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Published: January 20th 2011
It was my last day in Paris and I made the most of it. I searched online and found all the places in Paris the Bourne Identity was filmed and started my quest right after seeing Le Louvre. I followed Bourne around Paris and still got to see every cultural artifact or monument I wanted to see (except the inside of the Pantheon). All the pictures for the Bourne adventure are last in order on the blog if you want to see them and their descriptions.
As I said, I started the day off at Le Louvre, wanting to make sure I actually got inside this time. I explored a bit of the Denon section, but I didn't even put a dent in all there was to see in this museum! It's more massive than anyone even describes it as. I believe there's three sections, divided by time period, medium, and a few other criteria. I did get to see the Mona Lisa though, which was fantastic. I've seen this painting in books all my life and finally got to see it in person. The museum overall reminded me more of a palace than a museum. More like Versailles than
It's her!
Someone's camera light screwed up my shot! Any photoshop experts want to help me out?anything else. Of course I saw the famous pyramids in the courtyard again too. My visa for Germany also got me free entry into Le Louvre too :D
After Le Louvre I started my Bourne scavenger hunt. My first stop was the Hotel Regina from the scene when Jason sends Marie in with really complicated instructions to get some information on John Michael Kane. After she got the papers they walk away from the telephone booth talking. They walk right along the path next to le Jardin de Tulieriers. From there my next stop was Pont des Arts, the bridge Jason walks across after leaving Treadstone at the end of the movie. I walked from le Jardin de Tulieriers along the Seine, then took some of the stairs down so that I was right next to the water. I walked along the Seine east to Pont des Arts and that’s when I realized that I had been to this bridge the night before, but didn’t know it. It’s a cool small bridge with Le Louvre on one side and the Institut de France on the other. The floor of the bridge is made out of wooden planks rather than
The Eiffel Tower from Champs de Mars
not so pretty in winter with no flowers or anything, but still nice stone. Pont Neuf is the next bridge from there so I walked there again and got on the metro.
From there I took the #1 subway line to St Paul to find the Treadstone safe house that Nicky worked from. I finally found it in a square north of St Paul and had lunch right under the apartment. Then I went around behind the safe house and found the street where Conklin is assassinated at the end of the movie.
I walked to something more cultural next, which was the Place de la Bastille. The prison (that’s no longer there) was where the French Revolution officially started July 14, 1789. There’s also an opera house at the intersection, but it’s really ugly and most Parisians hate it. I know I did. I hopped back on the metro there to see my next Bourne sight.
Gare du Nord, said to be the busiest train station in Europe, is basically a maze. Jason stashes his red bank bag in the lockers here and decides not to run, but to stay with Marie. Luckily, she also decided to stay with him.
Back to another cultural sight; I took the
metro from there to the Anvers station and headed North. Within seconds I could see what I was searching for, le Sacre Coeur. It really looks like something more out of Asian than Europe, but it’s an architectual marvel nontheless. After climbing the stairs up the hill to get to the basilica, I went inside. No pictures aloud! What a shame because this must’ve been my favorite church in Europe so far. The inside was just awesome and you really have to go because I can’t describe it.
I was trying to manage everything I saw today so that I wouldn’t miss my flight, but decided that going up in the dome was worth the time. The basilica is already situated on a hill so I knew the dome had to have a good view. And even after 291 stairs it was definitely worth it. It was a full panorama of Paris and all of its main monuments. I stayed up just watching the city for a little bit before descending back down.
I still didn’t really know if I had time or not, but I wanted to pay La Defense a visit before I left. It’s right
outside the inner circle of Paris and the arrondissements, but didn’t take long leaving from the Arc de Triomphe station. I didn’t stay long, but I had enough time to marvel at all the skyscrapers and the Grand Arch, which was also a spot on my Bourne list. Bourne walks up by this huge building when he goes to meet the investor and finds out he is definitely also John Michael Kane.
To finish my circle around Paris I went south from the Arc de Triomphe to find Jason Bourne’s apartment building. It wasn’t hard to find and brought the memories from the movie right back!
Last on my list was to see the Eiffel Tower from the Champs de Mars park. It really was worth it to see it from this direction and I’m sure looks even better during the summer when more plants are alive. That made the Eiffel Tower my last sight to see in Paris before I headed to the airport to catch my flight. I had a great time in Paris and although it’s really dirty, it’s also quite beautiful in a lot of places too.
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liliram
liliram
Refreshing change....
I've read quite a number of articles/blogs about doing Paris (and Rome) a la Dan Brown ---- and it is quite refreshing to find someone doing Paris a la Jason Bourne. (I like his character , by the way) Nice interior shots of the Louvre. Sorry, can't help you with Mona Lisa . ;-)