Paris from LJLA: There’s something for everyone P
ARIS has a timeless familiarity for fi rst-time and frequent visitors, with instantly recognisable architectural icons, along with exquisite cuisine, chic boutiques and priceless artistic treasures.
Paris is always a great place to visit at any time of the year – but particularly at Christmas when the City of Lights twinkles with seasonal joy.
If there is a place that can rival Liverpool for style and fashion it is Paris. Parisians are synonymous with style, and fashion shopping is the city’s forte. Paris remains at the forefront of international trends, and browsing emerging and established designer boutiques. You’ll also fi nd concept stores, quirky homeware shops, and resplendent art nouveau department stores, along with a fortitude of vintage shops and flea markets. The City boasts some of the best atmospheric bookshops including second-hand book stalls along the river banks, plus adorable children’s wear and toy shops. Not forgetting art and antique dealers, venerable shops selling state-of-the-art professional cookware, and of course, gourmet food and wine shops galore.
There is certainly something for everyone when it comes to getting excited about shopping, but there is much more than just shops galore!
Paris has endless activities for international visitors to enjoy; take cooking classes in a city renowned for its restaurants and a country famous for its amazing food! Classes are available throughout the city and during different times of the week for all different levels (and languages!); “Les Puces” (Fleamarkets) is a common weekend activity for Parisians visiting large flea-markets, where an array of items for sale can be found. Peruse the offerings, barter for bargains and throw yourself into the hustle and bustle the atmosphere has to offer. Visitors should also defi nitely take a boat tour of the Seine River at night via BateauxMouche to marvel at the views Paris has to offer at night. Whilst Paris’ grandeur is inspiring, what stands out is the city’s intimacy. It’s one of the world’s major metropolises – with all of the culture and facilities that go with it and there remains a real sense of community at the local shops, markets and cafes that hasn’t changed in decades. Yet because every neighbourhood has its own evolving character, you can constantly be discovering and rediscovering hidden corners of the city.
Paris truly is a cosmopolitan city with something for everyone.
You can travel to Paris from Liverpool John Lennon Airport with easyJet.
THE first apprentices have graduated from a new enhanced scheme in a ceremony held in Daresbury.
Thomas Finch and Luke Bladen passed their apprenticeships in September and have accepted jobs at the Science And Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Laboratory.
An event was held to celebrate the duo’s graduation at the worldleading facility.
Luke and Thomas said: “Apprenticeships are the way forward.
“If you want to be an engineer, explore the apprenticeship option before looking at universities.
“Mainly, because if you take the university route, you go for four years, you come out with maybe a £50,000 debt, and you might never have picked up a spanner.”
“My apprenticeship’s been fantastic.
“You get excellent qualifications and real, solid experience – because you’re building particle accelerators!
“When you try and tell people that in pubs they never believe you.”
Phil Atkinson, a group leader for the Technical, Mechanical And Vacuum Engineering Group at Daresbury Laboratory, was a strong advocate for developing the enhanced scheme at the site to address the new skills needed in world-class scientific research.
He said: “We restructured the scheme in 2012, after redesigning it to meet our future skills requirements, as we knew we needed to address succession planning.
“We have a highly skilled, ageing workforce, many of whom ● have very specialised accelerator-related skills, so growing our own made a lot of sense.”
Daresbury Laboratory now has 10 engineering apprentices, along with more than 30 exapprentices still working on the site, who were also celebrated at the ceremony.
There are plans on the horizon to expand the scheme beyond engineering, to include computing and scientific apprenticeships.
For more information about STFC’s apprentice scheme visit http:// www. stfccareers. co. uk/ careers/apprenticeships/