Day One - Arrival in Paris

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Geo: 48.8566, 2.35097

Our flight arrived on time at 6.30am and we easily moved through customs and into a taxi. We drove quite quickly to Paris without traffic being too much of a problem. We were shocked at how dark it was and how long it took to become light! I think it was around 9.00am before it was daylight. <br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: clearsans, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 15.2380952835083px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: clearsans, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 15.2380952835083px;">This is my second trip to Paris as I visited for three days with my eldest daughter last year. It is the first visit however, for my husband Gary, daughter Stephanie (aged 20) and son Jayden (aged 17). 

We were staying at the Hotel Dauphine in St. Germaine des Pres. Our rooms were not quite ready so we left our luggage at the hotel and strolled down Rue Dauphine looking for breakfast. We found it at Le Buci, on the corner of Rue Mazarine. We all had croissants and baguettes along with coffee and juice – wonderful. We then returned to the hotel and were given one room to freshen up in. The room was on a high floor and very tiny.  Here is a link to my review on Tripadvisor:  

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187147-d194276-r125010214-Hotel_Dauphine_Saint_Germain-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

We then headed out to wander. We walked across Pont Neuf and into Place Dauphine to check on our New Year's Eve dinner reservation at Le Rose de France. We wandered around Ile de la Cite and over to Ile Saint Louis where we bought beautiful lemon tarts at a little shop on Rue St. Louis en l'ile that I had visited last year. Back to Cite and a look in all the tourist shops alongside Notre Dame and a look at the outside of the cathedral. We stopped at Esmeralda for coffee and people watching. 

 We were due to meet our tour guide Sabine, outside Notre Dame at around 12.00 midday, for a half day private drive tour of Paris. As my family had not been to Paris before and we only had three days, I thought it would be a good idea to give them a brief overview of the city. We could have used the hop on hop off bus, but it was very cold and really not too much more expensive for a private driver than four tickets on the bus!

 She picked us up on schedule and we were very happy with her services. We varied her standard half day tour as some of the things on it we were planning to do by ourselves. She first drove us to Les Invalides so that we could purchase our Museum Passes and use the ATM to get some more Euros. We didn't want to go to the Eiffel Tower as we were going there the next day, but we asked her to take us to Trocadero so my husband and family could see the beautiful views of the Tower from there and take photos. After this she took us to Place Vendome as none of us had been there and then we headed up to Montmartre with photo stops at Opera Garnier, Au Printemps and Gallerie Lafayette windows and Moulin Rouge (all at our request). We spent a couple of hours at Montmarte including time for wine and Croque Monsieurs at Le Cremaillere and a brief look at Sacre Coeur.   We then drove back down to our hotel with a bit of a driving tour through Le Marais, which I also hadn't seen much of on my previous visit.  Unfortunately by this time the traffic was atrocious and it took us over an hour to travel from Le Marais back to Rue Dauphine. In hindsight it would have been easier to get out and walk! 

Here is a link to my review of our half day tour with Sabine:<a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1673096-d2534832-r125108593-Paris_Authentique_Sabine_Day_Tours-Saint_Remy_les_Chevreuse_Yvelines_Ile_de_Fra.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1673096-d2534832-r125108593-Paris_Authentique_Sabine_Day_Tours-Saint_Remy_les_Chevreuse_Yvelines_Ile_de_Fra.html</a> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: clearsans, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 15.2380952835083px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: clearsans, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 15.2380952835083px;">We got our two teenagers organised in their room, and had a couple of glasses of wine in the hotel bar before dinner at Chez Fernand Christine and bed. 

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Photos

Our Double Room at Hotel Dauphine
Our Double Room at Hotel Dauphine

Place Dauphine
Place Dauphine

Notre Dame
Notre Dame

Les Invalides
Les Invalides