Wednesday, 27 August 2008

Paris

I think I'm more than due to write another installment, its so easy to get blog-lazy!

Getting to Paris was a lot easier than I thought it would be. We caught a tube to the station were the Eurostar starts from, sat down and had a champagne and waited for Ben and Richard. Once they arrived, we all boarded the Eurostar and found our seats. We were off!
The journey takes about two hours travelling, at times, at 300kph. I felt quite sick most of the way there and was very happy to see the lights of Paris draw nearer and the train start slowing.

Stepping out into France was quite a thrill.A sense of adventure fizzed in our spirits. Just being in Paris brings about the feeling that you're doing something awesome, before you even do anything.
We found our hotel, checked in and put our bags down, and went to find a place to eat something. It was too late to find anything fancy, so we had a long walk and then got takeaway before turning in.

The Eiffel Tower
The line was very long but moved quite fast. Waiting in line we were approached by beggars, saw the French militia with machine guns, the French police and got rained on lightly. Once at the front of the line, we caught the lifts up to the very top. The view was amazing!! The thing that the view from the Skytower is missing is an amazing cityscape. Towering over Paris gives you a clear view of how old the city is. There are many clear landmarks to see with the river running through it all. Paris stretches to the horizon! It is truly breathtaking.

The Louvre
Just walking towards the entrance of the Louvre, we entered an ancient setting and were surrounded by historic buildings. The glass pyramid ahead. Descending into the Louvre was exciting. The place was packed with people all moving around freely. In here you are allowed to take photos of everything. The walls and roof are as much artworks are the framed pieces hanging on them. There are statues and sculptures at intervals all through the gallery. The Mona Lisa was sectioned off so that we could only get so close (which wasn't very close) and had UV filtered glass covering so that the pics didn't come out very well. Also there were a lot of people scrambling to get a look. Still, it was good to finally see the smiling lady. After soaking up the enriching centuries of art spanning through the massive building, we walked through the Ancient Egyptian section. This was pretty cool as well. I like all the hieroglyphics! The mummy's were spooky!

Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees
The Arc was massive and beautiful close up. The sculpture was magnificent and came out of the walls of the Arc with movement and vigour.
The Champs was a long street of all the French designer shops. From cloth brands to car brands, it was a nice walk full of window shopping. I saw a number of spy shops with weapons and infared goggles and bug sweepers and spy related devices. I bought a nice pair of DC shoes, and Nicola bought some clothes from a store she really liked.

Notre Dame
This was an awesome church inside and out. In the queue, just looking up at the building in all its architectural glory was enriching. The magnificent detail to the walls was truly something to behold. Once inside, the awe continued to unfold. The stained glass windows were beautiful, so finely detailed. The religious statues populated every little room off the main hall, complimented by hundreds of candles. The ceiling was a brilliant canvass of religious expression, the sheer size of the artwork was almost surreal.

Sacre Coeur
This Church on a hill was easily visible in the distance from the Eiffel Tower. We climbed the many steps and dodged the aggressive beggars to get to the base of the church. The view was very impressive, looking over the quaint rooftops of thousands of French people. We then proceeded to climb another 350 steps spirally upwards in a tiny chamber - round and round, constantly upwards. It was very uncomfortable, tiring and dizzying. Once at the top of the towers, the view and experience was worth it - just ;)
After going back down the seemingly endless myriad of stairs, we walked through some quaint french cobbled streets in search of some food. We settled upon a little diner across the road from the Moulon Rouge. After lunch we walked up and down the sex district before setting back.

The River Seinne
We decided to go all out on the French experience, which had to include a river cruise.
A boat that was basically a nice floating restaurant took us slowly up and down the Sienne River. Along the way we saw Paris at night, the most impressive of which was the Eiffel Tower all lit up and shimmering on the black canvass of the sky - a lovely sight. The food was very good and the whole river was beautiful. The whole experience wasn't the cheapest, but I definitely recommend it.

Apart from the tourist attractions, we had a wonderful time just walking around Paris. The streets are overflowing with European charm. A lovely quaint city I'd definitely visit again.

On the way back, we saw Roy, the main character from the IT Crowd series on the tube.