The Sights of Paris
Well, it is hard for me to believe that a month ago, I was in England. We walked down to the pier, had fish and chips on the seafront, and then England decided to show its true nature...and it rained. There isn't much to do when it rains, so we went to see Jurassic World. And prepared to leave for Paris.
In my last post, I mentioned that Paris has been (and can be) a bit of a let-down if one is expecting the Paris you see in movies and tv shows. However, some things are exactly what you think they're going to be--and even better, in some cases. We were in Paris for three and a half days (although one of them was spent far from the city, which I will touch on in another post).
The first stop on our homegrown sight-seeing tour was, of course, the Eiffel Tower. And yes, the Eiffel Tower is that impressive in real life. Obviously, you know it is tall, but when you're standing there next to it or under it or across the street from it, it really puts it into perspective.
For those of you who may or may not know, the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889 as the entrance to the World's Fair. It stands 1,063 feet high, which is the equivalent of about 81 stories. As it was being built, it surpassed the Washington Monument as the tallest man-made structure on earth, and held that title for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building was completed. A fun-fact: due to the tower's height, in order to make it seem to be a uniform shade of brown, the tower was actually painted three different shades of bronze--lighter at the bottom and getting darker as it rises. Also, the structure is six inches taller in the summer because of it is made of steel. The builders had to take into account that the steel would contract in the winter as they were constructing it.
Now the Eiffel Tower sits on the edge of the River Seine, which runs through the center of Paris. There are 37 bridges in the city of Paris that cross it, and in between some of those bridges are some islands. Fun fact about the Seine: this is how the vikings attacked and sacked the city. One of them is lined with the most beautiful trees, and at the end of the island sits this lovely lady!
If you've seen National Treasure: Book of Secrets, then you will know that this is a smaller version of the Statue of Liberty found in New York Harbor. The one in New York was a gift to the United States from the French, and her sister was a gift from the United States to France. Her tablet is inscribed with the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, just as in the U.S., but also with the date of the storming of the Bastille: July 14, 1789, the "flashpoint" of the French Revolution.
Then we ventured across the river, opposite of the Eiffel Tower and into the city, to find the Moulin Rouge in the heart of the red light district. Luckily, everything in the city is accessible from the Metro!
That was basically the end of our first full day in Paris. Our second "day" in the city wasn't actually spent in the city, but that is where we rested our heads. The last day we spent in Paris, we did something everyone must do in Paris: go shopping!
We started by getting off the Metro at the Arc du Triomphe. It honors all those who fought and died for France during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, and inside is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. Fun fact: this Tomb has an eternal flame, which President Kennedy thought was a very appropriate means of remembrance. When he was assassinated, Jackie remembered how he felt about it and insisted one be included in his own burial sight. Now, the Arc is in the middle of a very busy roundabout, so we didn't risk our lives by venturing across the street. Instead, we turned around and walked down the Champs-Elysses, one of the greatest streets of shopping in the world.
Our main destination for the day, however, was Notre Dame, so we couldn't stay too long shopping. We made it to the cathedral and picked up audio tour devices, which I find is a very appropriate way to really learn a lot, if you are willing to listen to everything. Most places in Europe that I visited have some sort of audio tour, which is extremely helpful.
Notre Dame is one of my favorite places in Paris. In fact, it might be #1 or #2 (the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre are the others in the top three). The cathedral sits on an island in the Seine. Construction began in 1163 and was completed in 1345, with four different architects overseeing the process. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here, because I think I'll do a separate post about the cathedral, since I find it such a fascinating topic.
We had hoped to go to the top, but we just missed the deadline for that trip, so we walked to the Louvre. I love the Louvre, but it's closed on Tuesdays--the day we were right there. What kind of day is that to be closed? I can see Sunday, but Tuesday?
So instead we walked back toward the Arc du Triomphe and came across the Luxor Obelisk. This is a 3,000 Egyptian artifact that used to sit outside the Luxor Temple. It's twin is still in Egypt, but it was moved to Paris in 1833. Pretty amazing! (And also sad, considering it should be in Egypt, along with just about everything in the British Museum).
That night, our last night in Paris, was the night we walked back to the Eiffel Tower at sundown to see it light up. Our hotel was literally two blocks away from it. How insane is that!
Anyway, that's all for today. I have maybe three more France posts, and then we'll move east to Germany. Time to get back on this regular posting wagon!
In my last post, I mentioned that Paris has been (and can be) a bit of a let-down if one is expecting the Paris you see in movies and tv shows. However, some things are exactly what you think they're going to be--and even better, in some cases. We were in Paris for three and a half days (although one of them was spent far from the city, which I will touch on in another post).
The first stop on our homegrown sight-seeing tour was, of course, the Eiffel Tower. And yes, the Eiffel Tower is that impressive in real life. Obviously, you know it is tall, but when you're standing there next to it or under it or across the street from it, it really puts it into perspective.
For those of you who may or may not know, the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889 as the entrance to the World's Fair. It stands 1,063 feet high, which is the equivalent of about 81 stories. As it was being built, it surpassed the Washington Monument as the tallest man-made structure on earth, and held that title for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building was completed. A fun-fact: due to the tower's height, in order to make it seem to be a uniform shade of brown, the tower was actually painted three different shades of bronze--lighter at the bottom and getting darker as it rises. Also, the structure is six inches taller in the summer because of it is made of steel. The builders had to take into account that the steel would contract in the winter as they were constructing it.
Now the Eiffel Tower sits on the edge of the River Seine, which runs through the center of Paris. There are 37 bridges in the city of Paris that cross it, and in between some of those bridges are some islands. Fun fact about the Seine: this is how the vikings attacked and sacked the city. One of them is lined with the most beautiful trees, and at the end of the island sits this lovely lady!
If you've seen National Treasure: Book of Secrets, then you will know that this is a smaller version of the Statue of Liberty found in New York Harbor. The one in New York was a gift to the United States from the French, and her sister was a gift from the United States to France. Her tablet is inscribed with the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, just as in the U.S., but also with the date of the storming of the Bastille: July 14, 1789, the "flashpoint" of the French Revolution.
Then we ventured across the river, opposite of the Eiffel Tower and into the city, to find the Moulin Rouge in the heart of the red light district. Luckily, everything in the city is accessible from the Metro!
That was basically the end of our first full day in Paris. Our second "day" in the city wasn't actually spent in the city, but that is where we rested our heads. The last day we spent in Paris, we did something everyone must do in Paris: go shopping!
We started by getting off the Metro at the Arc du Triomphe. It honors all those who fought and died for France during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, and inside is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. Fun fact: this Tomb has an eternal flame, which President Kennedy thought was a very appropriate means of remembrance. When he was assassinated, Jackie remembered how he felt about it and insisted one be included in his own burial sight. Now, the Arc is in the middle of a very busy roundabout, so we didn't risk our lives by venturing across the street. Instead, we turned around and walked down the Champs-Elysses, one of the greatest streets of shopping in the world.
Our main destination for the day, however, was Notre Dame, so we couldn't stay too long shopping. We made it to the cathedral and picked up audio tour devices, which I find is a very appropriate way to really learn a lot, if you are willing to listen to everything. Most places in Europe that I visited have some sort of audio tour, which is extremely helpful.
Notre Dame is one of my favorite places in Paris. In fact, it might be #1 or #2 (the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre are the others in the top three). The cathedral sits on an island in the Seine. Construction began in 1163 and was completed in 1345, with four different architects overseeing the process. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here, because I think I'll do a separate post about the cathedral, since I find it such a fascinating topic.
We had hoped to go to the top, but we just missed the deadline for that trip, so we walked to the Louvre. I love the Louvre, but it's closed on Tuesdays--the day we were right there. What kind of day is that to be closed? I can see Sunday, but Tuesday?
So instead we walked back toward the Arc du Triomphe and came across the Luxor Obelisk. This is a 3,000 Egyptian artifact that used to sit outside the Luxor Temple. It's twin is still in Egypt, but it was moved to Paris in 1833. Pretty amazing! (And also sad, considering it should be in Egypt, along with just about everything in the British Museum).
That night, our last night in Paris, was the night we walked back to the Eiffel Tower at sundown to see it light up. Our hotel was literally two blocks away from it. How insane is that!
Anyway, that's all for today. I have maybe three more France posts, and then we'll move east to Germany. Time to get back on this regular posting wagon!
~Stay Gold!
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