Isaac@Paris (2025)
爾德@巴黎 (2025)

Isaac was thrilled to take Eurostar, though London St Pancras Station was crowded with poor ventilation. The train was a bit dated and not cleaned as the Japanese Shinkansen - perhaps the reason Isaac is obsessed with Shinkansen only.

Hotel was booked at 10e Arrondissement, within a few minutes' walk from Gare du Nord (the Eurostar terminal at Paris).  10e Arrondissement is busy with good connection/access on the Metro, however it is also dated and chaotic, and not necessarily feeling safe for family with young child at night.

Isaac walked with us to 9e Arrondissement to share mango ice-cream, strawberry milkshake, chocolate milkshake and the evil nutella banana crêpe with vanilla ice-cream on top.

In 9e Arrondissement you can also find the renowned Lafayette, where Isaac was interested only in its level 5.

After figuring out how Navigo pass works and taking the first metro ride back to 10e Arrondissement for decent and affordable food - foie gras, ravioli, salmon risotto, beef steak, salmon tartar and crème brûlée = 2 entrée + 3 plat + 1 dessert + 3 drinks = €66.50, which is mission impossible in the UK.

Can understand why the French and Parisien are so proud of their bakery - can't complain and Isaac simply loves the hotel breakfast. 

Instead of paying and queuing for getting up La tour Eiffel (7e Arrondissement), just a few pictures can make a day for Isaac and they were completely free of charge.

What not so free of charge was the lunch cruise on Seine - the food here was surprisingly good and potentially can outmatch those on land. The package also came with a list of alcoholic beverages but we could not consume too much.

At Isaac's request we detoured on RER C from La tour Eiffel crossing over Seine to Arc de Triomphe (at intersection of 8e, 16e and 17e Arrondissement), commissioned after the Napoleon's landslide victory over the Austrian at Austerlitz. Underneath the Arc there is the Eternal Flame as the memorial for unknown soldiers of WWI (and WWII). Isaac knows almost nothing about warfare but hope he never have to witness one.

Instead of walking along Champs-Élysées, Isaac was craving for a re-visit to Lafayette for designing and assembling his toy car, plus some rest for his parents with desserts.

Going back to 7e Arrondissement for a seafood feast - we had oysters, homemade smoked salmon, salmon fillet, pan-fried whole sole, grilled lobster with mango plate and chocolate lava cake. The sole and the lobster were simply magnificent!! Not what we expected from an inland city like Paris.

We managed to finish off the dessert just in time to catch the sparkling lights of La tour Eiffel (first 5 mins of every hour).

Just like La tour Eiffel, we save our budget by not queuing and paying to enter Le Louvre (1er Arrondissement) but enjoy the free visit outside and the garden (Jardin des Tuileries).

Had lunch right next to Le Louvre - the onion soup was the best we tried (and the picky Isaac took a lot from mine). Together with foie gras (by the order ot Isaac's mother), beef tartar and the stewed lamb shoulder (another masterpiece) the lunch was simply a pleasant journey.

Les Invalides (7e Arrondissement), the final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte the Corsica-born petite corporal and hero to the French and houses the museum of Napoleon's warfare.

Dinner at a populated place by a short walk from Saint-Germain-des-Prés Station in 7e Arrondissement. Fine de Claire and Gillardeau here are the best we had, all at very good price. You can see the French here finishing off dozens of oysters like baguette.

Pan-fried foie gras (by the order of Isaac's mother again), plus the medium well rum steak (but remained tender) were good, but both were dwarfed by the bœuf bourguignon (Beef Burgundy) - this signature dish managed to refill our bread basket a few rounds (bread is usually free here).

Isaac has another liking - the freshly made apply juice.

An advanced (and free of charge) appointment booked for Notre Dame (4e Arrondissement) would have saved us from long queue. They even get the picture of the newly elected Pope Leo XIV printed on the entry ticket.

Works were still being done to repair / restore this burnt cathedral and Isaac raised an intriguing question on why it collapsed due to fire - was it a question about physics and gravity?

Crossing the Seine to 5e Arrondissement, there was another round of the evil nutella banana crêpe with vanilla ice-cream on top, right before lunch (including another dozen of oyster).

Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Garden - 6e Arrondissement) has the vintage toy boats with almost 90-year of history. Isaac enjoyed playing with his pirate boat and having parents exercising with him.

The exercise throughout the day was compensated by the afternoon dessert (The mille-feuille we had was the jewel of the day - took us 25mins walk from Jardin du Luxembourg into 5e Arrondissement) and dinner.

Disneyland - paradise of children and mayhem to parents. What can be worse? Paris Disneyland opens from 10am until 11pm!! The finale show was indeed impressive and magnificent with laser projections, drones and fireworks well blended, but starting from 10.40pm until 11pm is simply exhausting to parents.

Several facilities were being upgraded (thus even longer queues for the rest), compensated by more shows, big or small, around the park throughout the day.

We encountered pickpockets on the way back but God blessed nothing got stolen.

There were delays in Eurostar and Gare du Nord was crowded with queues everywhere. What made it worse was Eurostar itself changing the train configuration thus affecting many fellow passenger’s seating allocations and deciding to manually issue boarding pass to these affected people by one single manned counter.

Arriving St Pancras Station 30mins late, Isaac enjoyed the dash through the crowds and on London's street, just to catch the next train departing from King's Cross Station in 12mins (instead of an extra hour waiting).

Some say the French healthcare system is top notch in the world - Isaac experienced it himself - he had hallucination during midnight and his worried parents called an ambulance taking him to A&E of Hôpital Universitaire Robert-Debré (a paediatric hospital).

It only took them little more than an hour for admission, triage, diagnosis, X-ray scan and prescription. They have the efficiency we have never seen in Hong Kong or the UK.