quite a few hundred meters off. But this line was not put here to mark the Prime Meridian.

Saint Sulpice is the 2nd largest church in Paris after the Notre Dame. The Rose Line was originally used as part of a Gnomon – a device that measured the position of the Sun.

• There is a southern window with a small opening

• The Sun shines through and based on the current season the light will cross the Meridian line somewhere.

• The light always crosses the line at noon.

• At Summer time, when the Sun is high in the sky, the light crosses the line close to the window

• At Winter time, when the Sun is low in the sky, the light crosses the line further away the window. Since the lowest point would be 20 metres outside the wall of the church, there is an obelisk on which the Meridian Line travels upwards.

Moulin Rouge, the birthplace of Can-Can, is a fantastic musical dance entertainment club mostly known of its famous red windmill.

Watch the film if you haven’t already – it gives a good insight what life might have been around the Montmarte district – the centre of culture and art in Paris.

Blanche is the nearest metro station.