PARIS. £100 spending money. Just 2 days, 48 hours in Paris.

 

 

Paris in Springtime is nice.

Bit muggy.

Crowds of tourists everywhere .

Not everywhere.

Especially, if you are willing to go off the beaten track.

 

Which was exactly my plan.

However 48 hours is not a lot of time to explore Paris.

 

On top of that I had set myself the challenge of a daily budget of £50.

Excluding accommodation.

More than enough…. I hear you say.

 

Trust me £50 does not go far in Paris…as you will learn soon.

Here is a diary of my 48 hours in Paris.

Day 1: 27th April 2011

Edinburgh Airport

4pm

Never leave buying your euros till last minute. I just got 105 euros for £100 today at Travelex. Biggest rip off.

 

7.30pm

 

48 hours and counting- I land in Charles de Gaulle Airport.

I head into Paris on RER B Train.

35 minutes is the journey time.

Cost of my ticket is 17.40 euros rtn!

Left: 86.60 euros.

 

8:30pm

 

I check into my home for the next 2 nights: St Christopher’s Inn Paris.

First impressions are good.

Receptionist is pleasant and welcoming.

 

The hostel has it’s own Bar called Belushis.

They are showing the Barca-Madrid game.

 

I check out my room for the night- a 12 bed dorm. For the price, I can’t complain.

You have your own reading light, blinds and luggage locker beneath your bunk.

 

9 pm

I’m off for a pint at Belushis.

Place is heaving and packed.

Good game so far.

Beer price alert: Pint of Kronenburg is 4 euros.

Just flash your room key, otherwise if you don’t show it , price creeps upto 6 euros ( which is the standard price across most of Paris let me warn you )

 

1030 pm

Half Time.

Drinking that pint got me really hungry.

I check out Belushi’s menu: 10 euros for a burger!

No thanks.

 

I head out for a snoop around the neighbourhood.

The hostel is by the canal , I spot  some very cool bars and restos to eat.

 

Eventually I plump for home comforts and decide to go for an Indian: Crepes Chaudes on 182 Rue de Crimee

 

I know. Coming all the way to Paris to eat at an Indian?

However, I have a good feeling about this place.

Looks clean, I get a good waft of the food from the street.

 

I have Chicken Curry with basmati rice, dessert is crepes with Nutella after.

All for just 10.50 euros.

 

I can’t complain. Nice curry and those crepes were yum.

 

Left: 75.50euros

 

Day 2: 28th April 2011 

 

4.30am

 

Morning! I had a dream that I was surrounded by a swarm of snarling hyenas.

I wake up with a cold sweat.

Actually, it’s just a bunch of Brazilians snoring in my dorm.

Too many caipirinhas last night I guess.

 

8am

I drag myself downstairs. Not much of a morning person to be honest,

Free Breakfast at St Christophers- not bad.

The breakfast counter is lined with a shitload of golden brown crispy baguettes.

I grab a few and and wallop tons of Nutella on them and wash it down with a gallon of orange juice.

 

9am

 

Buy a Paris Mobilis Pass. For 6.10 euros you get unlimited travel on zones 1 and 2 for 24 hours.

Left: 69.40 euros

 

9:45am

 

Cold, grey day.

I’m in Pere Lachaise Cemetery.

It’s a beautiful place.

You do need a map to get around this place- very confusing layout.

 

 

I meet Jim Morrison in the 6th Division.

 

11am

 

 

Love the Art Noveau entrances of the Metro stations in Paris.

Next stop: I’m off for a taste of the macabre: The Catacombs!

 

11:45am

 

Queue MASSIVE in front of Catacombs.

 

@katyabroad tweets me

 

“Ugh, Catacombs does not sound like a fun day out! Have you got anywhere to go a little less ‘touristy’?”

 

12:30pm

 

I abandon the Catacombs queue.

Tip: Come early to avoid the crowds. I head off to see where Joyce, Hemingway lived in rue Cardinal Lemoine

 

1:15pm

 

 

Quick but v tasty lunch at Moisan in Place Maubert: Baguette with saucisson & chocolate tart: 6 euros.

Left: 63.40 euros

 

2pm

 

I’m at 71 Rue Cardinal Lemoine: courtyard where Joyce finished writing Ulysses.

Closed to public now sadly.

 

2:10pm

 

‘This was how Paris was in early days when we were poor & happy’ ( A Moveable Feast)

74 Rue Cardinal Lemoine

 

 

Around the corner from Rue Cardinal Lemoine: 39 Rue Descartes.

Hemingway lived here from 1921 to 1925.

 

245pm

 

I need a pickmeup.

I go for a double espresso at Cafe Delmas on Place De la Contrescarpe.

Hemingway describes this place as a ‘cesspool’ where all the prostitutes, drug addicts, pimps and sailors used to hangout.

Espresso sets me back 6 euros!

 

I have now left: 57.40euros

 

330pm

 

Had a cool chat with Remi Lemoner,owner of Hotel Vieux ‘Beat Hotel’ where Ginsberg, Kerouac stayed.

The hotel is located in 9 rue Git-le-Coeur, an unassuming street in the Latin Quarter.

 

Remi was a real character and had a ton of interesting stories to tell me- a true adventurer. He was one of the first westerners to step foot in Mongolia back in 60’s when there were heavy restrictions on foreigners entering the country.

 

4pm

 

I’m at 7 Rue Des Grands Augustins: Picasso finished his masterpiece Guernica here.

 

4:20pm

Tres cool! I come across a Taschen bookstore at 2 Rue de Buci

 

5.08pm

 

Cafe Flore bursting at seams.Favourite hangout for intellectuals Sartre and Simone De Beauvoir.

 

RT @h_dumigan: Considering unfollowing @BudgetTraveller ’cause of the tantalising updates on 2 days spent exploring Paris. Envy is a terrible thing. #100Paris

RT @arpimay: #100Paris this is a literary, artistic and cinematic Parisfest! Enjoying it.

 

530pm

 

More of Hemingway’s Paris.

44 Rue Jacob. Hotel Angleterre : Ernest spent his first night here in Paris on 14/12/1921

 

 

Later on 56 Rue Jacob Hotel York I witness a plaque that is a reminder of an important moment in history….

On 03/09/1733 this is where David Hartley Benjamin Franklin signed the treaty for American Independence.

 

6pm

 

I’m at Dans Les Landes – the 5th’s hottest joint.

Just steps from the Rue Mouffetard market and the charming St Médard square, this smart little spot is full of varied tapas-style tastes from France’s southwest.

At just 8 euros for a mojito & charcuterie, I can see why this place is so popular.

 

Left: 49.40 euros

 

Day3: 29th April 2011

 

12 hours left. 49.40 euros left.

 

It was the day of the Royal Wedding.

Not a confetti or Union Jack in sight across Paris.

 

9:30am

 

I buy another 24 hour Mobilis Paris Metro Pass. Cost 6.10 euros. Left 43.30 euros

 

 

Great to see Hollywood movie posters when travelling: always translates into something completely different.

Hangover 2 translated in French : ‘Very Bad Trip 2’

 

10:30am

 

 

I’m in the very chic Le Dome restaurant ( also known as the Angle American Cafe in the heyday) where Picasso & many luminaries used to hang out.

Here’s a picture.

I feel like the Antichrist on the day tweeting about #100Paris challenge.

My whole feed is jammed with female followers raving about Kate Middleton’s dress- boring!

 

12:30pm

Enroute to St Germain, I stop to admire the beautiful tower of Eglise St Sulpice

 

1pm

 

Lunch –I wish I had remembered the name of this place- food was fantastic.19euros. ( Left: 24.30 euros) Fixed 3 course menu with a half a carafe of wine. Food smells great +diners speak in French: good sign. Just saw someone having Crepes Suzette with Grand Marnier-wow.

 

Starter of warm Sausages w/ garlic fresh cream cider sorrel & spinach sauce-nice.

 

2:30pm

 

 

‘We are sum of all the moments of our lives’

Jesse’s famous quote from that stunning movie: Before Sunset

 

I am at the famous Shakespeare & Co where Jesse + Celine reunite

 

As a souvenir from my trip I splurge 8 euros on a book of Neruda’s poetry at Shakespeare & Co.

I’m down to just 16.30 euros with 5 hrs left of #100Paris challenge

 

330pm

 

My legs are like jelly walking around Paris.

 

I take it easy and just beach myself on the banks of River Seine to right of Notre Dame.

Suns out.

I spend a few hours just lazing, reading my book of Neruda poems and watching Paris pass me by.

 

7.00pm

I meet an old university friend at a very flash cocktail bar in St Germain.

16 euros- buy one get one cocktail. Got myself a mojito.

 

Heaven.

Left: 0.30 euros.

 

THE END

Au revoir!

PS: If you enjoyed this post have a peek at my post Nostalgia is a seductive liar: Remembering Paris for the 1st time