Saturday was the big day. Being a tourist in Paris and checking out all the things that you would normally do to tick off the list of things to do and see in Paris. First we went to a local cafe and ordered a Croque-Monsieur which is a local French breakfast which is pretty much a ham and cheese toasty but with the cheese grated on top. It was actually really nice with a feminine variant called Croque-Madame which is pretty much the same but with a egg fried on top.
After breakfast we trekked it over to Notre Dame. There was a massive long line to get in to the Cathedral which snaked its way in a awkward fashion through the gardens but some how it made sense. We walked through and checked out the old gothic cathedral and same the mass in progress. The weird thing was hearing mass in French, but other then that it was a fine old building but was very touristy. Out the back however there are bridges crossing the river where there are locks that have been attached to the fencing of the bridge that lovers place on their to show their love. Its was quite nice seeing couples placing theirs on the bridge. I did wonder at the time though if the bridge got filled up whether the people that worked that area just cut the locks away to make space for new ones.
From then on we trekked around the city for quite a while. We walked along the river, over to the Louvre and got photos at the pyramid, doing the jump and the touching the top kind of pictures that you see everyone do. It was nice. We didnt go inside because that would have been a day in its own right. Next we moved along to the Champs-Elysees shopping district and up to the Arc De Triomphe. The Arc I was keen on seeing but once I got to the top I was quite impressed about firstly the size of the arc, and secondly the view from the top. I usually try to go to a city and steer clear of the tourist trap locations but for some reason in Paris I decided to go full tourist. The view was amazing since its the centre point of all the boulevards throughout the city. The arc is actually quite high up and you get a great view of the tower from there. One of the amazing things I saw was a photo taken of the Arc at Napoleons coronation (or the arcs opening, not sure exactly) where there was a stone chariot on the top of the arc which was massive, almost as high as the inside archway. Its not there now of course and I cant seem to find any photos but it was impressive to see especially after being up on top and seeing how big it actually is.
Next up was The eiffel tower which is by far the Icon of the city. The line to get up took forever, around 2 hours and by the time I went up it was right on sunset. I went up to the highest point of the tower and was amazed and the night view. The city looks soo small from up there and I felt a slight tinge of vertigo in the lift. Having seen the view I decided it was well worth the wait and the fee to get up there and wished at that point I had a better camera. The crowds on the way down from there were quite annoying and really the only bad part of the whole day. A few small groups were simply rude and seemed to not be able to follow common courtesy when it comes to massively popular tourist sites and the whole be patient and don't line cut. Yes we can see that you can do it but don't, your just being a dick.
By the time we were done with the tower it was getting late and it had been a long day. I managed to collect 3 of the coins for the 3 locations I went to, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe and The Eiffel tower. There not a complete set but will be a great reminder of an awesome weekend away.
Song: Not original music of my creation.
"1941 Swing in Paris" by "Ray Ventura - Menilmontant"
please purchase if you enjoy it.
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