Unfortunately our hotel was all booked out so he was only able to book another place a few metro stops away.
There is a hop on hop off river boat company Batobus, that travels along the Seine river to all the key sights in Paris, we decided this will be a great idea for traveling to the places we want to visit.
Our first stop is the Eiffel Tower.
A pleasant 20min morning walk to the tower brought us to the cruel reality of tourism. Lining up to visit these very popular location takes a lot of time. We were in the queue to buy tickets for around one hour! Although incredibly frustrating, we managed to pass the time by recalling the trip so far with Martin.
I think if ever visiting Paris, going up the Eiffel is a must. Our queuing was totally worth the wait.
Check out the view from the top!
A word of advice to travelers, book earlier online before you leave home to avoid the cue.
There was a market just by the river so we had some excellent sandwiches there. Although a bit pricy at 7 Euro each, they were really juicy and tasty.
Steak and mushroom sandwich
Beef kebab sandwich
The Batobus river boat was very different to the river boat we went on in Zurich, for one it was a lot slower. Due to the level of the Seine being a bit lower than street level of Paris, it was difficult to be on the boat and take good pictures. Also, turns out all the attractions were a little bit further from the river bank, I would think the bus tours that is similar to the ones in London would be a lot more tourist and walking friendly.
We stopped by Notre dame only managing a photo op, but I can imagine the interior will be even more amazing. It is unfortunate that we couldn't make time to go in, however, it's always nice to know there will be a reason to revisit a city.
Why were we so rushed for time? Well, there was a must see on this trip to Paris for me, I had an appointment with the mysterious Mona Liza.
The Louve art gallery is a terrific place, if I lived in Paris I think I'll buy a year pass. It is just endless and the art works absolutely breathtaking.
But again, my appointment is with Liza, here is my account of our meeting.
As I approached the side room, I could already see a lot of people streaming into the space. When I stepped through all I saw was a huge crowd gathered around a painting. There were a sea of heads with outstretched arms in the air with flashing cameras. My first instinctive reaction was to rush up and shout, "no flash!! You will harm her!!"
I pushed and squeezed into the crowd until I stood finally in front of the Famous Mona Lisa.
I must admit I was a little star struck, a painting so famous it has been depicted in so many media, so well known even the average Joe would recognize. I didn't know what to think or say. I slowly got my wits together to look at the painting. It has all the makes of Da Vinci's work, she was hauntingly beautiful. She intrigues the viewer. It's just like photos and prints of her, you want to know what she was thinking about.
I think my satisfaction of finally seeing her face to face is overwhelming, I think with the pilgrimage into Lourdes I'm entirely satisfied with my time in France.
Other famous works, winged victory,
virgin of the rock,
Cupid and psyche
I liked this Veiled statue a lot as well, look at the stone work, the thinness of the veil looks so real in solid rock.
We later had dinner at a bar, one of the man there actually was from UK. Finally we understood the menu!
Martin and I had this sausage, actually filled with intestinal meat. Not too bad, but I don't think I'll try it again.
Vincent had raw beef!!
Sun setting over Seine as we crossed the river back to the boat.
At the Jarden de Plantes, there were many people dancing and teaching tango, I thought it was amazingly romantic and European. We were already on the last boat, so couldn't stop there to take a look.
Our trip ended back where we were in the morning, the Eiffel tower, but night view is so much better. Actually, the tower sparkles on the hour but I wasn't lucky enough to catch a photo at that time. All I can say is it is even more beautiful in real life.
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Location:Rue de Lewes,Blois,France
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