CNA938 · Rewind — Destination Anywhere with Melanie Oliveiro
CNA938 Rewind: from the Seine to the Thames — a tale of two city breaks
On CNA938's Destination Anywhere, host Melanie Oliveiro travels between Paris and London with Haojun See, founder of On The Ground, on travelling thoughtfully with family beyond the postcard landmarks.
Founder & Director, On The Ground
On "Destination Anywhere" with Melanie Oliveiro, CNA938 travelled between two of Europe's great capitals — Paris and London — through the lens of Haojun See, founder of On The Ground. The conversation was part of a six-week trip combining family holiday with his wife's own work: as a history teacher, she was visiting Holocaust memorial sites across Europe, from Paris and London to Kraków, Warsaw, and Vilnius.
In Paris, the family arrived just ahead of a heatwave pushing close to 40°C — and quickly learned that air conditioning is rare across the city, with viral videos showing residents hauling AC units up flights of stairs by hand. Rather than staying centrally, they based themselves in a residential neighbourhood in the north-west suburbs, a short RER ride from the main sights, which let his kids play with local children and the family catch a World Cup match — France vs Senegal — late into the long summer evenings.
They kept costs down by cooking with groceries from Carrefour rather than eating out every meal, and skipped the Louvre with the whole family (his wife visited separately for her research) rather than queue for the Mona Lisa. On the much-discussed closure of Paris's last physical tourist office, Haojun said it wasn't a problem in practice — Google Maps, travel videos, and a transit app linked to Apple Pay covered everything they needed, including a near-miss where they almost turned down genuinely helpful advice from station staff out of caution.
In London, cost was the bigger factor: staying near Knightsbridge, Mayfair, or South Kensington is expensive, so they recommend booking apartments with kitchens along the newer Elizabeth Line instead, which connects Heathrow straight through to central London. For culture, shopping, and theatre, his advice is to cluster visits around Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square over a couple of days to control costs, then move further out for a more local, neighbourhood experience — including day trips beyond the city, like Bath, or a quiet weekend visiting family in Bedford.
Listen to the full segment on CNA938 for more of the conversation.