Paris day 1
5:46 PM
A weekend in Paris (aka a dream come true!)
We decided to fly. There is a train that goes through the Chunnel and we may do that someday but only if we have really advance tickets. Flight is about 45 minutes, train takes about 2 hours IF everything is running on schedule.
(*Don't know if you heard about the migrants but the trains were on a crazy and delayed schedule this weekend as 2,500 migrants were trying to enter the Chunnel and come to England from Calais. There were riot police and all sorts of trouble. One man actually made the 31-mile walk in the chunnel...an incredible feat in total darkness and avoiding getting sucked onto the tracks by speeding trains. Poor man!*)
(*Don't know if you heard about the migrants but the trains were on a crazy and delayed schedule this weekend as 2,500 migrants were trying to enter the Chunnel and come to England from Calais. There were riot police and all sorts of trouble. One man actually made the 31-mile walk in the chunnel...an incredible feat in total darkness and avoiding getting sucked onto the tracks by speeding trains. Poor man!*)
We got to Paris before it woke up. It was a very early flight and we were super tired but excited to get our Paris Pass!
We saved 10% on it, probably only because I dilly-dallied in getting it and they sent me an email to convince me to get it.
We saved 10% on it, probably only because I dilly-dallied in getting it and they sent me an email to convince me to get it.
So we got the Passes which included unlimited transportation through zones 1-3. We took the metro to our Airbnb to drop off our bags and head out to our first museum!
Musee du Louvre
He humoured me and posed for a classic tourist picture. It turned out perfectly!
Because entrance free was included and speedy (thanks to the Paris Pass) we just walked in, jumping the whole queue! Felt great about that.
I promise Taylor we would be in and out in 30 minutes. (he's not a big museum guy) But I knew exactly what I wanted to see so we bee-lined it to the Denon gallery where all things Italian and, most importantly, the Mona Lisa are located. This hall is near the Mona Lisa and it is stunning. Picture doesn't do it justice.
I spent loads of time looking up. The ceilings are so ornate and amazing!
See what I mean? More amazing ceiling. And this is just right by a cafe. NBD.
We managed to get out in 35 minutes. I have the pictures but since everyone knows what the Mona Lisa and other sculptures look like, I'm not posting them. It's not even a good pic. Glare from the glass protecting the painting... lame. Taylor was sorely disappointed that I made him walk a long way and very quickly to stand 15 feet away from the Mona Lisa in a massive crowd of people. Pretty anticlimactic after our rush through the largest museum in the world.
Tour guide later told us that it would take 4 months to see every single thing in the Louvre. I don't know how he calculated it but I believe him if you include food/water breaks and sleeping.
We passed this gorgeous door on our way from the Louvre to the Opera Garnier. Paris Pass includes a guided tour of the Opera house and there are only two times a day that they offer English tours.
I LOVED the Opera soooo much that I will have a whole post dedicated to it :) look for it soon.
I LOVED the Opera soooo much that I will have a whole post dedicated to it :) look for it soon.
Notre Dame.
Made famous by of the novel by Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831). It had been in disuse until the novel put it back on the map.
Made famous by of the novel by Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831). It had been in disuse until the novel put it back on the map.
Inside Notre Dame
Tourists have adopted just about any bridge from Paris to compensate for the removal of all the locks off of the 'original' love bridge, Pont des Arts in June of this year. The practice is actually illegal now though it is difficult to police. Click HERE to see the BBC article about the nearly ONE MILLION locks weighing 45 TONS that were removed because the bridge was collapsing.
A quote (and link) to a well written article by New Yorker author Adam Gopnik
The practice, which I'm sure you've read about, is simple, and by now repeated in the tens of thousands - you buy a padlock, you and your beloved both inscribe your initials on it with a heavy felt pen, you lock it to the bridge - and then fling the key away into the river, indicating that your love will never be unlocked.
A quote (and link) to a well written article by New Yorker author Adam Gopnik
The practice, which I'm sure you've read about, is simple, and by now repeated in the tens of thousands - you buy a padlock, you and your beloved both inscribe your initials on it with a heavy felt pen, you lock it to the bridge - and then fling the key away into the river, indicating that your love will never be unlocked.
A petite train ride up to Montmarte and the Sacre Coeur.
Hard to hear commentary and, oh yeah, it was in French and THEN English so by the time the commentary told us we would pass Vincent Van Gogh's former residence on the right we were already clear past it. Bummer but still a nice way to save some time and not be a hot, sticky, sweaty mess at the top!
The train ride starts from right in front of Moulin Rouge.
Sacre Coeur.
One of the heaviest bells in the world, Savoyarde, lives in that dome. Weighing nearly 19 tons, it rings only once a year on Easter Sunday.
One of the heaviest bells in the world, Savoyarde, lives in that dome. Weighing nearly 19 tons, it rings only once a year on Easter Sunday.
The view from Sacre Coeur and Montmarte
Arc de Triomphe!
If you want a view from up high, be prepared for all the stairs.
*caption this*
(example: ugh, did you smell that?)
(example: ugh, did you smell that?)
Champs-Elysees. The Louvre is waaay down there at the end of the street.
10 streets meet at this spot. A tunnel is necessary to get the the Arc. Trying to cross the street (giant roundabout) top-side would be insane.
10 streets meet at this spot. A tunnel is necessary to get the the Arc. Trying to cross the street (giant roundabout) top-side would be insane.
That's the Montparnasse Tower way out there. (view from the top of that later...) Thanks in part to zoning restrictions, there are amazing views as high buildings are not allowed to be constructed.
Eiffel Tower in real life. Bucket list item: Check!
We took the river cruise that comes with the Paris Pass.
Our cruise started from the Eiffel Tower and went down the River Seine past 22 of the Parisian bridges. Our tour guide was in impressive young guy who did the tour in 5 languages! French, English, Spanish, Portugese and Italian! He started his greeting in Mandarin and half the boat gasped but he was only joking. My kind of humor :)
We learned about the buildings and bridges we passed, the sections of the city and their impact on the culture. This statue of St Genevieve at Pont de la Tournelle was sculpted by Paul Landowski, the same man who sculpted Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janiero, Brasil.
Our cruise started from the Eiffel Tower and went down the River Seine past 22 of the Parisian bridges. Our tour guide was in impressive young guy who did the tour in 5 languages! French, English, Spanish, Portugese and Italian! He started his greeting in Mandarin and half the boat gasped but he was only joking. My kind of humor :)
We learned about the buildings and bridges we passed, the sections of the city and their impact on the culture. This statue of St Genevieve at Pont de la Tournelle was sculpted by Paul Landowski, the same man who sculpted Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janiero, Brasil.
It's just the prettiest city... (I'm totally partial to London though)
This is the view from Montparnasse Tower. I would do the whole panorama but it all looks just like this anyway :)
That's the Louvre to the right of the ferris wheel that is illuminated.
I also would have posted the Eiffel Tower view but it is a real thing (not highly enforced, as far as I can tell) but the lights on the Eiffel Tower are actually copyrighted. You have to receive permission and pay a fee to legal take and the post pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night. The lights have an artistic copyright. Weird but true. So there you go. Keeping my cool, nighttime pictures to myself...if they even exist. ;)
That's the Louvre to the right of the ferris wheel that is illuminated.
I also would have posted the Eiffel Tower view but it is a real thing (not highly enforced, as far as I can tell) but the lights on the Eiffel Tower are actually copyrighted. You have to receive permission and pay a fee to legal take and the post pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night. The lights have an artistic copyright. Weird but true. So there you go. Keeping my cool, nighttime pictures to myself...if they even exist. ;)
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