Advertisement
Paris was really beautiful. We stayed in a great hotel. It was an old building...we had to walk up about 5 flights of stairs to get to our room but they were like "Victorian era" style (what would that be called in France?), so it was neat. The rooms were recently redone so it was comfortable and nice. The view was amazing; we opened the double door window to look out onto a beautiful street lined with tall Parisian buildings with little balconies and stacks of windows.
We walked into the centre and on the way, passed the ideal Parisian man. He was sitting on a park bench wearing a French style hat. He was a little round in the belly and on his knee he held a baguette. I wish I was bold enough to just take a picture of him but I felt it might be a bit rude as he was looking right at me.
We walked along the River Seine which was perfect as it brought us to the Notre Dame Cathedral, then the Louvre and lastly the Eiffel Tower.
Notre Dame was amazingly big. It was packed with people too. Probably the busiest place we've
been to yet. Outside are tons of women who try to get you to give them money. They say they are deaf, or rather motion to you that they are, and then try to get you to sign a petition. At the end they demand money. Or they tell you that they have lost their mother or daughter and need help to get her back by signing a petition and giving money. You just have to ignore them.
The Lourve was really great. It went on forever and ever, we didn't even see everything it was so big. It is really amazing to see things in material form that you've only ever seen in a picture. Seeing the Mona Lisa was a neat experience. It is rather small compared to its personality. There are bars up around it so you can only get so close. Ironically they have it in a room that is filled with huge paintings of elaborate scenes and it makes you wonder why it stands out as so special next to these other paintings.
The Eiffel Tower was a great experience. When we first got close, I was like, this is it? It's kind
of a rusty brown colour and in the day light doesn't look like much. It's nowhere near as tall at the CN Tower but it has more character. We decided to walk up it which was a good decision; it's not that many stairs. At the first level you can look down into the area underneath the tower where people are walking around. It is full of men trying to sell you mini Eiffel Towers and they are relentless...again you have to ignore them. At another level they had an ice rink playing dance/trance like music which was strangly interesting. Kids were gliding around on the rink as we walked up to the next level with the help of the beat. The view from the top was fantastic. We could see all of Paris. 😊
When we got back down and started walking toward the park I looked back to see the Eiffel Tower in all its glory. When the day darkens, the lights on the tower make it glow and it truly is beautiful. The picture doesn't do it justice. If you go, you have to see the tower at dusk. They do a beautiful light show and
it sparkles as if covered in crystals.
PS. While waiting for the tower to light up we were approached by a man selling the mini towers and Colin practised his French with one strong "Degage!" It means Buzz Off and it worked! I felt safe. 😊
Advertisement
Tot: 0.117s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.066s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb
