The City of Love

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris
August 12th 2011

Published: October 28th 2011

Paris is the most amazing city. I genuinely had no idea it would be so beautiful. The city is just so perfectly planned out, the axis of Paris, the wide roads, wide footpaths, a city built for the people. Everywhere you look, every building is built with no expense spared on the detail. Even run-of-the-mill apartment buildings are stunning in their design with the most intricate and ornate finishings. It's like one massive and beautiful piece of art.
We only had 2 days in Paris which is not nearly enough to see all there is to see in this amazing city. The main attractions included the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles, the Eiffel Tower (of course), Notre Dame, an out of the way attraction known as the Catacombs, the amazing Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysées, and a score of others. We literally ran around Paris for 2 days.

The Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is absolutely incredible. It completely out-shone my wildest expectations. It's not until you're standing underneath it that you realise how massive it really is and what a feat of engineering it was. The two to three hour wait (I lost track) to get in was painstaking but worth it. But once on the first level, it's another 3/4 of an hour to get to the top. A few of our crew pulled out but I figured that would be like going all the way to Everest, climbing to the last camp before summit and turning back, and telling everyone at home you 'nearly' submitted Everest ha ha. Once at the top the view was incredible and it was worth the wait simply to say you were there. Even from this vantage point, this city is just so perfect. Ironically this would be one of the few times I would see Paris by night.
In hindsight, the stairs to the first level, although challenging, would have you there in a fraction of the time, and well I came down the stairs and there really wasn't as many as it looks, seriously.
One of the quirky highlights of the Eiffel Towers was a sign on the wall in the room at the top showing the distances to cities around the world. Sydney 15,900kms. A bit of a quick reminder of how far from home you really are :-).

The Louvre
Ok, to be honest I didn't really 'see' the Lourve, I saw it flash by as I ran to the Mona Lisa. I had half an hour to be back on the bus on the last day and that was one of the few things I just had to see, so while the other guys wandered up to the Arc de Triomphe, I ran through the Lourve in search of Da Vinci's masterpiece. So after battling by way though the gathered crowed, all the way up to the barrier, it was amazing, people said it was tiny but I didn't feel that at all, it is an incredible work of art and you just feel so privileged to lay my eyes upon on the most looked at painting in the world.
Top tip for the Luvre: To avoid the queue, don't line up at the main entrance. On the south western side of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel (smaller version of the Arc de Triomphe) there is a unmarked staircase, that leads down into the lobby of the Luvre, under the inverted pyramid. Take this entrance and you shouldn't wait more than 20 minutes even in peak season.

Notre Dame
If you only see one church in your lifetime, make it this one. Words and even photos just cannot do it justice, you have to feel it for yourself.

Catacombes de Paris
Surprisingly on of my favorite Paris highlights was the Catacombes de Paris. Deep under the city of Paris is a labyrinth of tunnels, 300kms of them to be exact, formerly a limestone quarry that now holds the remains of some 6 million Parisians. After a population explosion towards the end of the 18th century, combined with the effects of the plague, the city simply ran out of cemetery space, so Parisians took to burying their dead in the tunnels of the former quarry. Nowadays the bones making up the 500m of observable tunnel have been stacked from floor to ceiling and are there to see, touch and smell (if you so desire). It's a bit confronting at first as i had never seen human remains before, but gradually the shock turns into awe at just how many souls are down here.
Now will wait for a long time to get in (probably around 2 hours but it's well worth it as they only let small groups though at a time, giving you the feeling that you're the only ones down there, and not fighting your way through hoards of tourists. I would highly recommend this experience.

The Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles is probably one of the most jaw-dropping things you will ever see. Unfortunately due to time constraints I never made it inside but it is worth just walking around the gardens, that span as far as you can see. You could really take a day to see them all properly but unfortunately we only had a couple of hours. Originally, a river was diverted to power the thousand plus fountains that are scattered around the grounds. Absolutely incredible, Jamie Durie eat you heart out :-)

The Lock Bridge
another thing I thought worth a mention as the craze has spread across Europe, is the Lock Bridge. I'm not sure how it started but the tradition is that if your in love, you take a padlock and write on it your name and the name of your love, lock it to this bridge, and throw the key into the Seine. Signifying that your love will be eternal.
Today, there are thousands of padlocks of all shapes, colours and sizes now locked to the bridge, with all sorts of messages of love. Worth a look, and maybe a lock ;-)

As far as Paris nights go, we were there for 3 but the third is the only one really worth mentioning, Cabaret Night. The tour was taking us to a traditional french dinner then a Cabaret at Nouvelle Eve, which I was originally going skip in favor of the Moulin Rouge, but decided against it at the last minute.
Well the dinner was french I guess, wine, piano accordion playing, escargo, duck a la ronge, but it just seemed a bit over the top, a bit cheesy, like something you'd get at a cheap french restaurant in oz. The cabaret was amazing! Again, a little Contiki cheese, but still amazing. Was it better than the Moulin Rouge, I can't say, and I've yet to meet anyone who has done both, but it was great. (If anyone has done both, please let me know).
We went into town after that, to Sullivan's (an Irish pub in France, I know!), and it was chocker block with Aussies, good night all the same.

Last experience I wanted to share, and probably my favorite, was when we were on the metro on the way to the catacombes. Just an ordinary morning on the metro, people going to work, I think we were the only tourists on there then on jumps this very Italian guy and starts serenading us with piano accordion. If you weren't sure you were in France, this sealed the deal :-). Awesome!

This city is amazing beyond words. I must someday return to Paris. It would be a great city just to wander at night and take it in, feel, something I never really had the chance to do. Did I fall in love in the city of love?? No, not this time, but maybe next time I will have a lock on that bridge :-)

Ok, when traveling you meet so many people you become great friends with, and you have a lot of in jokes and funny little moments that would just take too long to write down in full. But these are moments I want to remember for the rest of my life, so I've decided to just jot down a few key words for my own sake, just to jog my memory when I'm telling my grandkids about these places. I apologise for not elaborating on these, but as I said, they are more for my sake, and you really had to be there anyway :-). So keywords for Paris are:
You found Pierre
Pierre and the baguette
Chip!! Yep! Yep!
Classy titties

Next up, wine country!

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