Return to Paris - Part 1

Paris

On Friday evening Tim, Megan and Dianne caught the Eurostar train from the flash new St. Pancras international terminal in London (which Tim found to be not so flash due to the distinct lack of an ATM) to Gare du Nord in Paris. Despite queues and general incompetency at the London end, it was a lot easier and more comfortable than flying and the scenery, particularly in France, was beautiful.

We arrived in Paris around 8pm and checked into the Pavillon St Augustin hotel, which was very nice, and then wandered down the street for some dinner. We found a nice little cafe/restaurant not too far from the hotel where we had a relaxing light meal and a few drinks. We also saw the first of many ridiculously drunk Parisians we would see during our short trip. This guy was staggering all over the footpaths asking people for money - charming.

Saturday

Saturday was a huge day with plenty of walking. We left the hotel before 9am and our first stop was the Rue Cler markets, not far from the Eiffel Tower. Megan had done some research and discovered the market, which sells fresh fruit and veges, breads and pastries, cheese, fish, meat, flowers and loads more. We bought some pastries and fruit and sat in the Champ de Mars (a beautiful little park leading up to the Eiffel Tower) for a picnic breakfast. After breakfast we wandered down towards the Eiffel Tower and walked right underneath it, through the swarms of people queuing to climb to the top.

Instead of joining that queue, we caught a metro to Notre Dame on l'Ile de la Cite, where we joined the long but very fast-moving queue for a tour of the Notre Dame cathedral. The cathedral was very dark inside, but still very beautiful. Similar to some of England's large churches, there were a lot of statues, carvings, paintings and other art work decorating the inside of the cathedral, particularly in the many private side chapels, that run along either side of the nave. There are also magnificent stained-glass windows all the way around the cathedral, including two huge "rose windows", one on each of the north and south transepts. Notre Dame de Paris is a Gothic style Roman Catholic cathedral. Construction began in 1163 but the cathedral was only completed in 1345, as construction of different parts (including the towers and western facade) was begun much later.

After our tour we took shelter from a brief shower across the street from Notre Dame in a cosy little cafe. After our coffee stop, we walked around l'Ile de la Cite and the other small island in the centre of Paris, Ile Saint-Louis, checking out all sorts of shops. The shops in Ile Saint-Louis in particular are fantastic and we saw some very nice jewellery, art and crafts, specialty foods, chocolate and sweets and plenty of ice cream shops! We each had an ice cream from one of the Berthillon stores and they would have to be the finest ice creams we have ever had! The choice of flavours at this place was amazing and the flavours were so strong. Megan had pear and honey nougat, Dianne had chocolate orange and Tim had chocolate - all were fantastic!

Once off the islands, we walked along the north bank of the River Seine. We checked out the stalls that line the streets all the way along the river, selling postcards, books, photos and sketches of Paris and other souvenirs. Tim bought some small black and white sketches of some of the sites of Paris. Unfortunately while Megan and Dianne were queuing for a public toilet on the footpath, Tim wandered off to check out some more postcards and while he was gone, another disgusting drunk bum grabbed Dianne while he was walking past. He tried to grab another woman as well but was scared off before he got too close. Not quite the romantic Frenchman you would expect...

From there we walked through the courtyard of Le Louvre, past the glass pyramid and through the Jardin des Tuileries (Gardens). Le Louvre used to be a French royal palace until it was opened to the public as a museum following the French Revolution. We had decided to visit Le Louvre on the Sunday, so we marvelled at the beautiful exterior (and the sheer size - 60,000 square metres!) of the building and we carried on our merry way. Through the Gardens and past the Obelisk, which sits in the middle of the Place de la Concorde, we hit the Champs Elysees. The Champs Elysees was (as you would expect) packed full of people, but we enjoyed our stroll along the famous avenue, stopping in a few shops and also at the same cafe Megan and Tim had eaten at on their last visit for lunch. We had grilled chicken paninis and a cold drink, but best of all was the chance rest our legs - we had covered some serious ground by then!

At the end of the Champs Elysees is the beautiful Arc de Triomphe, honouring those who have fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. We climbed the 284 steps to the viewing platform at the top to take in the spectacular views of the city of Paris. Looking back down the Champs Elysees, you can see the huge structure of Le Louvre, further to the right and much closer is the Eiffel Tower and away in the distance to the north-east is the Basilica of the Sacre-Coeur Montmartre, perched on the hill-top overlooking the city below.

But the most entertaining view from the top is the cars driving around the roundabout directly beneath l'Arc de Triomphe itself. The traffic enters and exits the huge roundabout from 12 different streets that meet in the Place Charles de Gaulle, with l'Arc de Triomphe sitting proudly in the middle. There are no marked lanes in the roundabout and the traffic seems completely chaotic, with cars, buses and motorbikes cutting each other off and swerving all over the place. We were surprised we didn't see a crash while we were watching.

Back on ground level, we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed some wine and beer, with our feet up, before heading out for dinner. We found a restaurant close to our hotel in the Opera district and we had an excellent meal (steak, filet mignon and roast chicken) and we enjoyed sampling some more French wine. To round the evening off we caught the metro back to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up in blue - very pretty.

La Tour
Eiffel

Notre
Dame

A chapel
in Notre
Dame














One of
many
bridges













l'Arc de
Triomphe
















Champs
Elysees











Views
from top
of l'Arc de
Triomphe










Sacre-Coeur
Mont-
martre














Eiffel
Tower
by night















Paris
Opera
House