day four (4): Versailles and more...

And more...

After we returned to Paris we stopped at station Saint-Michel to walk a bit. We arrived naturally at Place Saint-Michel and saw the great Fontaine Saint-Michel...

After a few minutes on foot we came to Préfecture de Police Kinda hard not to notice you're in France huh? I guess there was a sale on flags...

If you look just behind the motorbike you can see a small fountain. It's called a Fontaine Wallace, and here's a close up...

They still function today, and we used them many times throughout our travels in Paris.



As we continued on our walk we passed again Le Palais de Justice where we could better see La Sainte-Chapelle.



After reaching the Right Bank we came to Place du Châtelet



And then La Tour Sainte-Jacques

Then finally we made it to the Marais. And after all that walking (Versailles and Paris) it was time for a drink, so we stopped at Wolf Bar...



Then had a bite to eat at le Pavé...



And then one last drink at the Bear's Den...

And by the time the drinks were done... it was time to go home and sleep...

Tomorrow... Le Louvre.

day three (4): la tour des tours et plus

La Tour Eiffel

Let me just say here and now that I have a fear of heights... and while I'd already managed the walk up and views out of both Sacré Coeur (83 metres) and Notre Dame (67 metres), that is NOTHING compared to the 324 metres of la Tour Eiffel... and we went up to the flippin' top! Yup, if anything was going to help me tackle my fear of heights, la Tour Eiffel was gonna be it.

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As we arrived on the Batobus we got the first clear views of this magnificent structure...

Before attempting to ascend the structure we decided a fortifying Ice Cream was in order...

Once we were sufficient satisfied with our snack we headed to the Tower. You cannot help but be impressed by this structure. And it's damn near impossible to take an uninteresting picture of it...

After waiting 45 minutes in line for tickets, we took the elevator...



...to the 2nd deck, where even more pictures were taken...

And then we waited another 45 minutes to take the second elevator to the top (3rd deck). And you know what... the height was not that bad. My guess is I was just too damned impressed with the views to care that we were so high up. Well, that and the fact that you were basically caged in so couldn't fall off it if you tried. But I DID manage to stick my camera out for one pick straight down (before I was stopped by security)

It's at this moment that I pull off one of the more romantic things I've done... and disappeared, only to come back moments later with two flutes of Champagne...

Ah, the views... Starting, facing South-West we see the Seine, and the Île des Cygnes...



Which contains at the far end, a replica of the Statue of Liberty...



Now looking North-West we see, again, the Seine, le Pont d'Iéna and the Trocadéro.

Looking now East-North-East we can see the Le Grand Palais, Le Petit Palais, le Pont des Invalides, le Pont Alexandre III, Place de la Concorde, La Madeleine and Le Opéra Garnier...

And then Eastward; l'Hôtel des Invalides, Notre Dame (it's there, just look for it) and the Panthéon...

South East you look down Le Champs-de-Mars and to the Ecole Militaire...

A close up of the Champ-de-Mars will show a Heart in the grass... I don't know why it's there other than to simply say, Paris IS the City of Love...

And so after 45 minutes of checking out the views and 20 mins waiting for the elevator we arrived on the 2nd deck, looked around a little more, had a hot chocolate (it was a little breezy on the top and it was only 17'C) then we started our descent down the steps to the base of the Tower...

Once down we again were impressed by the views... this one from directly under the centre of the tower looking up...

By now it was 8:30 pm and we headed across le Pont d'Iéna, and headed toward the Trocadéro. We walked around a little, got a bite to eat and then waited til 10:00pm when La Tour Eiffel is lite for the evening... and starting then for the first 10 minutes each hour it twinkles with thousands and thousands of lights placed all over the Tower.

We watched the Tower twinkle, as if only for us and then after a bust day of over 10 hours of sight-seeing it was time to head home and crash... after all tomorrow we are headed to Versailles...

day three (3): la tour des tours et plus

Plus +

After our apero, we decided to take it easy a little while longer and so instead of schlepping through the Metro again to get to our next destination, we hopped on the Batobus and relaxed as we floated down the seine and caught the sights...

Notre Dame, one last time...

The Conciergerie-Palais de Justice. It was the Conciergerie where Marie-Antoinette and her children were kept prior to her be-heading.

Le Pont Neuf. -- The 'New" bridge, is in fact the oldest bridge in the City. "Isn't it Ironic..."



Le Louvre...



Musée d'Orsay...



Le Pont Alexandre III...




And then onto the day's final destination...

day three (2): la tour des tours et plus

Notre Dame

After crossing the Seine from 'l'Hôtel de Ville to Île de la Cité on the Pont d'Arcole we soon arrived at, Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris Damn, its impressive! HUGE! MASSIVE. Notre Dame. It's plain to see why it's such an inspiration to people, spiritually and otherwise.

To the left of the Portail de la Vierge we see (l-r):
Charlemagne, Angel #1, Saint-Denis (and his head), Angel #4.

There another statue of Saint-Denis somewhere in the Cathedral WITH his head, but I didn't find it...

Then on to the interior:

The Nave...

The vaulted ceiling of the Nave...



Looking down the Nave toward the Sanctuary...



Some wood carvings...



And the good lady herself... Notre Dame...



Unfortunately, between the two of use, we were unable to capture any good photos of the rose windows... so you'll just have to so see them for yourself.

After touring the inside we decided to take the tour of the Towers. Only 400 steps...

At the 1/2 way mark we stopped at a GIFT SHOP?!?! where there are also the Steps of Esmeralda (way to suck in the tourists, I'm sure a lot of them believe it's true)

Once on the Chimera Gallery, a mere 46 metres above the ground, there were wonderful views of the city. In this one you can see La Tour Eiffel, La Defense, Le Palais de Justice, La Sainte-Chapelle.

Next we see some of the Gargoyles, Chimeras, Saint-Gabriel, The Central Spire over the Transept, with the Apostles standing guard...

"Emmanuel" the 13 Ton bell in the South Tower.



Looking straight down from the gallery looking toward the Place du Parvis.

If you look (at the photo above) at the top of the photo, a little right from centre there is a small group of people looking down. They are looking at 'Point Zero' This is considered the centre of Paris and the figurative centre of France, and the point from which all distances are measured.

Now let's go back up to the towers...

Here we see Didier and a rather hungry looking Chimera.

After looking around the Gallery, we headed up to the top of the South Tower where the views got even more wonderful, and slightly nerve-racking... Lets look down to the ground again shall we... this time at 67 metres...

Toward the back of the Church, down to the Seine...



Once back down on the ground you can see the wonderful statue of Charlemagne.

After Notre Dame it was time to take a break, have a little something to drink, and so we crossed the Pont au Double and stopped at the Café Panis (in the picture it is just across the bridge and where the two crosswalks meet. The Café has the white awning...

A Glass of Chardonnay for Monsieur and a Ricard for me... not a bad view eh? (The Cathedral, not me!)