The Paris Chronicles : Day 4

It's taken me more than a month to complete this... but hey, better late than never. :)

Our last day itinerary includes the Arc de Triomphe, the Grand Palais, the Petit Palais, Place de la Concorde and the Opera. We moved at a relatively relaxed pace, just taking in the city and enjoying the limited time we had left in Paris.

We stayed at the Hilton Arc de Triomphe, as the name suggests, this was in very close proximity to the Arc de Triomphe. :)

The Arc de Triomphe is a monument in Paris, France that stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, also known as the Place de l'Étoile (Star Square). It is at the western end of the Champs-Élysées. The arch honours those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. On the inside and the top of the arc there are all of the names of generals and wars fought. Underneath there is the tomb of the unknown soldier. --Wikipedia

It was very cold and windy, and the wind would rush at us from all directions.The Arc stands at an overwhelming 165 feet in height and a 148 feet wide. I uploaded a vid of how big and majestic this landmark is. You'll notice my voice shaking slightly from the cold. :)

Then, we made our way to the Grand and Petit Palais, which stood right in front of each other, with the Invalides at the top. Like an upside down U, with the Grand Palais on the right, the Petit Palais on the left and the Invalides in the middle. The pics below are of the Grand Palais, the monuments with the gold statues are from the Invalides.

On our way to the Petit Palais, we took time to take a picture with a statue of Winston Churchill.

The Petit Palais, a museum right across the Grand Palais. I was more impressed with this structure, mainly because of the 'gold gates' pictured below.

Then, we took another long walk and headed over to the Place de La Concorde. This place had a gruesome history, probably most famous for being the place where Marie Antoinette was publicly executed via guillotine.

During the French Revolution the statue of King Louis was torn down and the area renamed "Place de la Révolution". In a grim reminder to the nobility of a gruesome past, when the "Place de Grève" was a site where the nobility and members of the bourgeoisie were entertained watching convicted criminals being dismembered alive, the new revolutionary government erected the guillotine there. The first notable to be executed at the Place de la Révolution was King Louis XVI, on January 21, 1793. Other important people guillotined there, often in front of cheering crowds, were Queen Marie Antoinette, Madame Élisabeth, Charlotte Corday, Madame du Barry, Danton, Desmoulins, Lavoisier, Robespierre and Saint Just. --Wikipedia

At the center of the square stood a huge obelisk. This an authentic Egyption obelisk, which is one of Cleopatra's needles (which is according to Wikipedia, misnamed since it has no relation to the Egyptian queen). The other two needles are in London and in New York. Here we stopped and rested for a few minutes, the pic below shows us gamely posing while looking out at the huge plaza.

After the Place de la Concorde, we stopped by Jardin Tuileries, however, there wasn't much to see, because there were still no flowers... another place I'll return to when I go back (if given the chance).

Our last stop was the Paris Opera, or to be more specific the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique. Although I wasn't able to go inside, I was still impressed by the outside facade. Who wouldn't? From Haydn to Bach, and Mozart to Beethoven, the outside of the opera house boasted the names of the most famous of the classical masters

For lunch, we were trying to find this restaurant that was owned by a chef... can't really remember the name anymore. We looked for hours for this place, even ended up in a street that boasted sex shops at every corner! It was funny, we asked a couple of policemen if they could point us to the restaurant, but we obviously murdered their language coz they couldn't understand a word we were saying. By 2PM, we were just so hungry we settled on eating at this brasserie (which I can't recall again). I had steak, and a strawberry milkshake, with Camembert cheese for dessert. :)

We were supposed to continue our last day in Paris with a few more stops, however, it rained hard, and we were all very tired, we decided to head on back, and get ourselves ready for our flight back to Bratislava.

And then it was time to go home... it was a nostalgic feeling, riding the bus back to Orly airport. I know I'll be back in this city... I'm just not sure when. But I will go back. Definitely the most beautiful city I've seen as of yet.

The Paris Chronicles : Day 3

Tama ba namang makalimutan ko na agad ang pinuntahan namin? :P

Day 3 in Paris doesn't include Arc de Triomphe yet. For this day, we visited the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Pantheon, Invalides, Diana's Flame and the Eiffel Tower at Night.

Our first stop? The Statue of Liberty.

Then, we went to the Eiffel Tower. We wanted to go up the tower but the crowds of people was just overwhelming! We knew we wouldn't be able to go anywhere if we waited. So we just had to be content with taking pictures from ground level.

Then, being Easter Sunday, we went to hear mass at Notre Dame... or at least tried to. Like the Eiffel Tower, this place was mobbed with people... Tip: Don't go here when mass is being held, and if you want a solemn mass, I wouldn't suggest the church either. I was disappointed... but still, you can't deny the grandeur of the Notre Dame.

Then we had lunch at this cafe near just to the side of Notre Dame, and the lasagna was delicious! Maybe I'll make a post just on food... but really, I loved it. And the hot chocolate? Mmmm....

Anyway, our next stop was the Pantheon. This mausoleum contains the remains of some of France's cultural greats, like Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Marie Curie and Alexandre Dumas. There was actually an event going on when we arrived, volunteers were raising money for Cancer research. I bought a bag from a very nice, Frenchwoman who gave me a 'discount'. But now when I think about it, maybe I shouldn't have asked for a discount since it was for charity... oh well... habit I guess. :)

A few steps away from the Pantheon was the church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, which contains the shrine of St. Genevieve's remains, the Patron saint of Paris. This is another beautiful church... I can't seem to get enough of them. The tomb of Blaise Pascal is also in this church, yes, that Pascal, who is regarded as the father of the modern computer.

Then, we went to Les Invalides. It's a series of buildings that are related to the military history of France. Unfortunately, we weren't able to go inside because the museum was already closed... we would have loved to see Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb, which is housed inside the Dome of the Invalides.

Afterwards, we passed by Diana's memorial, Liberty's flame... a memorial for Princess Di over the tunnels where she had the tragic accident that killed her and Dodi Al Fayed.

We then went back to Montmarte, to Sacre Coeur to buy souvenirs...This time, we rode the furnicular up instead of taking the stairs. Then we ate somewhere around the area, enjoying another great dinner in Paris. Then, we made our way back to the Eiffel Tower, which was impressive by day, but amazing by night... I can't explain how a steel structure could be so beautiful! It was overwhelming. And when the light show started, Marbi, Jess and I couldn't help but scream out loud of excitement! It was that amazing!
To end this post, take a look at the video of the Eiffel Tower Light Show... I swear, my camera doesn't do it any justice. I was really, really blown away by the Eiffel Tower... and I can't help but say it again and again. :) Enjoy!