The beautiful Jacqui arrived at my work on Friday morning at 10am. After flying in from Cyprus and only having 1 hour sleep, she was pretty knackered. I took the rest of the day off work so she could rest up before we caught the Eurostar train to Paris.
11:30pm - we have finally arrived in the City of Lights. Not just in Paris but at the Eiffel Tower (pronounced e-fil) where we watched it glow and sparkle. After taking about 100 photos, it was time to get a late snack and hit the hay as the next few days were all go, we purchase a 2 day museum pass and 3 day hop on/off bus tour with river cruise. Clock out time 3am.
8am Saturday morning, all I could hear was a broken record playing
‘Get up, get up’ with the occasional
‘Get up Soh’; I guess it was time to get up. The weather was beautiful all weekend, a bit chilly in the morning but once the sun was at its peak, it was a beaut.
The first sight was
Place de la Bastille where the July Column stands. Next was
Museum Rodin to view the famous sculpture of
The Thinker and
The Kiss. Then it was off for an English tour at
Museum d'Orsay which was originally a railway station/gallery and was fully converted into a museum in 1986 with paintings by Claude Monet, Édouard Manet and Alexandre Cabanel’s oil canvas of
‘The Birth of Venus’
Next stop; the gothic cathedral of
Notre Dame. The 300 man queue was too long so Jacqui wanders to the empty exit, totally oblivious and walks in. Voila, no queues.
A quick stop for delicious ice-cream and it was off to the shopping and restaurant district of
Champs-Élysées with a quick photo stop at
Pont de la Concorde and
Hittorff’s Fountain. Quick stop for dinner then it was down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées where the
Arc de Triomphe emerges as the powerhouse. We climbed up 284 steps in the triumphal arch to view Paris from above including an astonishing view of the Eiffel. By the time we got back to the hotel and showered, it was 12:30am! What a day it has been, off we went to the bar for a quick drink and clocking out at 2am.
8am Sunday morning, the same broken record was again playing
‘Get up, get up……….Get up Soh’, day 2 here we come.
The Louvre Museum was the first stop. The large glass and metal pyramids cannot be missed. Obviously the main attraction was Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa but it also included full range of paintings, sculptures, artefacts. One of my favourite was a sculpture titled
'Hermaphrodite Endormi'. I know what you are thinking
'What a sicko' you say. No, the sculpture was peaceful with fine detailing of her hair, sheets and cushion. For those that have never been to the Louvre, to give you an idea of how big it is, we spent 4 hours in there and we were actually rushing through most of it.
Quick break for Lunch, people watching, back to the hotel to get changed then it was back out to the
Sacre Coeur Basilica. Unfortunately, we were unable to enter due to a service so we decided to climb it. Again Jacqui goes wandering off and finds the exit so off we went up the exit. Climbing the spiral stairs 83 metres up nearly made me throw up as it was very narrow. Since it was the exit, people were also coming down and basically telling us off as it was the only exit.
We tried to attend a show at Moulin Rouge but the next show was too late and we were already running out of time in Paris. Off for some fine dining and bottle of wine. Jacqui + wine + extra large crème brulee = 5 year old about to vomit. Dinner was going well until Jacqui decides to order the largest single serving of crème brulee I have ever seen. No human can finish this and not throw up, no no no not Jacqui, she was determined to finish the whole lot. On the way home, she was prancing around then
“I feel sick” more prancing and more
“I feel bad”. None the less, it was very entertaining for me. Another 2am clock out with Jacqui trying to throw up in the middle of the night.
8:30am Monday morning,
‘Get up, get up ……….Get up Soh’, aarrrgghhh Déjà vu all over again. Check out and race to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We climbed 695 steps to the second level, lift to the third level and another 15 steps to the observatory deck. This weekend is really making us fit. The view from 276 metres will never be the same after viewing Paris from the Eiffel. Standing in the cool breeze toasting our glass of €15 Rose Champagne. There is a moment and time for everything; I took Jacqui’s hand and got on one knee…………….she laughed, ah well moving along.
Lunch at
Laduree which is the birth place of macaron. These tiny cakes with explosive flavours are to die for.
Eurostar back into London and passing out at 3:30am then getting up at 7am for work. I am spent.
Paris gallery can be viewed
hereEiffel at night -
3.1 MB Museum d'Orsay -
4.6 MBNotre Dame queue -
5.3 MBArc de Triomphe 1 -
4.8 MBArc de Triomphe 2 -
6.9 MB Paris High Quality -
24.9 MBParis Low Quality -
9.6MBSam
Eiffel at night
Notre Dame Jax
The Kiss
Triumphal Arch
Pose
Trocadero from Eiffel
