Saturday in Paris

Saturday Paris, I bought myself a two day pass on the Open tour bus. This is your typical hop on and hop off tourist bus that gives you very good coverage of the city and its principal sites. I will tell you more about the bus later.

I left the hotel at 8.30am and heading to the Jardin des Plantes a quite beautiful park that seemed to be a popular circuit for joggers who take advantage of the park’s wide footpaths. Within the Park is the National Musee Histoire Naturelle. I walked through the park and then along with Seine. It was a cold day though with the sun on my back I felt very comfortable in a foreign city.

I chose to wander very close to the Seine (rather than along the roadside) and enjoyed looking at the many houseboats on the river. These houseboats are used as restaurants, cafes and private homes. Some have beautifully maintained gardens on their rooftops - it is a different way of living but no doubt enjoyable for those who choose it.

Further along I wandered, under the arches of the many bridges that cross the Seine, each one unique and no doubt with its many stories to tell until I came across the Cathedral Notre Dame again. You get a different perspective of the size of this great building from the river.

After a further stroll along the peaceful Seine it was back up to road level and the noise of traffic and camera clicking tourists. As they say, if you can't beat them, join them so it was onto the Open Tour bus, into the traffic and embedded with a throng of happy snapping tourists.

The bus headed along passed Musee D'Orsay, the Place de la Concorde, onto the Champs Elysee and to le Tour Eiffel.

I jumped off and took a few photos of this amazing building that truly symbolizes Paris. Le Tour was built for the 1889 World Fair and is 300 m tall. Having a problem with heights meant that I was more than happy to view it from street level!

Next stop was the Musee de la Armee and les Invalides - a hospital commissioned by Louis XIV for wounded soldiers.

I jumped off the bus in the Latin Quarter (very close in fact to the great Hotel de Nesle). I wandered quite aimlessly amongst its narrow winding streets and then went searching for somewhere to have lunch. I ended up eating Japanese!

After lunch I continued to work my way around the Latin Quarter and back to my hotel. It was an enjoyable day and I clocked up many kilometers both on feet and on the bus.

Today is Sunday, my penultimate day in Paris and I am hopeful of squeezing in a trip to the Louvre and heading up to Sacre Coeur for the great views of this city.

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