Summer 2001
"Arrival at Beauvais"
Being the nice brother that i am, i brought my youngest brother Kevin to Paris for a week at the end of last summer. Here we arriving at Beauvais, much further from Paris than i had anticipated. But the journey in was quite nice, travelling through the French countryside made a change from the journrey in from CDG.
"Finally we get to Paris!"
We finally got in to Paris around mid-afternoon. The bus stops at the James Joyce pub near Porte Maillot but as it was French culture we longed for, we skipped a visit to the pub and went in search of a cafe instead.
"Hello Ladies!!"
Finding a nice coffee shop in Paris is never difficult.
"Fawlty Towers!!"
Next stop was our hotel to get rid of all the bags. I had booked a place online at the Aquarelle hotel near Place De La Republique. While you won't find any movie stars or celebrities staying here, it was cheap, safe and in a nice neighbourhood, if a little off the beaten track.
"View from Hotel"
Here's the view from out window, onto Boulevard du Temple. I like staying in non-touristy places as they tend to have a real authentic villagy feel to them and you feel much more Parisien! The breakfast at our hotel was excellent - one thing i have found from my travels in France is that they serve excellent coffee everywhere. Whether it's a cafe filtre in McDonalds or an espresso in Les Deux Magots it's invariably excellent. I would nearly return to this hotel again just for the coffee they served every morning!!


