Bonjour Paris
September 1st, 2007 by Zofia
Here is the recipe for a fantastic three days in Paris…
Ingredients:
- 1 pair of really good walking shoes (there will be lots of walking and stair climbing),
- 1 list of all the places you want to go,
- 1 map of Paris,
- 1 friend to share the experience with (always more fun to have someone to talk to and share the experience with),
- 1 camera fully charged up and ready for lots of photos!
Method:
So, now that we have the ingredients here is how you make the perfect three days in Paris. I began by getting myself a copy of the Lonely Planet Paris Encounter book (it is a small, pocket sized book) which was incredibly useful for planning my trip as it had opening and closing times of all major monuments, shops and eating places as well as approximate costs of all these things. I also did a bit of internet research to decide where to go and what to do, this was after all my first trip to Paris and I didn’t want to miss out on anything just because I was under-prepared! I also wanted to do more than go to all the big monuments so I had a look at this website http://en.parisinfo.com/ to find out what was on in Paris that might coincide with my trip. This was very useful.
I had a very early start on the Saturday morning, had to be on the 5am tube towards Waterloo International Station. Then checked in for the Eurostar and was on my way to Paris at 6.30am. Just under three hours later I was in the centre of Paris! How exciting!! This was my first long distance train ride as well and it was not a bad experience. Such a straightforward way to travel, how can you go wrong really.
So once in Paris Rachel and I purchased tickets for the Metro system (the same sort of train system as the London Underground). We got a 3 day pass which I highly recommend to anyone thinking of heading over for a few days because you can hop on and off the Metro as much as you like for three consecutive days which is really useful both for unlimited use and also so you don’t have to purchase tickets every day you are there.
I had made the decision before I left London that one place I would NOT visit on this trip was the Louvre Museum. My decision to exclude this national treasure from my itinerary was not an easy one but was necessary as I believe a place like that deserves an entire weekend dedicated only to exploring within its walls. With that decision out of the way there was still so much to do. One thing we took close note of before leaving was what monuments and galleries were closed on Monday (the usual day for things to be closed in Paris), based on this information Rachel and I tried to go to these places on the Saturday, saving the rest of the places to visit for the Monday, Sunday was reserved for a trip to Versailles (a place I have always wanted to visit).
Our first port of call was the Musee d’Orsay, by the time we arrived it was 12pm and there was the most amazing queue of people stretching for miles outside the building and continuing on inside from what we could tell – note to self, pre-book tickets for this Museum to avoid the queues! So plans were quickly changed and the Museum was dropped off our list, we were outside it and in our opinion that counted!
As it was now lunchtime Rachel and I decided to find some food and head across to the other side of the Seine River to sit in the Tuileries Gardens. The sun was beginning to come out and the early morning fog was finally lifting, sitting on a park bench with food and drink in hand, the reality of being in Paris was really starting to sink in, it was just so unreal, a city I have always wanted to visit, and finally here I am!
The next step in our day was to get to our hotel and drop off our bags which were beginning to rub on our shoulders and become irritating. We had booked our hotel with our Eurostar tickets from the Eurostar website this worked out really well and the accommodation couldn’t have been better! The location was great, being located literally 2 minutes away from the nearest Metro Station, and the beds were comfortable enough to have a great sleep both nights we were there. The street it was located on was also one of those lovely Paris streets full of classic ‘Parisian’ buildings – very pretty.
Once we had settled into the hotel room Rachel and I headed for the area of Montmartre and decided to take in the sights of the basilica of Sacre Coeur.
Located at the top of one of the highest points in Paris, this church is visible from all over the city and is truly magnificent to be in front of. Once we climbed the large number of steps to reach the entrance of the church we went inside and looked around the beautiful interior of the Church. I even lit a candle and placed it among the many burning candles which were burning in remembrance of loved ones.
Next up was the stair climb to the top of the basilica, at almost 300 steps it was quite a workout in a very narrow stairwell to the side of the building, but the climb is well worth the view we got from the top – WOW! From up here I got my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, although there was still a haze around that area of town and as such the Eiffel Tower didn’t pack as much of a punch as I expected.
After the trip to the top of Sacre Coeur I got the feeling that that wasn’t the end of the ‘big walks’ in Paris and I was right. Next up Rachel and I wandered around the gardens of the Rodin Museum. Seeing the impressive ‘Gates of Hell’ complete with Rodin’s most famous figure, ‘The Thinker,’ was amazing.
The gardens were lovely to stroll around on a Saturday afternoon. Equally as entertaining was leaving the museum and coming across a lamp post that was an artwork in its own right, it would seem that everyone who had ever walked out of the Rodin museum felt the need to place their stickers upon this lamp post and the result is a colourful piece of random street art – Great!
Filling in more time for the afternoon was a trip to the Musee de l’Orangerie on the edge of the Tuileries, near the Place de la Concorde. The prime reason for visiting here is for Monet’s ‘Waterlilies’. This is definitely worth the entry fee! There are 8 massive painting placed on the walls of two oval shaped rooms. Monet had painted these works specifically for this site which makes them all the more impressive to see in-situ.
By the time we got to Notre Dame Cathedral it was 6.30pm! Walking into the church I was blown away by the Gothic feel of the interior. It was a wonderful feeling to be standing inside a church which I had actually studied in my art history courses at university. To make the experience even better, I noticed that we happened to have arrived as a mass was getting underway, so despite the fact the whole service was in a language I did not understand I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of attending mass in Notre Dame – what a privilege! Once the service was finished the interior of the church was closing for the day. Rachel and I went to try climbing the 300 steps to the top of this church but with a queue that extended down the entire length of the cathedral and around the corner we decided that it was best left for another visit to Paris!
After a lovely dinner in a little Parisian cafe with views looking back across the river of Notre Dame, Rachel and I made our way to our next destination – an outdoor movie in the Parc del la Villette (found out about this on the earlier mentioned website). On the way we stumbled across the most wonderful old bookstore called Shakespeare and Co. This store was full of a huge variety of books both in French and in English and is apparently very well known as a hangout for young writers. I was very impressed by the bookshelves on the exterior of the building around the door frame!
After checking out the movie (Sofia Coppola’s ‘Marie Antoinette’) Rachel and I headed to the Moulin Rouge for some night time photos outside the famous place, after this we were feeling very ready for sleep – it had been a very long day, our feet needed a good rest! Needless to say we slept quite well!
(Days 2 and 3 to follow…)