We woke up moving at bit slow. It was a relaxing morning, egg and cheese omelet for breakfast. We puttered around the hotel and set out around 11am.
We set out for La Defense rail station, taking the wrong entrance we validated our ticket for the tram; damn wasted tickets. You need to use a new set of tickets if you transfer from the bus or tram to the Metro. A lesson it took us two errors before we figured it out. We decided to buy an unlimited day pass. At a cost of 11 Euros each, it was a bit expensive, but we had a lot of ground to cover today and our feet would thank us.
We took the metro to the Louvre Museum. Although there wasn't much of a crowd and a couple things we wanted to see, we decided not to go in. It was cool enough to see the outside and see a couple places the Da Vinci Code was filmed.
Our second stop was at the Place de la Concorde; a famous square where King Louis XVI and his family including Marie Antoinette were executed by guillotine. Very pretty square considering its violent past. Also very reminiscent of American buildings, especially in New York City.
We took the Metro the the Hotel de Ville (City Hall). The symbolism of the building was heavily influenced by the revolution. Very interesting architecture.
Next we walked the short distance across La Seine River to the Notre Dame Cathedral. Alone the way we could not resist the smell of the bakeries and pastry shops. We picked up a hot pressed panini filled with peppers and chicken; simple, but one of the best tasting things of the trip.
The line to get into the Cathedral was pretty short and appeared to be moving quick. After we finished our lunch, we explored the larger than life building. Over 800 years old and taking over a hundred years to build, the Notre Dame is not the nicest cathedral we have seen, but certainly the most famous. It is huge and you really feel humble.
After about 5 hours of wandering Paris, we were a bit tired and planned to last until late tonight; we needed a nap. We took the Metro back to our Hotel, had a quick bite to eat and a nap and we were back touring in no time.
We first headed to Moulin Rouge; a famous show girl theater. It was sunset when we arrived and the crisp red light was a spectacle. The tickets are around a hundred Euros, too much for Tim's blood for our short time in town.
We walked around a typical Parisian street looking into the gourmet shops. Each shop specializes on only a couple things and Tim would loved to have spent hours in them.
The Metro is easy to navigate and although each attraction is about 1-2 kilometres apart, the metro can zip you anywhere you want to go in just a few minutes.
We headed to the Eiffel Tower to enjoy a romantic evening picnic while taking in the night hourly light show. Our picnic was really good, a couple types of cheese, sliced cured meats, olives, a fresh french baguette and of course a bottle of campaign. Good thing Tim brought his own supplies as the shops around the tower are happy to provides these things, but for a very steep price.
Our last stop for the night was Place du Trocadero where we took in some live music, drank some wine and has a banana, nutella and whipped cream freshly made crepe.
Closing thoughts, we loved Paris in the same sense as New York City. It is busy, expensive and filled with scams. People are in a hurry and often rude; but the smells and the electric feeling in the air is something worth experiencing; it simple can not be described. Paris has the added history unmatched anywhere we have travelled thus far. A must see for anyone interested in history, art, good food or fine wine.
