Paris: Like Falling in Love for the First Time

October 2, 2013

The Louvre Museum

There is a difference between natural beauty and designed beauty. Paris represents the best example of the latter that I have ever seen. Every building, street sign, and light post was constructed as if it were an artistic puzzle piece that together creates the masterpiece that is Paris. Pictures do the city no justice, even selecting the photos for this blog became an arduous task, for they cannot represent the grandeur that surrounds you on every street.

Winston Churchill and Ross

When planning for this journey we knew some cities would be more expensive than others; Paris being one of those. I began looking for places to stay about one month before we planned to visit and found nothing. It was either too expensive or the AirB&B was booked for the dates we wanted. Finally Ross found the only campsite located in Paris, just 5 minutes from the Champs Elysee. We could see the Eiffel tower from our pitch. Camp Indigo even had a shuttle to take us to and from the center of Paris. All for only $36 per night; which made it possible to travel more luxuriously by purchasing two city sightseeing bus passes. Paris is huge so being on foot we would not have been able to see all that we did in two days.

DAY 1:

Our shuttle from the camp dropped us off near the Arch de Tromph at one end of the Champs Elysee. The monument is spectacular! It stands as a symbol of Napoleonic victory as well as a memorial flame that is ceremoniously lit daily commemorating the unknown soldier.

The Champs Elysee on the other hand was slightly less spectacular. It is a commercial tourist stop with the typical retailers from H&M to Cartier. I wanted to see the stores exclusive to Paris; not the ones found at the mall. The sidewalks are much wider than the ones in your neighborhood which allow crowds of people to flow like a herd of animals. There were not as many patio cafes as I expected. I know your thinking... maybe because it is October...but no; it was 73 degrees and sunny.

The Grand Palace

                                             

The Petite Palace

Decorating both sides of the road the Grand Palace and the Petite Palace face each other on the way to the famous Alexander Bridge. Looking up from the Seine River it is bright baby blue, lit by ornate lamps, and glowing with gold statues of happy cherubs.
                                     

Alexander Bridge

Concord Square

                             

One of two gorgeous green and gold fountains

Located at the other end of the Champs Elysee, Concord Square gives new meaning to grandiose and to the meaning of traffic nightmare. It is roughly the size of 10 football fields, there is no traffic lines separating lanes, and to complicate things more there are three memorials with pedestrian cross walks and flocks of tourist. In this very square Marie Antoinette and Louis XV were removed from their heads by guillotine in the 17^th century. The obelisk stands tall between two glamorous green and gold fountains

Main Entrance to the Louvre

The majority of our afternoon was spent inside the Louvre Museum. We spent four hours exploring almost all of the right wing. I attempted to plan our visit and came prepared with a list of must sees and their general location but all that was pointless. Once inside every work of art is worth seeing so we did away with the list and just wandered. With a little luck we managed to see a few of the iconic pieces like the Mona Lisa, the sculpture of Aphrodite, and a few        (Rembrandt's).

Wish they would let us closer than this!

DAY 2:

Notre Dame

Our agenda today included Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, Trocadero, and trying French Cuisine. We really allowed ourselves to relax today because we went hard yesterday so we avoided long lines and large crowds today for the most part. We window shopped, watched street painters, and admired the Seine River.

The Eiffel Tower and Trocadero Park

                                                 

The Opera House 

Snails!

We ate a late lunch at a cute French restaurant. We shared a bottle of wine and tried snails for the first time. They were delicious; kind of like eating a mushroom but a little salty. Then we rode the tour bus around the city saving our feet today and gaining a different view of the elaborate architecture of each building.

Other end of Trocadero Park

                                         



At around 5 pm we arrived at Trocadero park, a huge grass park under the Eiffel Tower. Here we polished off another bottle of wine while admiring the most iconic symbol of Paris. We saw a double rainbow just before sunset.

Then we got in line to venture to the top of the Eiffel Tower. There are three floors total; the first is a $$$ restaurant and the other two are viewing platforms. We waited in line for an hour and paid 30 euros total to go to the top. The second level was crowded so we went straight up. At the top the view was incredible, there were strong gusts of wind, and after being up there for 5 minutes it began to pour down rain.

View from 2nd floor

Clear skies just before the storm

You might think that rain would have ruined it but it just made it more magical; we even played in it. Soaking wet when we were ready to descend we by passed the elevator and walked down the stairs to the bottom. A rewarding walk because we experienced both ways to tour the tower.

Walking down the stairs

The magic moment it began to rain

Happy and soaked we hailed a cab to take us back to our waiting shuttle. All the sightseeing, walking, and wine had us looking for a late night bite. Luckily we were in Paris were your corner drug store sells gourmet cheeseburgers for 15 euro a pop. It could have been circumstantial but it was the best burger either of us had ever eaten.

On this journey Paris has been the most grandiose and lavish city we have visited. Aside from the warnings about rude French people we only encountered one, the female cab driver. Paris left a good taste in our mouth and one day we will want more so we left some sites unseen so we could return in the future.