Fields of Battle - Terres de Paix 14-18 (Jardin du Luxembourg)

Le Jardin du Luxembourg is one of the best gardens in Paris, and so it's worth visiting in it's own right. However, over the next few months you can also see a photo exhibition on display at the gardens, by photographer Michael St Maur Sheil. The exhibition takes a look at World War I, through photos of what remains in todays landscapes.

To give you an idea...photos include what remains of trenches, weapons, forts, mine craters, and of course, the cemeteries. Some stunning photography, and it's free.

There is also a giant walk-on map that gives you a quick history lesson on the movements of the World War I front lines.

59 Rivoli - An artist collective in a legalised squat - review

An art gallery you won't find in the guidebooks - 59 Rivoli. The website touts that there are 30 artists at any given time, with 20 permanent and 10 temporary, spread over 6 levels. It has a street art vibe, but you'll find other styles of art here as well.

Entry is free, and you can wander and see many of the artists working away in their studios, who are more than willing to chat.

The ground level apparently presents a new exhibition from an outside artist every 2 weeks, and you'll find small free music gigs at 6pm every Sat and Sun. Music festivals are also held twice a year which take over the whole building.

Ikea - from Paris - by train

I'm not sure if I should be supporting Ikea, but love it or hate it...Ikea is very handy when you need to furnish and create a functional Parisian apartment - quickly and on the cheap.

(Let's face it, given the condition of most Paris apartments, you're lucky if you had light fittings when you moved in).

But moving on....you won't find Ikea in Paris proper, but there are a few in the suburbs.

So...can you get to any of them by train? Yes.

1.  Find your way to Montparnasse Bienvenüe using the metro lines.

Current exhibitions at the Grand Palais - review

Monumenta 2014

These are my picks for the current exhibitions at the Grand Palais. There are others, and more coming soon, so you can check the official website for more options. And you can check out my post on the Grand Palais for for general info on the site.

1.  Monumenta 2014 - this is an exhibition that is held every year where a different artist is invited to do their thing in the vast main hall of the Grand Palais. This year it's a Russian duo - Ilya & Emilia Kabakov: The Strange City.

The artists have attempted to transform the Grand Palais into a fantasy world, like something out of a comic book. As you move through each room, you learn something new about the fantasy world, and slowly immerse yourself into the "strange city". The layout is like a labyrinth, which lends itself to disorientating the viewer, and is very effective at pushing the viewer to become even further immersed in the fantasy world.

Le Grand Palais - a newbie's guide

Another must see landmark in Paris - The Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées. Originally built for the 1900 World Exposition, the building now houses a variety of exhibitions and events.

Accessing the building can be a little tricky, as there are several entry points. Each entry leads to different isolated sections of the building, as summarised below:

••  The main hall under the glass vault - this is the architectural highlight of the building. It houses the large temporary exhibitions and events. Entry is only possible during exhibitions and events, so it's worth checking the website for current and upcoming events if you want to go inside. Annual events include the Art Paris Art Fair, a car show, a horse show jumping event, and the Monumenta exhibition. If nothing is showing, you can get a small glimpse through the doors at the main entrance (facing Av Winston Churchill).

Monet's house and gardens - a Paris day trip review

If you have even the slightest interest in Monet, then this is without question, the best day trip from Paris. Approximately one hour from Paris, Monet created a garden which I would say is his most beautiful piece of art (I won't say beautiful again, but it applies to everything I mention in this post).

What's there? 

1.  The garden - the place that provided the inspiration for many of Monet's most recognisable paintings. The garden consists of two areas...

The upper area is a large garden packed with flowers...I've never seen so many flowers in one space. I'm not sure how true it is to Monet's original garden, but it certainly is spectacular.

The Forest of Fontainebleau - Les circuit des 25 bosses

This guide takes the shape of me simply sharing my weekend adventure / challenge, and letting it serve as inspiration, or not, for your own expedition.

The challenge? To hike Les circuit des 25 bosses without using a car to get there. It's a bit risky, but I like that element of danger and trouble to keep everything on its edge.

So what is Les circuit des 25 bosses? Well it's one of the more interesting and rewarding hiking trails in the forest of Fontainebleau. It's name roughly translates to 25 bumps, so as you can imagine, it involves hiking up and down at least 25 times.

It's the perfect place to see the large boulders for which the forest is known. The catch is that it's on the western edge of the forest, about as far away as you can get from the normal train access point. As a result, normal access is by car. And hence my challenge...