Paris

Today we started ticking off the must-see things when in Paris.

We started with the City’s metro, this is the third largest in the world behind London and Madrid and yes it is a bit scary. Luckily the man at the local station, Leige which is just at the end of the street, was very helpful and set us up with a couple of all day tickets. Working out the stations is a little harder but we kept it simple and stuck to just a couple of lines.

Our first stop was the Champs Elysees, near where we were yesterday. We were a bit early so most shops weren’t open, probably a good thing, so we walked up the hill to the Arc de Triumph. We looked it over and took some photos, battling the social media set. It is impressive.

We then walked back down the Champs Elysees but this time we did buy something - a coffee and a pastry.

We then hopped back on the metro and headed up towards the Île de la Cité in the middle of the Seine River. This is where Notre Dame Cathedral is located.

Since the devastating fire in 2019 it has been restored and is back to its former glory - probably even better as it is a lot cleaner than many cathedrals of its vintage. This cathedral is an example of French Gothic Architecture and construction started back in the 1100s. It is, of course, stunning. It and the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona are the two most stunning buildings I have been in on this trip.

Being early (about 10.30am) the crowds weren’t too bad so we went in for a look. The stained glass is really excellent. During the rebuilding they had craftsmen from around the world come and help and they have done a fantastic job, see the photos.

While we were in there Mass started and standing there listening to a soloist singing was really beautiful.

We eventually left the cathedral and followed the banks of the Seine before crossing over and going for a look at the Louvre Museum. We will be going there when we are back in Paris after our first tour but we wanted to make sure we knew where it was. We then walked into town to score a chicken baguette plus a couple of drinks and went to do what the locals do - go sit in the sun in the park and eat lunch.

We then crossed the river again to go to the Impressionist art museum Musée d'Orsay. Lots of work by Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Gaugan, Degas, and many others. We could have spent hours in there but we were getting a bit worn out and we have a big dinner on tonight so it was another metro trip back to the hotel.

Dinner was at the famous Moulin Rouge restaurant with a show afterwards, an absolute must see if you are in Paris and only a 10 min walk from our hotel. They don’t allow photos during the show for … erm … obvious reasons (and this is a family blog) but it really was sensational.Baca lagi