“I love Paris in the springtime” goes the song but winter Paris city breaks are great for cheering up the seasonal blues. It’s a city with so much going for it all the year round and the wintertime is when some of the entertainment options come into their own.

Paris Theatre

The French theatre scene is not exactly like Broadway or London’s West End, but it can be a little like Edinburgh sometimes, with all sorts of small productions going on in little theatres and venues across the city.

Paris Cinema

The French have had a long love affair with cinema and that shows in the number and quality of cinemas around Paris, mostly multiplex, showing a good selection of french and international films. You can even see films in English if you prefer, just look for “Version Orginale”  VO. They’ll have French subtitles which will give you a chance to brush up on reading French so you can start to think about watching a French movie sometime.

Music Clubs in Paris

All over the city of Paris you can also find little music clubs where live performance takes place amongst audiences who are there to enjoy the sounds, soak up the atmosphere and have something to eat and drink. Often the price of admission is simply to buy at least one drink at higher than normal cafe prices.

Things to do on winter Paris City Breaks

Above are three ideas for entertainment on Paris city breaks – music theatre and film and just like in teh springtime and summer Paris provides entertainment enough just by walking around on foot from one part of teh city to another. You just need to wrap up a bit warmer that’s all. All the smart ladies have their best winter coats and hats on so you don’t want get caught out with just a T shirt or a thin fleece as if you were in the south of France or Spain. Paris gets mid continental weather in the winter, so that can mean cold  winds with hail and snow, but the average rainfall is not so high so it’s not like taking a short break to Dublin where you can get soaked all weekend non stop.

There’s really no comparison when it comes to Paris City Breaks from the UK, the only way to go is by Eurostar. The high speed rail line delivers passengers direct from London’s St Pancras Station to the Gare du Nord inside the city of Paris.

Paris City Breaks in the past

In times gone by the main way to get from England to Paris was by the ‘boat train’ which meant a whole day’s travelling and a lot of waiting around on railway stations and harbour quaysides. The ‘Night Ferry’ was particularly excruciating – but cheap! Or you could take a car over on the ferry and drive yourself to Paris, but many UK motorists felt intimidated by the Parisian style of negotiating roundabouts and traffic jams, and the crazy double parking. Then at last a tunnel was built under the English Channel connecting the British Isles with mainland Europe. It took long enough to get it all finished and went way over budget but at last it was possible to get on a train in London – Waterloo station in those days, and get off in Paris city. The only snag was the journey down through Kent which proceeded at a snail’s pace through endless commuter stations. Once through the tunnel though, the train raced through France at breakneck speeds

Eurostar Paris City Breaks

Now at last we have Britain’s first High Speed Rail line from St Pancras Station, out through Stratford in East London alongside the Thames in Essex and then down through Kent to the Channel Tunnel. Paris City Breaks by Eurostar are much quicker and more convenient than flying, city centre to city centre. The journey onboard the Eurostar is pretty comfortable too. You’d never guess you were travelling at over 300Kph by the ride, as you watch the trucks and cars on the parallel French motorways seeming to crawl along while you sail past.  The speed and convenience of Eurostar travel opens up new opportunities for short Paric city breaks, such as the overnighter or even the day trip, though I would always advise staying a few nights in Paris if you can possibly spare the time, to settle in and really get to know this fabulous  city.