 | There
is no ‘best time’ to visit Paris; in every season the city is always
alive. Summer days are spent lazing on the banks of the Seine, sipping coffee
at a sidewalk café, or idling in one of the city’s many gardens or
forests. In autumn afternoons the brisk walk from the Eiffel Tower through the
Parc du Champ de Mars and up to the glittering Champs Elysées is accompanied
with a carpet of leaves crunching underfoot. Winter nights induce a warm glow
ice-skating in the outdoor rink at the Hotel de Ville, and in spring the passions
of performers fill the air outside the Pompidou Centre and the nose is tickled
with the subtle scents of flowering gardens. There is an otherworldliness to this
city, where beauty and elegance are favoured over purpose and practicality. Centuries
of urban development have the appearance of having being mastered by a single
hand with a strong sense of balance, contrast and aesthetics. The views from the
Eiffel Tower or Sacré Coeur reveal hundreds of iconic attractions for the
snapshot visitor, but the best way to see this city is by tucking your map back
in your pocket and allowing yourself to get lost on its streets and avenues, discovering
the city for yourself. |