DESTINATIONS PARIS | SHORT BREAKS


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Paris is even better off-peak, finds Katie McGonagle


chill in the air.


“Because of the people or the place?” I ask. “Both! I always say people should visit Paris at night. Paris is the city of light, and at night, everything is lit up.” As evening draws in and crisp day turns into rather nippy night-time, I see what she means. Spotlights pick out the intricate details in the arch’s sculptured frieze, the warm lights of famous French bakery Ladurée shine out invitingly into the night, and just around the corner, the huge flagship of fashion giant Dior is emblazoned with neon-lit sayings across its impressive facade. “Dance and redefine what is beautiful,” says one. There’s never a bad time to be in Paris, but skipping the


summer crowds and coming here in the shoulder seasons, when Parisians are back from their south-of-France sojourns and the streets thrum with activity day and night, feels more like the ‘real’ city than the tourist version, making it a good idea for clients keen to squeeze in a city break this side of Christmas.


PAST TIMES One place to start is Le Marais, a maze of twisting, narrow streets where tiny falafel carts sit side-by-side with high fashion boutiques, where diners spill out of pavement cafes and Jewish bakeries and bookshops rub shoulders with hipster stores proudly displaying the rainbow flag. ²


3 OCTOBER 2019


very day I go to work is a love story,” says our Parisian guide, Nicole, as we stroll along the Champs-Élysées, the grand Arc de Triomphe looming in the distance as we put our collars up against the


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