Champs-Elysées Verts

Champs-Elysées Verts
Originally uploaded by etnobofin

Nature capital project greens the Champs Elysee for Paris breaks in May

Paris Breaks via Stratford

Everybody knows you can get Paris breaks from St Pancras Station in London, and some that you can also catch the Eurostar at Ebbsfleet and Ashford but not much has been written about the new Straford International Eurostar station in East London. That's because of the 2012 Olympics probably, which delayed the opening of this new intersection transport hub. Stratford International was in fact built at the same time as the fast high speed link from St Pancras to the channel tunnel, but it couldn't be opened straight away because of the work surrounding the site for the London Olympics in 2012.
But now Stratford is open, you just have to get a special bus service through the building site, from Stratford mainline railway station, platform 11. The Eurostar trains themselves, from St Pancras, don't stop at Stratfrd International yet, and there is still some dispute as to whether the London to Paris trains will stop at Stratfrd during and after the Olympics, but the high speed South Eastern trains service does stop at Stratford, so you can take a very fast train from Stratford to Ebbsfleet, Ashford and then on to Dover or Canterbury or use this route to connect with the Eurostar.

From Paris Breaks Flickr Group

Here are some pictures recently posted to teh Paris Breaks Flickr group.

Paris - Rue de Rivoli et Tour Saint-Jacques

Paris Rue Mouffetard

Paris - Montmartre

Paris - Montmartre
Originally uploaded by Añelo de la Krotsche

Paris - Montmartre next to the Sacre Coeur is a very touristy area but not without its charms.

Pompidou Center Reopens

Pompidou Center Reopens: "Workers at the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris have suspended a strike that had shut down the museum for three weeks."

Workers at several other major French museums and cultural institutions went on strike in sympathy, including the Musée d’Orsay, Notre Dame Cathedral and the palace at Versailles, but have since reopened.

Musée de l'Institut du Monde Arabe

Musée de l'Institut du Monde Arabe
Originally uploaded by AndyRob

The Musée de l'Institut du Monde Arabe is near the Jardin des Plantes accessible by batobus on Paris City Breaks

Designed in 1987 by architect Jean Nouvel and funded by 22 different, mostly Arab countries, it includes expositions on calligraphy, decorative arts, architecture, and photography produced by the Arab/Islamic world, as well as insights into its religion, philosophy, and politics. There's a bookshop on-site, a replica of a Medina selling high-quality gift and art objects, and archival resources that are usually open only to bona-fide scholars. Views from the windows of the on-site Moroccan restaurant encompass Notre-Dame, l'Ile de la Cité, and Sacré-Coeur.

Paris - Charonne, Rue de Bagnolet

Paris - Charonne, Rue de Bagnolet
Originally uploaded by Añelo de la Krotsche

Paris - Charonne, Rue de Bagnolet

In the 18th Century, wealthy Parisians liked to come to "their Belleville countryside". They had fine residences built there, now demolished. At number 148, Rue de Bagnolet, there are still some of the last vestiges of the Château de Bagnolet and the Ermitage pavilion, which was most notably a meeting place for counter-revolutionaries, in times before they were guillotined.