Uh oh. I’ve just returned from a week in Paris and have nothing to write.
Rather than do the regular well-planned itinerary tourist thing, my wife and I visit the City of Light with no agenda and no expectations.
We do however set out to walk the streets hand in hand to see what happens.
Luckily central Paris is compact and pedestrian-friendly and a romantic holiday seems to magically unfold for us.
The city is packed with landmarks so they just appear as you wander.
Let’s start with the Eiffel Tower because at 323 metres it’s the tallest structure in Paris and its distinctive shape is visible from just about everywhere in the city.
We catch sight of it shortly after striking out from our hotel – Hilton Arc de Triomphe – and head straight for it, or as straight as we can with Paris’ meandering streets, plazas and bridges.
And this is where the real pleasure of Paris emerges, when simply ambling.
Paris is known as the most beautiful city in the world for a reason.
Its joie de vivre surrounds you in the form of bustling streets with endless sidewalk cafes, shops, eye-popping architecture and fashionable people.
We hardly speak or understand any French, but we sure do love to hear it spoken everywhere.
As we near the Eiffel Tower the festival atmosphere intensifies with street vendors hawking food and drink and souvenirs and people milling around everywhere.
After all, this is not just Paris’ No. 1 tourist attraction, but the most famous monument in the world.
Happening upon this scene, we soon find out that unless you book weeks ahead online there are long line ups to buy tickets to either climb steps part way up or ride the elevator to the top.
We opt for the shorter line up, pay our $6.50 and puff up the 670 steps to the second level viewing platform for incredible views.
The walk back on the Left Bank of the River Seine reveals St.-Germain Boulevard, the Latin Quarter and Notre Dame church.
A switch of hotels to the boutique Gramont means there’s a different part of the city to explore on foot and we come across the National Opera, Louvre Museum (where we pop in to see the Mona Lisa), the Sacre Coeur church in Montmartre and the bustling Place de la Concorde where Marie Antoinette had her head chopped off in 1793.
We only stop walking to frequent outdoor cafes to feed our increasing croissant, French wine and macaroon addictions and people watch.
Air Transat flies non-stop to Paris from more Canadian cities than any other carrier- Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Quebec City. AirTransat.com.
General information at FranceGuide.com.