Day 1- City Tour, Saint Sulpice, Trocadero, Eiffel & Seine River Cruise
Our day started with a tour of the city. I always start my daysin a new city with one of these if I can to have a better perspective of the place. Meeting place was the Fountain on Saint Michel. Today the archangel Michel had a red blindfold over his eyes but nobody could tell us why. Then the group made it's way to the historic Notre Dame Cathedral (More on this later). After this we walked our way down the banks of the Seine. There are 22 bridges cutting across this French landmark. On this tour we explored 2 of them. One had the sculpted drunken faces of the guests of a famous monarch during an epic banquet, and the other, the famous love bridge. Couples visiting from all over the world would put a padlock on the fence wall with dedications to their love. They would later throw the key away into river believing that this would bring their relationship luck and they will be together forever. Next stop was the massive Louvre grounds. The Louvre houses more than 35,000 artworks and they say that if you take 8 hours a day for 2 months, allotting 1 minute per artwork, you still wouldn't be able to see all of them. We'll visit the inside on Friday. Excited! For today was only the grounds. Yes, we saw the famous or infamous entrance designed by architect IM Pei. And yes, we took selfies. Last 2 stops were the Tuilleries gardens that led to Place de La Concorde. Outstanding for me was the Obelisk which I found out was the actual site of the guillotine. On the very spot was where Marie Antoinette's beautiful head was dismembered from her body.
We decided to visit Saint Sulpice today. I wouldn't miss it after reading Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. I even re-read it to see what other places we can add to our itinerary. She didn't disappoint. From the beautiful fountain that welcomes worshipers at the square down to every single detail inside the church interior. Although probably not as famous (judging from the traffic of visitors) as her sisters, the Notre Dame & Sacre Coeur, she is every bit as beautiful and serenely dignified. There were many beautiful, solemn chapels within & the main altar was incredible. I also found the organ where Sister Sandrine hid as she watched the albino, Silas, going about his ungodly business. The most exciting bit for me though was seeing the rose line for myself. This was believed to hold the key to the holy grail. Wow!
After Saint Sulpice we headed to the Trocadero Plaza. The best way to approach the monolithic Eiffel in my book. The view was spectacular! Slowly we m6ade our way down to the tower and like everyone else who was there, shamelessly took tons of selfies & groupfies :)
They say you must see the Eiffel tower at day and at night. And we planned on doing just that. But since the sun doesn't set here until 9ish PM (early autumn), we had to wait. We bid our time at the park & later on took a lovely boat ride along the river Seine. We got seats on the roof deck despite the drizzle & the cold like many of the tourists. The funny thing is that most of the passengers on most of the boats we passed had the same idea. Very few people stayed inside. They were even almost always empty. Lovers, singles, old people, young people, families, all of them preferred the crowded roof decks to the warm, comfortable seats inside that even came with audio guides. Couldn't blame them. Catching pneumonia is a small price to pay for the view haha! Nothing compares. And people were waving at each other from boat to boat it was wonderful!
From the boat we saw the iconic buildings of Paris from different angles. We also saw Parisians dining & wining on the banks, families picnicking & lovers kissing unabashedly. The thing that charmed me most was the dancing on the banks complete with live music. It was a special area/ platform set up where couples danced the tango, waltz, etc. I wanted to jump off the boat & join them. That I could watch for hours.
By the the time the ride finished it was dark and the Eiffel tower was finally lit. She was even more majestic. And as a bonus we saw her sparkle. Not kidding! Apparently every night on the hour she sparkles for everyone to see. What a treat!
Thus ends our 1st day in Paris.
Our day started with a tour of the city. I always start my daysin a new city with one of these if I can to have a better perspective of the place. Meeting place was the Fountain on Saint Michel. Today the archangel Michel had a red blindfold over his eyes but nobody could tell us why. Then the group made it's way to the historic Notre Dame Cathedral (More on this later). After this we walked our way down the banks of the Seine. There are 22 bridges cutting across this French landmark. On this tour we explored 2 of them. One had the sculpted drunken faces of the guests of a famous monarch during an epic banquet, and the other, the famous love bridge. Couples visiting from all over the world would put a padlock on the fence wall with dedications to their love. They would later throw the key away into river believing that this would bring their relationship luck and they will be together forever. Next stop was the massive Louvre grounds. The Louvre houses more than 35,000 artworks and they say that if you take 8 hours a day for 2 months, allotting 1 minute per artwork, you still wouldn't be able to see all of them. We'll visit the inside on Friday. Excited! For today was only the grounds. Yes, we saw the famous or infamous entrance designed by architect IM Pei. And yes, we took selfies. Last 2 stops were the Tuilleries gardens that led to Place de La Concorde. Outstanding for me was the Obelisk which I found out was the actual site of the guillotine. On the very spot was where Marie Antoinette's beautiful head was dismembered from her body.
We decided to visit Saint Sulpice today. I wouldn't miss it after reading Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. I even re-read it to see what other places we can add to our itinerary. She didn't disappoint. From the beautiful fountain that welcomes worshipers at the square down to every single detail inside the church interior. Although probably not as famous (judging from the traffic of visitors) as her sisters, the Notre Dame & Sacre Coeur, she is every bit as beautiful and serenely dignified. There were many beautiful, solemn chapels within & the main altar was incredible. I also found the organ where Sister Sandrine hid as she watched the albino, Silas, going about his ungodly business. The most exciting bit for me though was seeing the rose line for myself. This was believed to hold the key to the holy grail. Wow!
After Saint Sulpice we headed to the Trocadero Plaza. The best way to approach the monolithic Eiffel in my book. The view was spectacular! Slowly we m6ade our way down to the tower and like everyone else who was there, shamelessly took tons of selfies & groupfies :)
They say you must see the Eiffel tower at day and at night. And we planned on doing just that. But since the sun doesn't set here until 9ish PM (early autumn), we had to wait. We bid our time at the park & later on took a lovely boat ride along the river Seine. We got seats on the roof deck despite the drizzle & the cold like many of the tourists. The funny thing is that most of the passengers on most of the boats we passed had the same idea. Very few people stayed inside. They were even almost always empty. Lovers, singles, old people, young people, families, all of them preferred the crowded roof decks to the warm, comfortable seats inside that even came with audio guides. Couldn't blame them. Catching pneumonia is a small price to pay for the view haha! Nothing compares. And people were waving at each other from boat to boat it was wonderful!
From the boat we saw the iconic buildings of Paris from different angles. We also saw Parisians dining & wining on the banks, families picnicking & lovers kissing unabashedly. The thing that charmed me most was the dancing on the banks complete with live music. It was a special area/ platform set up where couples danced the tango, waltz, etc. I wanted to jump off the boat & join them. That I could watch for hours.
By the the time the ride finished it was dark and the Eiffel tower was finally lit. She was even more majestic. And as a bonus we saw her sparkle. Not kidding! Apparently every night on the hour she sparkles for everyone to see. What a treat!
Thus ends our 1st day in Paris.
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