Advertisement
Published: June 18th 2013
Edit Blog Post
After a very long flight and not much sleep, we finally arrived in Paris early in the morning where we met up with my friend Cath and her son Jake. After successfully negotiating our way on the RER (train) to our hotel in the Latin Quarter, we dumped our bags and headed off to have a look around. We wandered through the beautiful Luxemborg Gardens (just across the road from the hotel) on our way to the Pantheon which we just admired from the outside. Just around the corner from the Pantheon is Rue Mouffetard, a street full of shops and market stalls selling all sorts of cheese, bread, fruit, souvenirs and other assorted "stuff". Apparently it's been a market continuously since at least the 12th century. The name Rue Mouffetard literally means skunk street - I'm not even kidding. In the days before refrigeration, with so much perishable stuff around, it was probably a fitting name! We bought some strawberries which smelt divine but unfortunately had a far more earthly taste. At that point, a touch of jet lag started to set in and we wearily wandered back to the hotel so that Jack could get some zzzz's. Cath, Nicola
and I on the other hand, mustered together enough energy to hit the local shopping centre - Galleries Lafayette in Montparnasse. It was a reasonable (roughly 2km) walk from the hotel past some beautiful buildings but we realised once we got there and had a look at the map that this was the long way around - the homeward journey was probably only 1km. Unfortunately, the shopping trip was a little disappointing but we did find a fabulous patisserrie on the way home which was only about 200m from our hotel.
It was a good thing we were really tired from the flight over because going to bed at 8pm with the sun still shining takes a little getting used to. But we were up early the next morning and ready to try out a real French breakfast at the previously mentioned patisserie down the road. On the menu - fresh baguettes, pain au chocolat (a light pastry with chocolate chips in it!) washed down with a cup of tea (hot chocolate for the kids) all whilst watching a homeless man bin dive next door. In a city the size of Paris, you see a
lot of homeless people
which is really sad.
With full belly's and heavy consciences, we decided to make our way over to the Eiffel Tower. After successfully negotiating the Paris metro (subway), we arrived and were pleasantly surprised - the Eiffel Tower is actually far more impressive in real life. It was a glorious day, albeit freezing, so we took a gazillion photos from a hundred different angles. I still don't think I managed to really capture how impressive it really is but I'm just glad I wasn't using film.
We decided to walk along the Seine and just soak up the atmosphere rather than take the metro. We were awestruck as we wandered along the streets and to be honest, a little overwhelmed. Palatial buildings with front porticos held up by massive Corinthian columns seemed to be around every corner. Bridges, like Pont Alexander III are lavishly decorated with gold leaf statues and there are so many triumphal arches, obelisks and monuments that you end up walking around bug eyed and drop jawed, looking like an escapee from a mental institution. Luckily, all the other tourists seem to have the same slightly crazed look about them whilst the Parisiens are just
cool and suave, almost passe about the place. Well, so it seemed that first day anyway.
We wandered past the grand palace and made our way down through the Tuilleries Gardens towards the Louvre, stopping at a cafe in the Gardens where we had the best hot chocolate bar none in the whole of Europe! We managed to survive crossing the Place de la Concorde (Parisiens are the second worst drivers in Europe, surpassed only by the Romans) and made our way to the Louvre. Fortunately, it only took about 15 minutes to get into the Lourvre where we spent the next 4 hours and saw probably less than a quarter of all there is to see. For me, the best part of the Louvre was the building itself, one of the former palaces of the French kings. Grandiose, palatial, decadent - these are all words that have taken on new meaning for me after seeing the Louvre, at once beautiful and mockingly cruel for here the aristocracy lived in wealth and abundance whilst the rest of the French lived in absolute poverty for the most part. It gave me a whole new perspective on the French Revolution, that's
for sure. So after viewing the Mona Lisa (and wondering what all the fuss was about), the Milo de Venus (and wondering what all the fuss was about) and the Egyptian galleries (ok I understand the fuss), we left the Louvre and continued our wanderings.
Although it was late afternoon, the sun was still high in the sky and as we made our way down towards Notre Dame, we crossed the "lock" bridge - where couples have since the early 2000's pledged their eternal love and dedication to each other by affixing a lock to the bridge's metal balustrade and throwing away the key. Cheaper than a wedding but somewhat less binding legally I would think :-). Anyway, this being a Saturday and sunny to boot, the bridge was jam packed with Parisiens and tourists and some very talented buskers who filled the air with jazz and big band brass and piano accordian. Perfect!
Notre Dame wasn't too far away so once again we decided to walk - in total we walked about 20 kms that day. I have to say that I was a little underwhelmed by Notre Dame although I'm not sure why - could have
been the really ugly ramp/tent/grandstand that was set up in front of the church but I'm not sure. Anyway, we decided not to go in as we were really hungry and weren't prepared to stand in line. Across the bridge, the Latin Quarter beckoned and we willingly lost ourselves in its labyrinth of side streets lined with cafes and restaurants of all descriptions. One, Le Marathon, caught our eye and we decided to eat there. Perhaps it was because of their 3 course meal for 10 euros deal or maybe it was because we felt we'd been on a marathon that day. Either way, it was fabulous and I highly recommend the place.
Exhausted, we made our way back to the hotel. But wait, there's more. Gluttons for punishment, Cath, Nicola and I once again braved the cold and the metro to re-visit the Eiffel Tower at night. Just as we got there, it started to sparkle - something it only does for about 5 mins once a night. A magical end to a magical day. I have to say that of all the places we visited in Europe, I think that Paris was my favourite. I felt most
at home in London, but no other city overwhelmed me and left me awestruck quite like Paris.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.172s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 10; qc: 54; dbt: 0.0442s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb