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.
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| I made it! |
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| Eiffel Tower at dusk |
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| Climbing to the top |
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| 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.
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| Arc de Triomphe |
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| View of the to of the Arc |
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| 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.
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| Louvre |
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| 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.
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| Palace of Versailles |
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| Palace of Versailles Gardens |
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| 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.
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| Main square in Montmartre |
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| Souvenir artwork |
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| 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.
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| Sacré Cœur Basilica |
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| Notre Dame Cathedral |
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| Interior of Notre Dame |
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| Stained-glass windows in Notre Dame |
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| Saint-Sulpice Church |
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| Interior of Saint-Sulpice |
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| 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.
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| Hôtel de Ville |
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| Moulin Rouge |
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| Père Lachaise Cemetery |
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| Oscar Wilde's grave |
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Jim Morrison's grave
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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.
