beauty was literally at every corner. even the friggin side walks, are cobbled stone...! need i say more? i will add that i was exceptionally luck with the weather (so ive been told) and three out of four days were perfect, sunny, crisp spring days.
each morning was started with a fresh orange juice, just baked croissant and espresso with a little milk at a cafe or an open air market along boulevard garibaldi.
each and everyday was filled with miles of walking, but we didn't mind, because the ambiance and mystic of the place completely takes your mind off of your aching feet.
we picnicked in the eiffel tower gardens, meandered along the river looking at stalls and watched painters mimic their surroundings, sipped espresso at outdoor cafes and gobbled fresh baguettes at every opportunity.
paris is awe-inspiring. we were exceptionally proactive whilst there and filled our days with the usual, eiffel tower, the avenue des champs-elysée and the louvre. however we were able to do a few things that might not be high on the lp guides of things to do like, taking an evening bike tour of the city, visiting the catacombs and taking the train to do a self-guided tour of château de versailles.
these were probably the highlights of my very first trip to the city of lights and ones that i highly recommend! we joined the fat tire bike company which lead us around the cities hot-spots at sunset. it was magnific...! the tour itself included red wine, the cities top sites, an ice-cream stop and an evening river cruise, which presented the city in all her shining glory. for €30, you'll be hard pressed to find a tour as fun and inclusive as that one.
the next two were both self guided trips that are a piece of cake to navigate. even if you don't speak a single word of french, like myself! first up is the catacombes. in short, they are an array of tunnels, forgotten about until the late 18th century, which then became a storage space for around six million people, collected from numerous parisian graveyards following an array of infections that came from the numerous inhabitants of the area. next is the château de versaille. an amazingly beautiful place that was home to marie antoinette and louis xvi in the 18th century. to properly wander this magnific place, you need to set aside a day in order to walk the gardens and explore the various rooms and estates located on the ground. this short train ride from ol' paree is well worth a visit.
well that sums up my first mini-vacay to paris. the pictures really do tell the tale on there own... don't you think?
au revoir.
pics. (above) view from our hotel window, view of the eiffel tower from the river seine, the avenue des champs-elysée, the notre dame cathedral, a painter on one of the many bridges along the seine, mona needs no introduction, napoleons apartments at the louvre, one of the many beautiful streets in the latin quarter, sunset on our bike tour, the louvre at dusk, the eiffel tower at night, the catacombs, château de versaille, marie antoinette's estate at versaille, me at the château, the basilica of sacré-cœur at montmartre and to top it all off, my favourite picture of paris.
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