I love Paris in the We had a lovely whirlwind trip to Paris and crammed as much into 42 hours as anyone possibly could, I'd say.
Okay, we're finally in Paris--what to see first? We decided to visit the Louvre first because it is open until 10 p.m. on Friday nights, and the admission is reduced from €9 to €6 at that time (and boy were we envious of those under 26 who can get in for free!). To call the place "huge" is the understatement of the year. You would need at least a full week there to attempt to see everything. And you get quite a workout when you visit--the museum is like a maze, and there are stairs everywhere. I think people with mobility issues or in wheelchairs would have a difficult time getting around.
We worked our way through a good chunk of the place, lingering in the rooms that were cool, moving hurriedly through those that weren't (seriously, Louvre--do you need the heat on with eleventy thousand people here?), and stopping for a quick self-portrait (mirrors make that easy). I think my favorite part was the section on Mesopotamia, partly because I couldn't get over how, well, "cool" it was to be staring at the Code of Hammurabi. The Code of Hammurabi!!!! The history major in me was squealing in glee. I don't understand why hundreds people are nearly trampled trying to snap a picture of Mona and only a dozen or so were gazing at the Code. Sigh. And even though Iraq's Baghdad Museum just reopened, I doubt I'll be going there anytime soon, so I have to enjoy seeing these artifacts where I can.
We started at the top, literally. After reading that the Eiffel Tower gets very crowded if you don't get there when it opens, we decided to get there when it opened at 9:30 a.m. We also took the stairs (670 of them, I might add) to avoid the lines at the elevators, because it was a few euros cheaper, and because we wanted to be able to brag that we climbed the Eiffel Tower. So here it is: We climbed the Eiffel Tower! The very top of the tower (only reachable by elevator) was shrouded in clouds anyway, so there would have been no point in going any further than the second level. We enjoyed the great views, even on an overcast day.
Taking the Eurostar from London was pretty easy. We ordered tickets online, and I really liked the ability to select our individual seats, because they show you which direction the train faces (and for someone like me who gets motion sickness, being able to select a forward-facing seat is a livesaver!). Our trains were almost completely full, probably because we were traveling on the weekend and the fact that it was the end of the school holiday here in England. But the entire trip took less than 3 hours. Sigh--if only we had high-speed rail in the US! Can you imagine going from DC to NYC at 300 km (186 miles) per hour? It would only take 75 minutes!
We arrived at Gare du Nord after 5:00 p.m., waited in a long line for a taxi, and checked into our hotel, which was a quirky, artsy place on the Left Bank in the St. Germain district, only a block from the Musée d'Orsay. The location was great because it was very centrally located, yet it was in a quiet part of town. We heard no street noise whatsoever from our room--heaven!
Okay, we're finally in Paris--what to see first? We decided to visit the Louvre first because it is open until 10 p.m. on Friday nights, and the admission is reduced from €9 to €6 at that time (and boy were we envious of those under 26 who can get in for free!). To call the place "huge" is the understatement of the year. You would need at least a full week there to attempt to see everything. And you get quite a workout when you visit--the museum is like a maze, and there are stairs everywhere. I think people with mobility issues or in wheelchairs would have a difficult time getting around.We saw Mona and Venus first, and I think I like Venus better. You can get right up close to Venus. To see Mona, you have to stand behind a fence about 15 feet away from her, so you can't really get a good look. Plus, you have to fight with hundreds of other tourists with their cameras zoomed to the max, flashes going off right and left, taking picture after picture because their shots aren't coming out (you want a correct exposure for taking a picture of your friend with Mona? The room is dim, your friend is 2 feet from the camera while Mona is 17 feet back and behind a layer of glass that reflects the green exit sortie sign. Good luck with that--I can't even work that magic).
We worked our way through a good chunk of the place, lingering in the rooms that were cool, moving hurriedly through those that weren't (seriously, Louvre--do you need the heat on with eleventy thousand people here?), and stopping for a quick self-portrait (mirrors make that easy). I think my favorite part was the section on Mesopotamia, partly because I couldn't get over how, well, "cool" it was to be staring at the Code of Hammurabi. The Code of Hammurabi!!!! The history major in me was squealing in glee. I don't understand why hundreds people are nearly trampled trying to snap a picture of Mona and only a dozen or so were gazing at the Code. Sigh. And even though Iraq's Baghdad Museum just reopened, I doubt I'll be going there anytime soon, so I have to enjoy seeing these artifacts where I can. The Louvre's collection of Egyptian antiquities was impressive, but we were spoiled having already visited the British Museum's collection, which was (1) free (2) in English and (3) had many more mummies. So we didn't linger there.
Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace, and Hammurabi's Code
On Saturday, we came up with an ambitious plan to see most of downtown Paris, walking in a clockwise circle. It wasn't until we came back to London and I was able to map this out with the Gmap Pedometer that we discovered that circle equalled 10 MILES! In one day! No wonder out feet hurt afterwards! Here is our route.
We started at the top, literally. After reading that the Eiffel Tower gets very crowded if you don't get there when it opens, we decided to get there when it opened at 9:30 a.m. We also took the stairs (670 of them, I might add) to avoid the lines at the elevators, because it was a few euros cheaper, and because we wanted to be able to brag that we climbed the Eiffel Tower. So here it is: We climbed the Eiffel Tower! The very top of the tower (only reachable by elevator) was shrouded in clouds anyway, so there would have been no point in going any further than the second level. We enjoyed the great views, even on an overcast day.Leaving the Tower and the dozens of tacky trinket-sellers that leave no tourist un-accosted, we walked across the bridge towards the Trocadéro, then to the Arc de Triomphe, and then down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Our next stop was the Musée de l’Orangerie, which houses among other paintings eight of Monet's Waterlilies, which hang in two rooms especially designed for them and to accommodate Monet's wish that they be exposed to as much natural light as possible.
Grabbing a baguette sandwich on the street, we proceeded to walk along the Seine down to the islands and then into the Notre Dame, which is free! If you want to climb the tower, there is a cost (and a long line), but we declined, having climbed enough stairs for one day. On the way back to our hotel, we wandered through the noisy, crowded Latin Quarter and indulged in some fancy chocolate. After a two-hour nap (!) we had a lovely dinner at Alcazar.
Monet's Waterlilies at l’Orangerie; the Notre Dame
We left the Musée d'Orsay for the last day because we only had a few hours on Sunday before our train left, and it was so close to our hotel that we could easily see it before catching a cab back to the train station. It is a very impressive space, having once been a train station before being converted into a museum. If you are a fan of impressionism, this museum is a must-see! Monet, Degas, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Seurat, etc., are all here with many of their most famous works.
Musée d'Orsay; view towards Montmartre and Basilique du Sacré-Cœur faint in the distance
Overall, it was a wonderful city break, and we really enjoyed ourselves! One day we will definitely go back to France for a longer trip. You can see more pictures here.
No comments:
Post a Comment