Another fun thing about organising my archived photos is the realisation that, over the years, I’ve been very lucky to have seen Paris from many vantage viewpoints around the city. Nearly all of these locations are accessible to everyone all year round, free or ticket-requiring. If you are looking for a place to see Paris from higher grounds (without breaking the bank by hiring private flights), up up you go!

1. Eiffel Tower: This is an obvious one, and my last visit there was as a family outing. We were very pleased to have a wonderfully sunny weather, despite strong wind earlier that day which caused closure of the top-most level. It had reopened by then, but the crowd trying to access it was too crazy for us to even consider tackling. The mid-level viewing decks worked perfectly fine for us.

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I cannot remember when I last visited Kildare, and even then my trip today has been rather superficial – to shop at Kildare Village. Granted, it wasn’t my idea to start but at the offer of someone driving us there, I thought, why not check it out after all the fuss I’ve heard from many?

The Village is actually rather quaint, well laid out, and good value purchases to be had. Adjacent to the Village is the ruins of Grey Abbey, a Franciscan site dated from 13th century. Its name derived from the colour of the robes wore by its monks and the ruins forming what was the Abbey Church, it looks very inviting for further exploration, if only I wasn’t pressed for time.

Visitors’ tips: if you take a train + complimentary shuttle bus to Kildare Village, present the train ticket at the Village Tourist Information Centre for a VIP card that gives you a further 10% discount on all purchases. Yes, even on top of discounted prices.