Ghent is a great city to visit – with interesting things to see both old and new, in the form of cathedrals, street art, and excellent museums – as well as a lovely ambience and bucket load of cool bars that cater for the 50,000+ students in the south! However, arguably one of the best things about the city is its quality, and often quirky, restaurants.
There’s so many favourites to choose from, but one of them has got to be Mimosa, on the Kongostraat right next to the river. It’s a real Moroccan restaurant, run by real Moroccans and the food is authentic and real. In addition to this, the service is incredible and the waiters are personal and genuinely friendly – you almost feel like a guest within their home. You can tell the staff what meat or vegetables you like and they’ll make delicious recommendations and as they’re brilliant English speakers, there’s no danger of the order getting lost in translation.
The tagines are both enormous and incredibly tasty – with meat marinated in spices and slow-cooked to absolute perfection. With couscous and salad as an accompaniment, the food is both healthy and delicious – although you may eat so much that it becomes a little unhealthy! With some nice beers or cider to go with the food, you really couldn’t want for any more.
The surroundings are also lovely – there are loads of blankets which are really cosy, and fairy lights on the window which build a lovely ambience. Best of all, upstairs there’s a nargila lounge with pipes to smoke and a bar – with a really homely feel, with comfortable sofas which you can sink right into.
In short, Mimosa encapsulates why Ghent is great – it’s comfortable, fun and friendly with everything packed in close together for tailoring the perfect days and evenings out… It really is a must visit!
Eurostar Deals to Ghent
Eurostar Track Takeover by German Insurer Allianz
German insurer Allianz is understood to be planning a £2bn bid to buy the high-speed rail link between London’s St Pancras station and the Channel Tunnel from the UK government, which owns it through London & Continental Railways.
The UK Government is selling off the 68-mile link as part of several privatisations to help cut the budget deficit.
How would the loss of UK ownership over the Eurostar track, the only high speed rail link in th UK, affect Eurostar Deals?
Lille for City breaks by Eurostar
Comparing Lille City breaks by Eurostar with Paris breaks is not really fair. We all know that Paris is the most magical city in the world, but the Eurostar from London passes through Lille, both on the way to Paris and also to Brussels, so sooner or later you are going to just have to book to get out at Lille and see for yourself what this northern french but also Flemish city has to offer.
Paris Breaks – Musée de Montmartre
Paris Breaks – Musée de Montmartre
In the popular Montmartre area of Paris there is a little museum. It’s a museum of cultural history located in Montmartre in the 18th arrondissement at 12, rue Cortot
Open daily except Monday.
The museum of Montmartre contains a collection of paintings, photographs, posters, and manuscripts documenting Montmartre’s history. It also features temporary exhibits on artists that have lived in Montmartre, and contains a cultural center that presents lectures and concerts. All in all, a fascinating diversion for Montmartre Paris breaks.
Paris Breaks – Café des 2 Moulins
A point of interest for film buffs on Paris breaks, this is the cafe where Amélie worked as a waitress. The Café des Deux Moulins. The musty atmosphere, with its 1950s decor, mustard-colored ceiling, and lace curtains, has been preserved — even the wall lamps and unisex toilet.
The menu remains much the same:
* escalopes of veal in a cream sauce,
* beef filets,
* calf’s liver,
* green frisée salad with bacon bits and warm goat cheese,
* pigs’ brains with lentils.
The Café des 2 Moulins (French for “Two Windmills”) is a café in the Montmartre area of Paris, located at the junction of Rue Lepic and Rue Cauchois. It takes its name from the two nearby historical “windmills”, Moulin Rouge and Moulin de la Galette.
Paris – Hôtel George V
The George V is one of the finest hotels in Paris but probably beyond the reources of most tourists on short Paris breaks.
Paris – Eglise Saint Eustache
Paris – Eglise Saint Eustache
L’église Saint-Eustache is a church in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, built between 1532 and 1632.
Situated at the entrance to Paris’ ancient markets (Les Halles) and the beginning of rue Montorgueil, the Église de Saint-Eustache is a Parisian gothic gem. The church’s reputation was strong enough of the time for it to be chosen as the location for a young Louis XIV to receive communion. Mozart also chose the sanctuary as the location for his mother’s funeral. Among those baptised here as children were Richelieu, Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, future Madame de Pompadour and Molière, who was also married here two decades later. The last rites for Anne of Austria, Turenne and Mirabeau were pronounced within its walls. Marie de Gournay is buried there.
Paris Breaks to the Beach
For the 8th time, Paris breaks to the beach became possible along the Seine river and along the Canal de l’Ourq in La Villette during the summer 2009 with the operation ‘Paris-Plage’, in Paris, France, on August 05, 2009
Paris Breaks from London 2010
Let’s face it, the pound is never going to be worth nearly two euros ever again so we might as stop waiting for the impossible and start thinking about Paris breaks again. It’s not even as if the currency difference is the main cost, it’s the higher rate of inflation in the eurozone that we have to get used to, what with almost deflationary pressures in the UK.
So in 2010 I think a lot of people from London and the UK will start to realise that they aren’t really getting any better value for money by staying in rainy Britain, spending a fortune on uncomfortable rail journeys intercity when they could be travelling to Paris in style onboard the Eurostar in only 2 hours and 15 minutes.
To my mind, there’s nothing left to weigh up. Paris is always wonderful to visit, no matter what the time of year. What would you do in York in February? Or Devon in November?
The secret with short continental trips like Paris breaks is in finding the accommodation that matches your budget. To do that, you sometimes have to go off the main tourist track but not very far. Avoid the big package hotels and try to find a little pension in a side street, just round teh back from the main centres. That’s where the students and french travellers find digs often enough, and visitors to Paris can too. You just need to walk in and ask if they have a room. If necessary draw a picture.
Eating out can be done a lot more prudently than you might think too. Order the menu prix fixe in an old fashioned french style restaurant or go to a couscous house and just have the couscous merguez or poulet. That will set you up for the rest of the day.
Paris City Breaks Video
A short five minute marketing video about Paris City Breaks which nevertheless gives a quick introduction to the main Paris attractions and logistics for Paris breaks.
