Today it was a girls only tour of Paris while Andy was at work. Our first destination was the Lourve with a time stamped ticket of 9.30am. Entry was fairly straight forward...stand in line, through security and then through the ticket gate.
Of course the Mona Lisa was on top of our list so we beelined straight to the famous painting. Already a crowd had gathered in front of this masterpiece. We joined in, slowly jostling and getting jostled to get our turn at the front. Both girls were surprised at the small size of the painting especially after walking through numerous galleries where most painting took up entire walls!
With that ticked off our list, we aimlessly wandered admiring not only the pieces of art work but also the building itself. The sheer size of the Louvre is impressive and there was no way that we were going to see everything in the few hours we had. We did manage to swing by some of the more famous pieces...
Ella was particularly interested in the Greek god and goddesses thanks to the recent immersion into Percy Jackson books.
Winged Victory of Samothrace, the marble sculpture of the Nike the goddess of victory
Venus de Milo - a marble statue representing Aphrodite the greek goddess of love and beauty.
Pallas of Velletri, another marble statue representing Athena the greek goddess of wisdom, warfare and handicraft.
Katy was interested in the Eygptian area in particular the hieroglyphics after hearing about her classmates back at Aranda learning about ancient Egypt.
The Great Sphinx of Tanis - a 24 ton granite sculpture
From there we walked through the Jardin des Tuileries, an expansive 17th century garden dotted with statues and ornamental lakes with fountains. We paused for a rest in the beach chairs by the central lake soaking up the warmth of the sun which is offset by the coolness of the breeze. Continuing on we pass Place de la Concorde and are soon strolling along the Champs Elysees.
Chatting as we walk along this famous wide avenue, the park gives way to the shopping boulevard. Closer to the Arc de Triopmhe, we sadly notice the damage inflicted on the shopfronts presumably from recent gilets jaunes protests.
Standing 50 m tall, the Arc de Triomphe was built in the early 1800's and honours those who fought and died for France in war. Beneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Solider from World War 1.
Unfortunately for us the Arc de Triomphe was closed for the President of China, so we were unable to climb to the top. From here, we took the metro towards Sacre Coeur.
A bite of lunch was required before climbing up the steep slope of Montmartre, the hill which the Sacre Coeur is located at the top of. Another famous landmark, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, or commonly known as the big meringue, was built in the late 1800's and consecrated in 1919. We soaked up the views over Paris before taking our time doing a lap inside this large church.
Our route then took us back to the metro, a different station though via a street packed with African hairdressers. Exiting from underground, it was a short walk along the river Seine to Notre-Dame. We didn't enter the cathedral but preferred to sit, pause and take in the moment.
How efficient were we? We'd completed our 'to see' list with a few hours of the afternoon left. Discussing potential fillers, we opted for a river cruise to fill the void of time, give our weary legs a rest and see Paris from a different angle! On the way to the boats, we came across a bubble lady! She had her work cut out for her with a rather strong breeze, but the girls still loved to chase and pop the rapidly moving bubbles. Down by the river, the boat cruise was a failure - the ticket office was closed. Instead we wandered into souvenir shops as the girls were desperate to complete shopping for gifts intended for family and friends back home. We had moderate amount of success before calling it a day and heading back to the apartment.
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