Paris Part II: Attractions

Since this was the first time that I had been to Paris, we made sure to see all the major sites. This was also Will’s friend, Andy’s, first time to Europe as well.  We were very busy!

Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower was actually the first major thing that we saw, although it was in the pouring rain. We did go back a few times after that, including at night. Every night at sundown the tower is illuminated and at the top of every hour it sparkles for five minutes. On our last night, Will and I climbed the 704 stairs to the observation platform.

I made it!

Eiffel Tower at dusk

Climbing to the top

City of Lights

Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe is a monument dedicated to French veterans and is at the end of the famous Champs-Élysées. Andy and I also climbed to the top of the Arc, but it was only around 300 stairs, for amateurs really.

Arc de Triomphe

View of the to of the Arc

Champs-Elysées

Louvre

The Louvre is an enormous museum and I think it would be nearly impossible to see everything in one day. The exhibits are divided into four sections. We were there for several hours and really only saw about one and a half sections. One of the most popular things to see in the Louvre is the Mona Lisa, which is much tinier than I had imagined. Other interesting pieces include ancient Egyptian artifacts and the Venus de Milo.

Louvre

Inverted pyramids (for Da Vinci Code fans)

Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles is located just outside of the city limits and once the home of distinguished French royalty.  Since there was an extremely long wait, we did not go inside the actual palace, but instead explore the gardens outside. The perfectly manicured lawns and shrubbery are pristine and the view extends into the countryside.  There’s a small lake at the edge of the garden and we ended our afternoon with a short boat ride.

Palace of Versailles

Palace of Versailles Gardens

Boat ride

Montmartre

The apartment where we were staying was located in the Montmartre neighborhood, which has an artsy feel to it. In the main square, artists were selling their work and we were able to find “non-touristy” cafés just a few streets over.

Main square in Montmartre

Souvenir artwork

Streets in Montmartre

Churches: Sacré Cœur Basilica, Notre Dame, Saint-Sulpice 

I have to admit that I’m a bit partial and the Cologne Dom is still my favorite European church. However, you can’t go to Paris and not see some of the gorgeous churches. We were lucky enough to have a great view of the Sacré Cœur from our apartment, but photography was not allowed inside. Notre Dame was beautiful as well, but we chose not to climb the stairs to the top! Saint-Sulpice was a really interesting church in the southern end of the city, close to the Luxembourg Gardens. It was massive, both inside and outside.

Sacré Cœur Basilica

Notre Dame Cathedral

Interior of Notre Dame

Stained-glass windows in Notre Dame

Saint-Sulpice Church

Interior of Saint-Sulpice

Fountain outside of Saint-Sulpice

Other sites: Hôtel de Ville, Moulin Rouge, Père Lachaise Cemetery

As we wandered around the city, we saw a few other sites, but did not explore them in-depth. We saw the Hôtel de Ville and Moulin Rouge in passing and were able to get a few photos. On a lazy Sunday, we headed out to the Père Lachaise cemetery. It was a really interesting (eerie) place where dozens of famous French (and some non-French) are buried. We were able to track down Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison’s grave sites.

Hôtel de Ville

Moulin Rouge

Père Lachaise Cemetery

Oscar Wilde's grave

Jim Morrison's grave

I know this post was very photo-heavy, but I took so many pictures that it’s hard to narrow them down to just a few. It seemed like every street in Paris deserved to be photographed as everything was just so picturesque.