Back to Paris, this time in the winter

January 2013 was approaching and that meant a birthday for me that ends in a 0. What to do?

There’s an easy answer. Go to Paris.

I had never been to Paris in the winter. It wasn’t the typical time to go and I liked that. I know Paris in January can be damp and miserable, but I was willing to chance it.

Our apartment was just east of Invalides and Napoleon's tomb. It kept snowing.

In November, we firmed up the dates. Leave on Friday night January 18, come back on Sunday the 27^th. Got our airline tickets and then had to figure out where to stay.

Last time we booked an apartment with Paris Perfect right by the Notre Dame in the 5^th. This time we thought we’d try the 7^th. We’d heard it was quiet and a tad boring, a neighbourhood of embassies and government offices, but it was within walking distance of much that we wanted to see.

We found the 1-bedroom Pomerol apartment (Paris Perfect names their suites after wines – another reason to like them) which turned out to be on the 5^th floor of a building right on the corner of Rue de Grenelle and Rue Cler. One of the selling features of the apartment was the view of the Eiffel Tower from the bedroom and dining room windows.

People always pay a premium for a view. Here's the Eiffel Tower from window.

The living room of the Pomerol apartment at the corner Rue la Grenelle and Rue Cler.

Some of you will know that Rue Cler is one of Paris’ famous market streets – a permanent market on a cobblestone pedestrian street. While it’s not the cheapest market in Paris, it has everything you could possibly want, and hey, it’s right outside the door.

Looking down Rue Cler. There's even a supermarket just around the corner.

Fromage pour madame et monsieur? Mais oui...

We were in Paris, so we would need flowers...

The flight over was easy. Left at 8:15 p.m., put on the headphones, read a few magazines, ate, slept, woke up in Paris Saturday morning around 9 a.m.

The first surprise on coming into Paris – everything was white. There was snow on the ground! Somehow, we hadn’t checked the weather just before leaving so we weren’t expecting it. This would be fun!

Our driver met us, took us to the apartment where the Paris Perfect host met us, and after the guided tour and quick lessons on how to use everything, we were in our apartment and unpacking.

Just as on our last trips here, we managed to keep going on our first day without needing a nap. For this trip, we made ourselves a little promise – we’d drink champagne at least once every day. As it turns out, we did pretty well in that regard.

So, it was now nearly lunch, and there was an art show we wanted to see. The Musée d’Orsay took care of both.

We were in heaven, yet again!