With Spring upon us cherry blossoms are blooming everywhere.  This photo is fitting – the Eiffel Tower with sakura in frame from Dara Pilugina.

spring in paris by Dara Pilugina ✈

View of the Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro promenade.

Situated across the Seine from the tower, the Trocadéro has a full unobstructed view of la Tour Eiffel, day or night, captured here by Viktor Korostynski.  Closest Metro station: Trocadéro on Metro Line 6 & 9.  Closest RER Station is Pont de l’Alma on RER C.

Flanked on either side of this terrace (Esplanade du Trocadéro) are wings of the Chaillot Palace (Palais de Chaillot) with its series of golden statues. The Trocadéro is also a park with landscaped trees, fields and fountains descending gently towards the Seine and Pont d’Iéna which leads to the tower.

Close by:

• Eiffel Tower – descend Trocadero park, cross Pont d’Iéna and you’ve arrived.
• Quai Branly Museum – museum of arts and non-western civilisations.
• Patrick Roger Chocolates – One of France’s master chocolatiers
• Arc de Triomphe –  3 short stops from Trocadéro Metro station to Etoile station at the Arc, the terminus station for Metro line 6.

Paris by Viktor Korostynski

This photo of Paris Metro station, Arts et Métiers (Arts & Crafts) by Loïc Lagarde shows how whimsical some stations are decorated within the Paris Metro system. In this instance métiers means “trade crafts”, hence the industrial looking riveted walls.

Close by:

• Great coffee and home-baked goods in an artsy/laid-back café, Merce and the Muse, run by former DC-native Merce Muse.
• Centre Georges Pompidou, modern art museum, with its iconic inside-out design.

Arts-et-Metiers Subway Station (Ligne 11) by Loïc Lagarde

This photo taken at Pont Alexandre III facing south across the Seine in Paris capturing both Invalides‘ chapel dome and the Eiffel Tower at the far right edge, just as the sun breaks the clouds and the wind carries the last few drops of rain.

Closest Metro station to Pont Alexandre III is Invalides on Metro line 8 (light purple) and Metro line 13 (blue-green).  Also in the area is RER C (yellow) station Invalides.

Nearby you’ll find:

• National Gallery at the Grand Palais
• Arc de Triomphe
• Champs Elysées
• Les Invalides
• Place de la Concorde

Paris is Most Beautiful in the Rain by Kah Kit Yoong

Montmartre is one of of my favorite areas of the city, so long as you get away from the ultra-touristy streets surrounding the Sacre Coeur basilica.

This photo of the Consulat restaurant by Matt Kloskowski captures how parts of Montmartre in the 18th district have kept their old-school Paris look & charm.

The closest Metro stations are Lamarck-Caulaincourt on Metro Line 12 (dark green) and Abbesses (Metro line 12 as well), although I’d recommend Lamarck if you prefer to walk downhill rather than up. Montmartre is notoriously hilly and there’s a fair amount of stairs to climb all around this area.

Close by is one of Paris’ best bakeries, Delmontel at 57 rue Damrémont. In 2007 Arnaud Delmontel won the annual “best baguette” of Paris competition. Winners supply baguette to the French President for the year. Try their baguette tradition if you get a chance. “Traditional” baguettes have only four ingredients: flour, water, salt, yeast and no additives which regular baguettes are allowed.

Montmartre by Matt Kloskowski

Stained glass windows photographed (by Laura Johnson) from inside Notre Dame Cathedral on a quiet Sunday morning.

Closest Metro station: Cité on Metro Line 4.  Closest RER station: Saint-Michel, on RER B and RER C train lines.

Close by: Berthillon ice cream with their deep intense flavours, found on the next island down: Ile Saint-Louis. (Notre Dame sits on Ile de la Cité).

Alone in Notre Dame by Laura Johnson

Canal St. Martin with its still operating lock system allows boats to move through the canal along the 10th district of Paris. During summer months the canal is lined with people sitting, chatting, eating & drinking. Some bars along the canal offer their drinks in plastic cups, allowing you to take their beverages to enjoy along the canal.

Closest Metro station: Jacques Bonsergent on Metro Line 5.

What to eat and drink close to Canal St. Martin:

• Du Pain et des Idées – (Bread and ideas) fantastic bakery & pastry shop, often run by an unusually friendly, charismatic/energetic shop keeper.
• Le Cambodge – really great Cambodian / Vietnamese food offering take out (handy for the Canal St. Martin picnic).  The bo-bun (vermicelli crispy-fried spring roll salad) is superb.  For evening service, which starts at 8pm, arrive between 7:30 and 7:45pm and line up at the door (there will be a line) to make your takeout order.  It’s worth the wait.  Closed Sundays & holidays. Lunch 12-2:30pm.
• The Cork and Cavan – Irish pub with friendly (English speaking, some Irish) staff.  Owner’s wife is Japanese hence the Asahi on tap right beside the Guinness stout & Magner’s cider.  Plastic take away cups available for all the drinks or you can stay with glass and sit at the tables on the sidewalk just outside the pub. A Pimm’s cup is a refreshing fruity summer alternative if beer’s not your taste. Wifi available (just ask the staff for the password).
• Le Verre Volé – (the Stolen Glass) Wine-savvy restaurant with rustic, hearty dishes typical of Burgundy or Auvergne. Tiny and busy, so perfect for two people.  Difficult with more.

Atmosphère by Helder Vinagre

Rue des Barres, behind church St-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais in Paris’ 4th arrondissement. Harks back to a time before Smart cars and ubiquitous wifi.

Closest Metro stations:

• Pont Marie on Metro line 7 (pink)
• Hotel de Ville on Metro Line 1 (yellow)

Rue des Barres by Sylvain Courant