July
21
2010
By Jack Dancy
The banks of the Seine are one of the most splendid aspects of the splendid city of Paris, not to be missed. Hop on a bateau mouche, spread out your picnic blanket, book a table at the Tour d’Argent. Whatever your budget, you can and should spend an evening on the river.
I’ll come clean straight away. I’m a picnic guy. Fine wines with no corkage fees, real sand in your sandwiches, and of course being male, I’ll leap at any chance to use a penknife. The Seine is ground zero for the picnic fan. Five miles of fantastic picnic spots, which of a summer evening teem with picnickers young and old, and which are the best way to enjoy a great Parisian evening; you can do it for little or no money, while at the same time feeling somewhat local. The best spots are on the map below - put the map to satellite view. Views of Notre Dame trump those of the Eiffel Tower, because the quais on the two islands are quieter than further west.
At the other end of the scale are the bateaux mouches—the cruise boats that offer daytime or dinner cruises up and down the Seine from roughly the Eiffel Tower to the Pont d’Austerlitz. These come in all shapes and sizes, and we like the very best: the Yachts de Paris for their excellent boats, or the Bateaux Parisiens for something less formal. Unlike when you picnic, you can’t take your own wine, so once on-board beware the astronomical cost of a coupe de champagne served as the Louvre slips by; or opt for a drinks-included option. I’ve rarely seen a pricier wine-list than on board the Don Juan II.
Which brings me neatly to the third and most astronomical option: the Tour d’Argent. Of the few restaurants that have genuine river views, this is the gold standard, with prices to match. The wine list weighs about as much as a bateau mouche and is one of the city’s most awesome documents. It can tell you as much about France as a two hour lecture in the Louvre.
Cruising with the Don Juan takes you from the Port Henri IV quite far out of the main centre, to the Ile Seguin which used to be the Renault factory, and about which tourists will soon be hearing a lot more. The idea is to bring you back past the Eiffel Tower at 11:00 pm when it lights up like a firecracker, at which point even the most cynical tourist will grin and forget the bill.
Jack Dancy lives in the beautiful, picnic-friendly city of Paris—we're quite jealous about it here in the Toronto office. If you're ready to hop the pond and join him, get in touch and find out more about our trip planning services.