Paris - The City of Lights
Trip Start
Jun 28, 2007
1
16
52
Trip End
Oct 01, 2007
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Where I stayed
Paris,
France
Monday, July 16, 2007
Bastille Day Weekend through July 18th
Paris - for me it was all it was promised and much more! The city of so many gorgeous spectacles you can't possibly take them all in -- we've been tourists non-stop for 3 days and are just now changing gears to slow down and really visit some of the places we've only passed for a few minutes while the tour guide gave a quick explanation.
Paris has a current of creative energy running through it as deep as the River Seine. Artists, writers, sculptors of all periods have called this area home and it's easy to see why. The monuments, the cathedrals, even the streets call to the artistic spirit and you can view it everywhere!
The gargoyles from the cathedrals were intriguing -- took LOTS of pictures of the creepy guys!
We left the comfort of the Marriott Rive Gauche (a beautiful hotel) and headed toward the more "artsy" area of Montmartre for our final two nights in Paris. Our hotel/hostel room was MUCH smaller, but being in the center of the shadow of Sacre Coer made up for it. Climbing the 402 VERY steep steps to the top of the dome gave an amazing view of Paris - the 402 steps down gave amazingly sore calf muscles the next day! I even managed to stay up for the twilight lighting of the city - it was after 10PM! - and we saw the Eiffel Tower begin it's hourly light show. It looked like diamonds shimmering up and down so fast it was hard to photograph!
The wine! Wow! It's really true that in Paris you can buy a GOOD bottle of French wine much cheaper than you can buy a Diet Coke! We found a Grand Sud - the exact blue bottle they have at Cork and Olive - except that it's 1 LITER and costs just over 2 euro (about $3.50!!).
After getting pickpocketed on Friday, the 13th, we went to the same station the next day and someone tried AGAIN! Luckily, they didn't get anything that time, but we're being VERY careful with all of our valuables in the train stations. Should make a great travel article!
We ended a very busy 5 day stay in Paris on Wednesday, heading toward the coast of France and the Abbey of Mont St. Michele on Thursday.
Take care!
Comments
Montmarte
Ohhhhh I loved Montmarte! Bought some beautiful art when I was there in the street market. How awful that you had to experience the dirty side of Paris as well. Did you two go into the louvre?