Decoder weekend in Paris
Posted on December 22, 2007 by Ailbhe Phelan
Decoder celebrated the end of 2007 by upgrading the annual Paris Christmas visit. Whereas in previous years we nipped under ‘La Manche’ / ‘The English Channel’ on lovely, lovely Eurostar, mixing a bit of Christmas shopping with lunch in a fine Parisian eatery, grabbing a swift pastis before and stocking up with some edible goodies before finally boarding an evening train back to London, all in one exciting day, this year we went for a whole weekend in December.
Setting off on the Friday from the new terminal at St Pancras meant we had time to look at the recently renovated station and fabulous it looked too. However, we had one wee designer gripe. The signage system directing passengers from the Underground was poor and little groups of disorientated travellers gathered at every turn causing chaos. Perhaps there is new signage on the way as not all construction work was completed on the terminal at the time, we hope so. You’ll be glad to know that in spite of ‘tourist traffic’ we all managed to find our ways to the rendez-vous point before boarding as one happy band. A little over 2 hours later we exited Gare du Nord and then leapt aboard a No. 36 bus to Blvd Saint-Germain. Our little hotel in the Latin quarter was perfect in every sense. Perfect location, perfectly clean and perfectly priced! Definitely one to revisit.
Friday evening was the Decoder Christmas party night. It was, as ever, a civilised affair with our party of six taking apperitifs in a bar on Blvd Saint-Germain before heading off to Le Petit Pontoise for a really lovely evening. A small restaurant with good traditional french food, very friendly staff and a buzzy atmosphere. What more could you wish for? Saturday and Sunday we all went on our separate shopping ways, occasionally bumping into each other as we all tackled our Christmas present lists.
While in Paris we also managed to fit in a bit of packaging research and to that end a few happy hours were spent in Le Grand Epicerie, which is a must for any foodie visiting Paris. Have a look at some of the photographs here and marvel how only the French could make a box of little chocolate breasts ‘tasteful’ in every sense – the painting featured is Gabrielle d’Estrées et une de ses soeurs. Somehow you just know that here they’d be made of cheap chocolate and smuttily packaged.
All in all the weekend was a success and by the time we were seated on Eurostar for the return journey on the Sunday evening we were already planning the 2008 visit. Vive la Paris, vive l’Eurostar!