Paris 03/05/2014 - 08/05/2014
22 hours in the plane plus 4 hours in Dubai airport, but we finally made it to Paris. Another hour waiting for our bags plus an hour in a taxi to our accommodation. Hope it is worth it :)
The apartment is quite small but very adequate for us. It is in a really good position, with some nice little restaurants nearby. After settling in we walked about 10 minutes to the Seine and then just across the river to Notre Dame Cathedral. It was about 5:00pm by this stage and there was a queue about 500 metres long to get in. We joined the queue and it moved quite quickly taking only about 15 minutes until we were inside. It's a huge church and still used for prayer etc. After taking in the architecture we went outside with a plan to go onto the roof. Unfortunately they closed access about 5 minutes before we got there. That turned into a theme for us as we then went to Saint Chappelle, site of some amazing lead light windows apparently. Again though they closed the queue just before we got there. This area is on a small island in the Seine so we kept wandering and found a small park with lots of Parisians picnicking on bageuttes and drinking wine. Very French it seems as we keep seeing others doing the same. Back to our room after a little shopping and buying some bageuettes ourselves for tea. We then went to the Pompidou centre where you can pay 3Euros to go onto the roof and look over Paris. We stayed up there and watched the lights come on, especially on the Eiffel Tower. By now it was after 10:00pm and we were ready for bed.
Sunday we headed to the Palace of Versaille. The queue here was quite ridiculous and spread approx 1km. Again it moved quickly, but took us over 1 1/4 to make it in to the palace. Whilst quite impressive it isn't actually to my or Tracy's taste and along with the massive crowds we were over it fairly quickly. Outside though was a different story. With room to move the gardens were far more pleasant to visit. Absolutely enormous, the gardens spread 3.5 kms from the Palace to the bottom of the 'Grand Canal' and about 2kms wide. We didn't go to every corner but did see lots of fountains and Marie Antionettes house and gardens very spectacular but not a lot of colour - except green.
Heading back on the train we decided to stop at the Eiffel Tower. Well it was everything we expected and more, simply amazing structure. We walked around getting different angles and then noticed the queue didn't seem too bad. When we looked closer we realised that a) this queue was to get to the 2nd floor only, not the top, and b) it was to walk up the stairs not take the lift. Despite walking for miles at Versaille we decided to do it. 700 steps later we reached the second floor and the view was amazing. It was also incredible getting a close up view of the tower itself, the workmanship is amazing.
Once back down we headed to the Trocadero, having heard it provides good views, particularly at night. By this time it was about 6:30, but sunset is closer to 9:30 here at the moment. We walked around a bit here but were happy to just sit for a a while as well. The Trocadero has fountains which went off at regular intervals and was also good for people watching. Souvenir sellers walk past regularly all of which we said no to, but after buying crepes for dinner, we did say yes to the guy selling champagne. So we sat on the grass eating crepes, drinking Champagne and staring at the Eiffel Tower, feeling very French. As the sun went down the tower lights came on and it looked even more spectacular. We were both very glad we had stayed.
Faced with walking home or catching the train, we chose the walk. Not sure why because it was quite a long way, but we did want to look at the bridges at night. An hour and some pretty bridges later we were back home ready to plan tomorrow.
The apartment is quite small but very adequate for us. It is in a really good position, with some nice little restaurants nearby. After settling in we walked about 10 minutes to the Seine and then just across the river to Notre Dame Cathedral. It was about 5:00pm by this stage and there was a queue about 500 metres long to get in. We joined the queue and it moved quite quickly taking only about 15 minutes until we were inside. It's a huge church and still used for prayer etc. After taking in the architecture we went outside with a plan to go onto the roof. Unfortunately they closed access about 5 minutes before we got there. That turned into a theme for us as we then went to Saint Chappelle, site of some amazing lead light windows apparently. Again though they closed the queue just before we got there. This area is on a small island in the Seine so we kept wandering and found a small park with lots of Parisians picnicking on bageuttes and drinking wine. Very French it seems as we keep seeing others doing the same. Back to our room after a little shopping and buying some bageuettes ourselves for tea. We then went to the Pompidou centre where you can pay 3Euros to go onto the roof and look over Paris. We stayed up there and watched the lights come on, especially on the Eiffel Tower. By now it was after 10:00pm and we were ready for bed.
Sunday we headed to the Palace of Versaille. The queue here was quite ridiculous and spread approx 1km. Again it moved quickly, but took us over 1 1/4 to make it in to the palace. Whilst quite impressive it isn't actually to my or Tracy's taste and along with the massive crowds we were over it fairly quickly. Outside though was a different story. With room to move the gardens were far more pleasant to visit. Absolutely enormous, the gardens spread 3.5 kms from the Palace to the bottom of the 'Grand Canal' and about 2kms wide. We didn't go to every corner but did see lots of fountains and Marie Antionettes house and gardens very spectacular but not a lot of colour - except green.
Heading back on the train we decided to stop at the Eiffel Tower. Well it was everything we expected and more, simply amazing structure. We walked around getting different angles and then noticed the queue didn't seem too bad. When we looked closer we realised that a) this queue was to get to the 2nd floor only, not the top, and b) it was to walk up the stairs not take the lift. Despite walking for miles at Versaille we decided to do it. 700 steps later we reached the second floor and the view was amazing. It was also incredible getting a close up view of the tower itself, the workmanship is amazing.
Once back down we headed to the Trocadero, having heard it provides good views, particularly at night. By this time it was about 6:30, but sunset is closer to 9:30 here at the moment. We walked around a bit here but were happy to just sit for a a while as well. The Trocadero has fountains which went off at regular intervals and was also good for people watching. Souvenir sellers walk past regularly all of which we said no to, but after buying crepes for dinner, we did say yes to the guy selling champagne. So we sat on the grass eating crepes, drinking Champagne and staring at the Eiffel Tower, feeling very French. As the sun went down the tower lights came on and it looked even more spectacular. We were both very glad we had stayed.
Faced with walking home or catching the train, we chose the walk. Not sure why because it was quite a long way, but we did want to look at the bridges at night. An hour and some pretty bridges later we were back home ready to plan tomorrow.
Hi Pete & Trace
ReplyDeleteSo glad you arrived safely and Paris sounds just beautiful
Can see you both there eating your crepes and drinking champagne taking it all in
Bridge x
Hi Peter, if you get a chance whilst you're in Paris, drop into The Shoah Memorial, it's very moving if you're interested. Of all the history museums I saw, this was by far the most intimate and interesting.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g187147-d549934-Reviews-Memorial_de_la_Shoah_Shoah_Memorial-Paris_Ile_de_France.html
Love the pics of Eiffel! Enjoy the crepes :)
Xuan