Paris (and Versailles)
11:12 PM
Happy Easter!
Well, for my weekend, I headed to Paris. Took a Thursday night flight out of Stuttgart direct to Charles de Gaulle airport where I took a train to Gare du Nord then taxi'd to my hotel. My hotel, Hotel Louvre Saint Honore, was, funnily enough, located on Rue de Saint Honore right near the Louvre. Great location and my room was actually pretty large which was a bonus. This weekend I was actually joined by Hayley from A&A Perth who is on secondment to Reading, just outside of London who I went and got at nearly midnight from Gare du Nord.
Friday was our first day in Paris and it was quite a nice day out so we ventured off in the general direction of the Eiffel Tower. After taking in brunch and the sights on the way, we joined a truely massive queue to WALK up the tower. The queue to use the lift was even bigger. We estimated it to be 3hrs long, ours was only 1.5hrs long. After 701 steps we were at level 2, about 1/3rd of the way up. Fortunately for us, they didn't have the stairs open to walk the whole way so we joined a queue to buy more tickets then another to take the lift to the top. 3hrs after we started, we were atop the eiffel tower and rewarded with sensational views of the city. More queues and the same 701 stairs saw us back down. We grabbed a very late lunch/early dinner, headed to the hotel, rested for was seemd like 5mins but was more like 1hr before we headed back to the eiffel tower to meet our tour.
We had pre-organised a night tour of Paris by bike, run by Fat Tire Bike Tours. We had a young bloke from Austin, Texas take us for a tour around Paris centre passing all the major sites, stopping for ice-cream and finishing with a cruise up the Seine with a glass of red. Was fantastic and I recommend it to anyone. It's not strenuous and you feel very European cycling on the old school style push bikes through the streets of Paris.
Saturday we slept in a little then headed to the Louvre. Surprisingly, we were in within 30mins of queueing. Walked around there for a few hours although could have done a whole day easily. It's huge. Saw Mona Lisa in her glass covered glory after pushing my way through the tourists to the front of the pack in front of her. We then grabbed a quick bite and headed for Notre Dame. Walking in and around that, kicked through a few shops then headed back to freshen up. We dolled ourselves up, went up Monematre by Cab and visited Sacre Coeur then had a nice dinner and headed to the highlight of the night, Moulin Rouge. We managed some kick-arse seats, got stuck into the Champagne and took in the show. Spectacular, spectacular is an understatement. Colours, sets, costumes and all the performers, especially the lovely ladies, were just brilliant. Even the fill in acts while the performers takes a 5min break from the show were excellent.
Sunday we again slept in (we didn't get home from Moulin Rouge til nearly 2am due to going to an 11pm show) and then headed out toward the Hotel des Invalidies and the Rodin Jardins. We first visited the Rodin Gardens where we saw the famous statue, "The Thinker" among a few others. We then headed to Hotel des Invalides and took in Napoleon's Tomb and the War Museum. After, we headed to Arc de Triomph and the Champs Elysee. We sat at the Arc for a while and took it all in before strolling back down the Champs Elysee for dinner. We then walked back to the hotel via the Louvre to get some night shots of the city. I should mention that from 8pm, the eiffel tower lights up on the hour for 10mins each hour with lots of glittering lights, like a christmas tree, in addition to its normal lighting. Looks very cool.
Monday, we didn't sleep in as much, packed up, checked out and headed to Musee d'Orsay but didn't go in but rather took the train to Versailles. 35mins later, we arrived a Versailles and made our way to the Chateau de Versailles where we toured the the Chateaux which is rather large. Versailles is actually the political capital of France and the Chateau, the largest palace in Europe. We grabbed lunch after touring the chateau then headed back to Paris, chilled out a bit, walked around for one last time before heading back to the hotel, grabbing our stuff and heading to Gard du Nord. Hayles left me here for the queue for the Eurostar back to London while I headed back to Charles de Gaulle airport for my flight back to Stuttgart.
All in all, a fabulous weekend. Thanks to Hayley for the company, and Paris for being a great host city!
Hope you all had a wonderful easter.
Cheers!
Dave
Well, for my weekend, I headed to Paris. Took a Thursday night flight out of Stuttgart direct to Charles de Gaulle airport where I took a train to Gare du Nord then taxi'd to my hotel. My hotel, Hotel Louvre Saint Honore, was, funnily enough, located on Rue de Saint Honore right near the Louvre. Great location and my room was actually pretty large which was a bonus. This weekend I was actually joined by Hayley from A&A Perth who is on secondment to Reading, just outside of London who I went and got at nearly midnight from Gare du Nord.
Friday was our first day in Paris and it was quite a nice day out so we ventured off in the general direction of the Eiffel Tower. After taking in brunch and the sights on the way, we joined a truely massive queue to WALK up the tower. The queue to use the lift was even bigger. We estimated it to be 3hrs long, ours was only 1.5hrs long. After 701 steps we were at level 2, about 1/3rd of the way up. Fortunately for us, they didn't have the stairs open to walk the whole way so we joined a queue to buy more tickets then another to take the lift to the top. 3hrs after we started, we were atop the eiffel tower and rewarded with sensational views of the city. More queues and the same 701 stairs saw us back down. We grabbed a very late lunch/early dinner, headed to the hotel, rested for was seemd like 5mins but was more like 1hr before we headed back to the eiffel tower to meet our tour.
We had pre-organised a night tour of Paris by bike, run by Fat Tire Bike Tours. We had a young bloke from Austin, Texas take us for a tour around Paris centre passing all the major sites, stopping for ice-cream and finishing with a cruise up the Seine with a glass of red. Was fantastic and I recommend it to anyone. It's not strenuous and you feel very European cycling on the old school style push bikes through the streets of Paris.
Saturday we slept in a little then headed to the Louvre. Surprisingly, we were in within 30mins of queueing. Walked around there for a few hours although could have done a whole day easily. It's huge. Saw Mona Lisa in her glass covered glory after pushing my way through the tourists to the front of the pack in front of her. We then grabbed a quick bite and headed for Notre Dame. Walking in and around that, kicked through a few shops then headed back to freshen up. We dolled ourselves up, went up Monematre by Cab and visited Sacre Coeur then had a nice dinner and headed to the highlight of the night, Moulin Rouge. We managed some kick-arse seats, got stuck into the Champagne and took in the show. Spectacular, spectacular is an understatement. Colours, sets, costumes and all the performers, especially the lovely ladies, were just brilliant. Even the fill in acts while the performers takes a 5min break from the show were excellent.
Sunday we again slept in (we didn't get home from Moulin Rouge til nearly 2am due to going to an 11pm show) and then headed out toward the Hotel des Invalidies and the Rodin Jardins. We first visited the Rodin Gardens where we saw the famous statue, "The Thinker" among a few others. We then headed to Hotel des Invalides and took in Napoleon's Tomb and the War Museum. After, we headed to Arc de Triomph and the Champs Elysee. We sat at the Arc for a while and took it all in before strolling back down the Champs Elysee for dinner. We then walked back to the hotel via the Louvre to get some night shots of the city. I should mention that from 8pm, the eiffel tower lights up on the hour for 10mins each hour with lots of glittering lights, like a christmas tree, in addition to its normal lighting. Looks very cool.
Monday, we didn't sleep in as much, packed up, checked out and headed to Musee d'Orsay but didn't go in but rather took the train to Versailles. 35mins later, we arrived a Versailles and made our way to the Chateau de Versailles where we toured the the Chateaux which is rather large. Versailles is actually the political capital of France and the Chateau, the largest palace in Europe. We grabbed lunch after touring the chateau then headed back to Paris, chilled out a bit, walked around for one last time before heading back to the hotel, grabbing our stuff and heading to Gard du Nord. Hayles left me here for the queue for the Eurostar back to London while I headed back to Charles de Gaulle airport for my flight back to Stuttgart.
All in all, a fabulous weekend. Thanks to Hayley for the company, and Paris for being a great host city!
Hope you all had a wonderful easter.
Cheers!
Dave
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