Trip to Paris, France - April 2006
A short summary
This
trip report will focus on the trip that my wife Nikki and I took to Paris in
the period from April 8th - 15th 2006. The trip report is split into
sections. This first part has a focus on our stay in Paris and what we did
and saw there, the second part will focus on
eating and drinking in Paris, third
page will have more pictures and the
last page contains a short
review of the hotel we used (TimHotel Tour Eiffel). I have also
made a Paris Google map that I hope can
be of some use. Please get in
touch with me on by
e-mail if you have any questions or comments. Most pictures are taken by
Nikki and Gard with our Canon Powershot S1 IS camera and a couple are taken
by my friend Olav (like the one to the right here). So is this trip report
the ultimate Paris guide? The answer is of course “no”. But I hope that this
guide together with guidebooks, other trip reports on the net and internet
forums can help you to prepare so that you can have an ultimate Paris
experience :-)
Prelude
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I went to Paris for the first time in 1994 and it was my first visit to a major European city. I was completely blown away but the monuments, buildings, bridges, the history etc. In 1999 my wife Nikki and I went there together as our first get away after she moved to Norway and this time we spent more time in the city and we had a chance to see a lot. So based on this it goes without saying that Paris has a special place in my heart.
I’m a bit “nervous” when it comes to making this trip report. Other than Rome and London, I guess Paris is one of the classical destinations that many people end up visiting at one point in their lives. Over the years the gardkarlsen.com homepage has attracted more and more readers and now there are close to 3000 visitors every day. So I guess (and hope) that a lot of people will read this trip report. I hope that people will find this trip report both helpful and entertaining.
Planning the trip
When
the special offer from SAS
came along we decided to go for it. The ticket were “only” about 170 € per
person and we would fly SAS’ new direct flight from Stavanger to Paris. I
told my friends Olav/Allis about this and they decided to join us for the
first couple of days. The standard challenge when going on a trip like this
is finding out which hotel to use. The last time we ended up at a
hotel near
Place de la Republique but this time we ended up at a hotel called
TimHotel Tour Eiffel
located in the 15th arrondissement (see location on
this map).
The trip begins
A
couple of days before the trip we were afraid that the trip would go down
the drain. SAS went on strike and many flights were cancelled. But we called
them and they were kind enough to book us on KLM instead. So at the crack of
dawn on April 8th we went to the Stavanger airport ready to check in. But
when we came to the check in counter we got a bit of a shock. KLM told us
that we had no ticket with them! We went to SAS and they informed us that we
didn’t have a ticket with them either as the tickets had been cancelled when
SAS had booked us on the KLM flight. To make a long story short…we got
stand-by tickets for the SAS flight and we got some of the last seats on the
plane :-) . So after a shaky start and a 1 ½ hour flight, we landed at
Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.
Arriving in Paris
We
arrived at
Charles de Gaulle airport at about 11 am and the weather was not all
that great. It was not raining but it was only about 12 degrees Celsius. But
hey, it was better than the cold weather we had left behind in Stavanger. I
have to say it right away…my impression of the Charles de Gaulle airport is
not very positive. We had to wait for quite some time to get our suitcases
but I think it was getting out of the airport and to Paris that were the
main “challenge”. Nikki and I have travelled a bit, so we are pretty used to
getting around but we were a bit confused at CdG. We knew that we wanted to
take the RER B train into Paris but it was hard to find it.
After
taking the elevator to the right floor, we found the shuttle bus that would
take us to the train station. When we arrived at the train station it was
not very well marked so we had to ask the bus driver if it was the right
stop. Inside there was a long queue to get tickets from a counter and only 3
machines where you could buy the tickets electronically. My French is not
that great but my friend Olav and I were able to buy tickets from a ticket
machine and it costs about 8 € to take the train into Paris. We took the
train to Denfert Rochereau and there we switched to a metro line that
took us to Dupleix and the hotel was just around the corner. Remember
that if you are going to use this method it is important to understand that
many of the metro stations don’t have escalators/lifts and they can be HUGE
so keep it in mind before you stuff too much into your Samsonite suitcase
:-) You can use this
RATP site to plan your trip.
How to get
around Paris – the ABC of taking the metro
Paris is a big city and it is of course great to walk around the entire city
looking at famous monuments, museums, gardens, churches etc. But eventually
you’ll get worn out from all the walking and then you need a good and fast
way to get around. In Paris the best option is the metro, in my opinion. I
like to take the subway in different cities in the world and I just love the
metro in Paris. There are stations everywhere and it is easy to figure out
how to use it. Here is a little ABC the way I see it.
You
can buy single tickets for about 1.40 €. You can also buy a so called carnet
- 10 single tickets that cost about 10.7 €. There are different zones than
trains travel in but most of the main attractions of Paris are located
within zones 1 and 2. Once you enter the metro you can ride it and change
trains as many times as you want. But once you exit you have to get a new
ticket. If you are staying for a longer period of time you might want to
consider a metro pass. We bought the Carte Orange which is a weekly
pass that lasts from Monday to Sunday and it costs about 16 € for zones 1
and 2. Get a guidebook that contains a good metro map so that you can find
out where the stations are located and so that you can plan the easiest way
to get from A to B. You can also find metro maps outside and inside the
metro stations so that you can plan your trip. Here is a
metro map
taken from the RATP homepage.
When
you enter a metro station you have to find out which line you want to take
(if there are more than one at the station). Once you have decided on that
and follow the signs you will also have to decided which direction you want
to go in. Normally the directions are indicated by the name of the end
stations of the line. But in many cases there are also posters showing which
stations you will pass through if you go in that direction. Some of the
metro stations are huge and can be a bit confusing. We came to the big metro
and RER station Châtelet-Les Halles one day and we walked to find the exit.
After a while we came back to the point of origin and we had a good laugh
when we found out that we had been walking in a big circle. But if you just
follow the “Sortie” signs you should be able to find your way out.
Don’t be surprised if you get some entertainment on and in and around the metro. We experienced everything from really bad singing on board the metro to a big band playing classical music at a metro station. Nothing beats the early morning shock we got when a Latino band behind us went from strumming a few guitar strings to a full party modus when the rest of the members joined in!
Sightseeing in
Paris – where to start
Paris is big, there is so much to see and do and I’m not really sure where
to start. Once again I have to recommend getting a guidebook so that you can
plan ahead. Remember that you can’t cover all of Paris in a couple of days
so you have to make sacrifices I’m afraid, if you are there on a short stay.
Since we have been to Paris before we had the pleasure of taking it “easy”
this time but we still wanted to see many of the places that we went to the
last time. Here is a list of some of the stuff we did while we were in
Paris.
The symbol of Paris – the
Eiffel Tower
I
don’t think there are many monuments that are as famous as the Eiffel Tower.
You can see it on postcards, T-shirts, souvenirs etc…and in every movie
where the action takes place in Paris it always seems like the flat has a
view to the Tower :-). The Tower must be one of the most visited tourist
attractions in Paris with about 6 million each year! We had a hotel pretty
close to the tower so it didn’t take us long after we had arrived before we
were standing in the park in front of the Tower (Parc du Champs de Mars)
admiring this “aging” beauty. The 324 meter tower was built in connection
with the Universal Exhibition in celebration of the French Revolution in
1889.
On
our previous trip to Paris we went up the Tower at night so this time we
decided to go there on a sunny afternoon. We came by the metro to the
Bir-Hakeim station and we just walked over to the Tower along the Seine.
Under the Tower there were long queues of people - even from 4 different
entrances! We chose the shortest of the queues: the one where you get to
walk to the second level :-). I guess we had to wait for about 30 minutes
and after paying 3.8 € per person we were on our way up the stairs. I think
there are about 700 steps but it went surprisingly fast. OK, I admit that we
had a break on level 1.
When
you walk around on the first level there are posters that have historical
facts on them, there are historical artefacts (e.g. part of the original
spiral staircase used by Gustav Eiffel) and you get a good view of the city
and the lines below the Tower. I was afraid that there would be no toilets
but there was no need to worry…there are toilets at least on the level 1 and
2. The level 2 section is smaller than level 1 of course but the view is
even better here. We had a break here and sat down to write some postcards.
We had to wait to get some tickets for the elevator to the top level as you
can’t use the stairs all the way up (I think it would have been great to
walk all the way up).
We
had to pay another 3.30 € per person to take the lift from level 2 to level
3. So as the sun were setting and the shadow of the Tower created a shadow
over the roof tops, Nikki and I were standing in line to get to the top. The
line here is also quite long but we got into the elevator eventually and
soon we were heading to the top. The ride doesn’t take very long and it
gives you some time to look at the view…or study the structure to see if you
can spot any rust problems :-) I think they repaint it every 5 years but it
is hard to not think about the fact that the Tower is more than 100 years
old. The top level was crowded and you have to “fight” a bit to get a good
view. But the view of the city is great indeed. We didn’t stay at the top
that long..it was getting colder as the sun set. Getting down is much faster
and within minutes we were on the ground looking up at the Tower again. At
night it is illuminated and every hour the Tower comes alive when it is
illuminated by sparkling
lights for 10 minutes (link contains a 1 MB video). The Eiffel Tower is
a must see in Paris but be prepared for long lines to get in.
Tip! If you are fit and up to it why not take the stairs to level 2
and take the lift from there? Check out
the homepage
of the Tower to plan your visit. It seems like there is lots of useful
info on it.
In the footsteps of Robert
Langdon – The Da Vinci Code Walking Tour
Before
we came to Paris we had decided that we wanted to take a short tour just for
fun. At some stage we were looking into doing a
Segway tour
but I guess I’m a bit of a cheapskate…I found it a bit too expensive -
especially when it doesn’t include entry tickets to places of interest. We
did see them roll around in Paris while we were there and it does look like
fun. In the end we decided to go for the
DaVinci code tour. I guess you are all familiar with the book The Da
Vinci Code by Dan Brown :-) The movie screens from mid-May 2006 so there has
been and is a lot of talk about it.
At
10 am one morning we made our way to Place Vendôme to the meeting
point in front of the Ritz hotel. This is where Robert Langdon (the main
character in the book) stays and where the action starts. We paid 20 € each
to our guide and off we went together with about 15 others. We walked from
the starting point to Jardin des Tuileries (the garden outside
Louvre) and from there on we walked into the inverted pyramid inside the
Louvre. Our guide was not just telling us about Paris, the book etc. She
also tried to involve us by asking questions and trying to get people to get
to know each other a little bit. After the chance of buying a drink and
going to the bathroom at the Louvre we continued our walk. We crossed the
Seine and walked to the churches of St-Germain-des-Pres and St. Sulpice.
Taking a tour like this was fun especially since we had read the book and were looking forward to the movie. But there are lots of different walks to go for. Check out the Classic walks homepage for more info.
The mother of all museums –
The Louvre
Once
a fortress to protect Paris against Viking raids and then extended by kings
and emperors over centuries. Today the building itself is huge and it houses
an enormous art collection. Apart from the Eiffel tower this must be another
place that is hard to miss when in Paris. We decided to go there after we
had the Da Vinci walk.
Tip! Remember that there are a couple of entrances for the museum. Many
people line up at the famous glass pyramid but it is also possible to enter
the museum near Carrousel du Louvre. We bought tickets from the ticket
machines under the pyramid and it cost 8.50 € per person. It was a bit on
the cold side outside so we had lots of clothes on. Luckily they had a
service where we could hang up our jackets whilst appreciating the many
works of art.
With
such a huge museum it is very hard to know where to start. We decided to get
an audio guide to help us along the way. Nikki took care of it by leaving
her drivers license and paying 5 €. The audio guide covers about 1000 of the
35.000 works of art spread out over an area of 60.000 square meters! It goes
without saying that you can’t cover it all so it is best to plan a bit ahead
for what you want to see.
We
were not allowed to take pictures in many areas of the Louvre and flash
photography is not allowed at all. At first I was a bit annoyed by this but
this means that you can just use the time and energy to look at the works
:-) And besides…you can find all the paintings online on the Louvre
homepage. We continued in the Da Vinci code track and continued to walk in
the footsteps of Mr. Langdon. By the way…I tried out the toilet that is
mentioned in the book and there is no way they could have thrown the soap
out of a window :-)
The
most famous painting of them all is the Mona Lisa by Leonard da Vinci.
But there are so many other amazing paintings to look at and some are so big
that you can look at them for quite some time and find something new all the
time. There are a few benches and sofas that you can sit down in if you get
tired or want more time to study a painting. If you move around there are
paintings, sculptures, Greek art, Egyptian artifacts etc. Take a look at the
Louvre homepage before you go there to plan your visit. And if you want
to take a look at all the works check out the
Atlas database.
We got hungry eventually from the walking around in the museum and we grabbed a snack at the museum food court before leaving using the metro station that is connected to the museum.
Train station gone
cultural – Musée d’Orsay
While
we are talking about great museums…right across the river from the Louvre
you will find Musée d’Orsay. Originally this building was built as a train
station in 1900. But after 1939 it was not much in use since it couldn’t
handle the modern longer trains. So what do you do with an old train
station? In the 1970’s there were debates whether the station should be
demolished or not.
To
make a long story short they kept it and turned it into Musée d’Orsay.
We came there in the afternoon and there was
still a line to get in. The tickets are normally 8.50 € but since we came
late we got it for 5.50 €. When entering the museum it doesn’t look that
big. But there are several levels and “hidden” rooms. Here you can see
paintings of Monet, Renoir, Munch, Degas, Van Gogh, a version of Rodin’s
“The Gates of Hell”, sculptures etc. Check out the impressive clock located
on the wall above the entrance. I wonder of this was there originally when
the building functioned as a train station :-). As usual you can find more
useful information on the
museum homepage.
Arc
de Triomphe & Champs-Elysées
I
feel like I’m repeating myself but the
Arc
de Triomphe is another Parisian symbol that most people are familiar
with. If you stand in the Jardin des Tuileries outside the Louvre you can
see the monument behind the obelisk at Place de la Concorde. After a great
victory in 1805 Napoleon promised that his army would go home under
triumphal arches. I guess this is not a new idea as there are really old
arches like this in e.g. Rome.
The
Arc de Triomphe was finished in 1836 and today it is a national symbol. We
think it is a great place as you get a very good view from the 50 meter
rooftop terrace and I have been there on all three trips to Paris :-). We
paid 7.50 € for the ticket and made our way towards the top. There are a few
steps along the way but the view you get is worth it. On the roof there are
a couple of fixed binoculars if you want to pay to get a look and there are
boards identifying the
different buildings that you see around Paris.
We like the structure of the avenues stretching out from the arch towards
places like e.g. Place de la Concorde and la Défense. And it
is always fun to look down at the cars in the roundabout that goes around
the monument. There are no lanemarkings so how they figure out where to
drive is a mystery :-) Is it just me or has the fence around the rooftop
terrace been increased in height?
When
looking at
old pictures it looks like it and this time it was a bit hard to take a
nice picture with e.g. the Eiffel tower in the background due to the fence.
There is also stuff to see on the ground level.
Walking around you’ll see the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, reliefs
portraying famous battles, names of officers etc. The one relief that
captures the eye is the “Le Départ des Volontaires de 1792” better known as
“La Marseillaise”.It is easy to get to Arc de Triomphe by the way as there
is a metro station there. Remember that you should not try to sprint across
the road to get out to the monument…there is a pedestrian tunnel leading out
to it that you are supposed to use.
We decided to walk down the avenue of Champs-Elysées as we left the arch. There are lots to see as you walk down the street by the way. Major car brands like Peugeot, Renault, Mercedes etc have their show case stores here where they display current models, Formula1 cars, future cars etc. But there are also brand name clothing stores and lots of restaurants and cinemas.
Home of Quasimodo? – Notre Dame
When
we went to Paris the last time we
did visit the
cathedral of Notre Dame but we never made it to the towers. So our goal
this time was to visit the towers and take a closer look at the gargoyles.
But I’m afraid that we were disappointed. The line to get it was so long and
they only let in 20 people every 10 minute so we gave up our initial plan. I
guess we also figured out that we were satisfied seeing Paris from above as
we had been to places like the Eiffel tower, Arc de Triomphe etc.
The
church is located on the island of Ile de la Cité which is believed
to be the very cradle of Paris. Built on a Roman temple the first stone for
the church was laid down in 1163 AD and it must have been an impressive
sight when it was finished. With its 69 meter high towers it is still
impressive today. We took a walk inside the church itself and it was pretty
packed with other tourists. Around the church there are paintings,
sculptures etc but I guess the most impressive are the huge rose windows. It
is an impressive church but after visiting Rome’s amazing St. Peter’s
basilica (Basilica di San Pietro)
I think that Notre Dame has to settle for a second place.
It
is nice taking a walk around the outside of the church itself too. The
square in front of the church is packed with tourists trying to capture the
entire Notre Dame façade in one frame. There was one woman, we assume she
was begging, that kept on asking Nikki “Do you speak English” and trying to
push a printed note in her face…and she kept on asking over and over again.
We walked around to take a look at the church and its flying buttresses
construction from square du Jean XXIII. It seems like the Vikings are
planning to launch a new attack on the city by the way…on the Seine we saw a
small Viking ship and I think I even saw a small Norwegian flag :-)
We
walked from Notre Dame towards the church of Sainte-Chapelle. But
once again we were discouraged by the long line to get in so we decided to
come back another day but unfortunately we never made it back. I understand
this is one of the churches that should not be missed…so I guess I still
have something to see the next time I get to Paris :-). Instead we walked
across the river to the right bank and passed Hôtel de Ville on our
way towards Pompidou Center. Hôtel de Ville is the home of the mayor
and city council and it is a reconstruction of a town hall situated here.
The building itself is beautiful but the square in front of the building was
once the main site for all sorts of executions. The guidebook describes an
execution where a man was tied to 4 strong horses and ripped to pieces. It
seems like mans creativity has no ends when it comes to horrifying stuff
like this.
Pompidou and Marais
When
walking from Notre Dame it didn’t take us long to get to
Centre Pompidou. We had
a vague plan to visit it but the plans were terminated when we found out
that the museum is closed every Tuesday. But I’m not really into modern art
anyway so it was not a big issue for me. The most fascinating thing about
the Centre Pompidou is the building itself. It seems like they have turned
it inside out so there are pipes, steel, escalators etc everywhere…the
building stands out in other words.
This
area is not very far from the shopping center Les Halles and I think
it is one of the few places in Paris where we felt a bit uncomfortable with
our surroundings. With the crowds I guess it is an ideal place for
pickpockets to operate. But there are some fun things in the area…like the
colorful fountain on Place Igor Stravinsky, the public clock “Le défenseur
du temps” or the Fontaine des Innocents which stands on the site of a former
grave yard…I will get back to this when we talk about the
catacombs. The public
clock “Le défenseur du temps” looks great but according to the guidebook the
real action only takes place at 2 pm and 6 pm :-). We stood next to an
American family and they seemed to be quite disappointed when nothing much
happened when the clock struck 1 pm.
Les Halles has shops, restaurants, cinema, book shops…there is even a big swimming pool in there. We went to the movies one night and when we came out at 8-9 pm the shops were closed and so were many of the exits. We had to use a bit of time to find our way out of the maze :-)
Back
to our walk…we continued to walk from the Les Halles area towards Place
de la bastille and this part of the city is called Marais. The
streets are narrow and it seems very quiet at least if you are coming from
the Les Halles area. I think this is Paris’ jewish quarter - some good
falafel shops too. On the way we passed by Musée Picasso, maison de Victor
Hugo but we only stopped at place des Vosges
which was Paris very first square built in 1609. This used to be the home
for the aristocracy but today it is just a nice symmetrical square where
people enjoyed the spring sun, relaxed on benches while the kids where
playing in the sand box or playing football. It was only another few minutes
to Place de la bastille but this does not really contain that much
interesting today. Once home of the infamous prison that sparked the
revolution in 1789…today there is nothing left of the prison. There is just
a column in the middle of the intersection know as “Colonne de Juillet”.
The white church on the
hill - Sacré-Coeur
The
Sacré-Coeur basilica is located in the Montmartre area and it is a great
place to visit on a nice clear day. The church is located on a hill and the
view from this point is spectacular. According to the guidebook the top of
the church is in fact the second highest point in Paris after the Eiffel
tower. We took the metro up to the area and it is a bit of a strange area.
When we went to Paris the last time
we stayed a night in the Pigalle area and it is not the best neighborhood.
This is Paris’ red light district. We had a bit of a laugh when we saw
TimHotel (the chain of hotel we used) had a hotel that were next door to
this huge neon lit building with Sexodrome on it…I guess they don’t make a
point out of that in the advertising. In the same area you will also find
the famous Moulin Rouge.
Back
to the church…it is a short walk up to the church itself from Anvers metro
station but it is uphill so there is even a short “train service” there. We
are still young and fit…well, at least a bit fit…so we walked up the stairs.
At the beginning of the steps we were met by some people that wanted to give
us some bracelets for "free". There are not that much that comes for free
these days so we said no in a polite manner and continued up the stairs.
The white church is beautiful against the blue
sky and it is nice to sit down in the stairs and relax and look at the view
of Paris. We wanted to get a bit higher so we decided to climb up to the
dome itself. There is an umanned entrance in the front, down to the left -
tickets are 5 € from the automated machine. There are quite a lot of stairs
to climb to get to the top but once again the view is worth it. Even if it
was a bit hazy we could still look down on the Pompidou Center, the Opera
etc. Once back on the ground we also took a walk around the church inside
but there was a service in progress so we didn’t stay long.
We also walked the short distance to the Montmartre area. We didn’t get very far from the church before we were “attacked” by artists that wanted to draw our portrait. We managed to say politely “no” to some and tried to navigate around others. But the streets in the area are quite nice…narrow and laid with cobblestone.
Home of kings - Château de Versailles
Once
a small hunting lodge for Louis XIII, this place is now an amazing palace. I
guess we can thank Louis XIV (referred to as the Sun King) for this as he
was the one who decided to stay here and make it into the largest palace in
Europe. We took the train there one morning. Note that there are a couple of
options on how to get there. We took the RER C line from Invalides I think
but you can also take a SNCF train from Montparnasse station. In both cases
you end up at the train station Château de Versailles after 30-40 minutes. I
think that we paid about 5 € for a round trip.
We
took the short 5-10 minute walk from the train station at Versailles to the
court yard of the palace. There are buses with, Versailles Palace signs,
waiting right outside the station - which gives the wrong impression of a
long ride to get there. Unfortunately for us, there was a bit of
construction work going on so parts of the court yard were being dug up. We
had planned our trip in advance on the net and we had decided to go for a
guided tour. So instead of lining up on the right (entrance A),
we
went to the ticket office at entrance C and bought a tour for 15 € each.
This gave us a standard access to the palace and a tour of the Louis XV/XVI
private apartments and the opera house. But one of the best things about
this ticket was the fact that we could use another entrance (entrance B)
instead of lining up with the rest :-) So we went in, check in our backpack
so that we didn’t have to drag that around and started walking around the
palace.
Some
of the rooms have been refurbished but there is still work in progress also
inside the building. Half of the hall of mirrors is for instance covered up
due to maintenance work and it will open again in 2007 - we hope. But there
is lots of stuff to admire here from the entrance where you get a view to
Chapelle Royale (the royal chapel) and rooms like the king and queens
bedchamber etc. The rooms were crowded (just like the last time we visited)
and there are lots of tour groups. I guess we spent a couple of hours there
before we had to run for our guided tour appointment. One thing that I found
a bit strange is that we were led out in the garden after the walk through
the palace came to and end. The only problem was that it was freezing
outside and we had left the jackets in the backpack at the entrance. So we
had to make a run for it to get back into proper clothes :-)
The
guided tour took us into the private apartments of Louis XV and XVI and the
woman who took us around explained the life for a king in the palace, about
the palace’s fate after the revolution and how they now are trying to buy
stuff back for the palace etc. There seems to be some priceless items there
like an old clock that can indicate moon phase, year, day etc. We were
equipped with an ear piece so it was not a problem to hear what the guide
was saying but her English could’ve been a bit better for a guide. There
were a couple of families on the tour and one kid got a mild repremand when
he leaned against the one of the unprotected walls. The poor kid was made
aware of his actions in front of the whole tour group and blushed
accordingly :-) We also got a quick look into the opera house that was built
during the reign of Louis XV. The opera has about 700 seats and at the time
they needed 10.000 candles every night to light it. I think it is a miracle
that it never went up in flames.
We
also visited the garden but it was still early spring when we went there so
the flowers were not in bloom and the fountains were not running. They call
it a garden but it is slightly bigger than what I normally associate with a
garden :-). It is about 3.5 km (over 2 miles) from the palace to the end of
the little pond (called Grand Canal). So if you are planning to take a
stroll around the garden make sure that you have enough time. If you are
short on time it is possible to take a train shuttle around in the garden.
The garden is filled with hedges cut to precision, trees cut in funky
shapes, sculptures (I even spotted a copy of Laocöon, one of my favorite
pieces at the Vatican museum) etc.
On
the way back we used the opportunity to take a closer look at the marble
courtyard in the front of the palace. We also stopped at the small
restaurant to get something to eat before the guided tour. It is fairly
small so it was pretty crowded and we were just lucky to get a seat. They
served small stuff like cheese/ham toast, pizza and they also had some
pretty good waffles that Nikki enjoyed :-). There are not many toilets
around so be prepared to queue and keep your 0.5 € ready.
Versailles
is absolutely worth a visit. The guided tour was also a bonus for us having
only referred to our guidebook when checking out the rest of Versailles.
Think back and imagine how amazing this must have been towards the end of
the 1600s when the Sun king was in power here. The palace and gardens which
is impressive today must have been out of this world in those times. Other
historic events have also taken place here. Germany signed the surrender in
the hall of mirrors after World War I if I’m not mistaken. Check out the
palace
homepage to plan your visit and read more about the palace, kings etc.
The
empire of the dead – the Catacombs
When
I went to school as a young boy I remember that we learned about the
catacombs of Rome in connection with religion history. When we went to
Rome last year we never got a
chance to check it out so we decided to see the Parisian catacombs instead.
The catacombs in Paris were built in 1786 and from what I understand they
moved bones and corpses from a cemetery near Les Halles because of sanitary
reasons. They used more than a year to transport all the remains across the
city at night.
It
was easy to find the entrance of the catacombs. When we came out of the
metro station at Denfert Rochereau we saw a line waiting in front of
the entrance. There was a sign saying that there was a limit of about 100
people at the time. We waited about 10 minutes, paid 5 € for the ticket and
then we were on our way under ground. We started that day at Sacré-Coeur so
I guess you can say that we went from top to bottom in one day. After a few
downward spiralling stairs I guess we were about 20 meters underground and
in the first rooms there was information about how the place was originally
a quarry, how it was built etc.
After
walking for quite a while in dimly lit corridors we reached the entrance of
the catacombs itself. A sign over the door says “Arrete! C'est ici L'Empire
de la Morte” which translates into something like “Stop! This is the empire
of the dead”. Once we got in we were stunned by the number of bones and
skulls that lined the walls. I guess I was expecting to see a few bones but
it just goes on and on. In some places the skulls are intact, others were
fractured and in some places the skulls formed a pattern in between the many
bones. The walk from the starting point to the finish is about 1.7 km (about
1 mile) long. So be prepared to walk for 20-30 minutes surrounded by skulls
and bones - and there are no lavatories.
Tip! The catacombs have limited opening hours (I think it is only from 2 pm and 4 pm on Tuesdays to Fridays) and a bit more in the weekend. Also be aware that the exit is far from the entrance. I’m not sure where we came out…we just found the nearest main street and found a metro station.
A walk around the Thinker
– Musée Rodin
We have come across the work of Rodin in different parts of the world. We
saw a version of The Gates of Hell in
Tokyo and also at the Louvre.
But I guess the most famous work of Auguste Rodin is the sculpture known as
the Thinker.
We
took the metro to La Tour Maubourg and we came up right at the Hôtel des
Invalides. There is a little park in front of the building and you get a
pretty good view of the fabulous bridge of Pont Alexandre III, the Eiffel
tower and the golden dome of the Dôme church where you can find Napoleon’s
tomb.
We
walked to the Musée Rodin and paid about 6 € to get in. Once inside you are
actually outside…in the garden of Hôtel Biron the mansion that was Rodin’s
home and place of work for many years. The
Thinker is on display right after you come in and people were taking
pictures, some were trying to capture the moment by sketching etc. We were
there on a nice day and it was great to walk around in the quiet garden and
enjoy the first signs of spring. Other famous works are The Gates of Hell,
Ugolino, The Monument to Balzac, The Monument to the Burghers of Calais etc.
There are also works on display inside the mansion. Check out the
homepage of
the museum for more information about the museum and Rodin’s work.
Walkabout
Nikki
made the fateful error of getting her hair done at an overpriced (her words,
not mine) place near the Opera. That gave me a chance to walk a bit around
on my own. I started out by walking the short distance to the church
La
Madeleine. This church might not be that old but it is huge and it is
built like a Greek or Roman temple so it stands out. I made a run for it to
get a across the road to enter the church (crossing the roads can be an
extreme sport in Paris). I only walked around inside for a few minutes. I
guess I find the traditional churches more beautiful.
From
Madeleine it is just a few minutes to Place de la Concorde. This huge
open place is today the home of a couple of fountains, statues personifying
French cities and in the middle a 230 ton, 3200 year old Egyptian obelisk.
But this was also the courtyard where the guillotine was in use after the
French revolution and people like Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette and several
thousands of others lost their head. When you on the square today you get a
good view towards the Arc de Triomphe in one direction (as this square is
the beginning of Champs Elysées) and a view to Jardin des Tuileries and the
Louvre in the other direction.
I
continued my walk along the river Seine towards the beautiful bridge of
Pont Alexandre III. There are two granite pillars on each side of the
bridge with golden statues on top. Again it is possible to get good views.
On the bridge itself you can look towards the obelisk on Place de la
Concorde, look towards the golden dome of the Dôme church and Hôtel des
Invalides and you also get a good view to Grand Palais. I walked across the
bridge, looked at the other tourists and helped some couples taking pictures
with a nice Paris view in the background and took some pictures myself of
course. In the end I had to rush back to meet Nikki but there is always a
metro station near by the can be used.
Shopping
We
didn’t really do that much shopping in Paris…well, I didn’t but I guess
Nikki found a thing or two :-) . We did stop by
Galeries
Lafayette a few times and it is a huge department store that has a lot
of stuff. But a lot of it is up marked stuff so I guess it depends on how
much you are willing to cough up for certain items :-). But they had an
excellent coffee shop at least…stop by
Café Malongo. They
also have an amazing wine shop (or wine library as they called it) where it
was possible to buy vintage wine and cognac. They also have an outstanding
food section where you can get all sorts of good stuff ranging from bread to
foie gras.
We also visited the neighboring department store Printemps but I found that very boring. I tried to make my way to the top floor to check out the roof top terrace but it was closed due to construction work. But from one of the bridges that takes you from one building to the other I spotted a sports store that I could visit.
We also went to Forum des Halles and this seems to be the place where the younger people hang out. The place is a bit of a maze but you can find shops like Mango, Zara, KOOKAÏ etc. There are even two cinemas in the centre. The last time we went to Paris we ended up on the roof top terrace of the “La Samaritaine” by accident. But when we walked past it this time it seemed like it was closed down. But it looks like their homepage is still operational.
Time to go home
Saturday
April 15th was our last day in Paris. We spent the last day browsing around:
doing some last minute shopping, drinking some good coffee etc. During the
week we were there it was pretty cold and on the last day we also got a bit
of rain. We had a flight at about 7.30 pm so we decided to start heading for
the airport at about 3 pm. Seasoned as we like to think we are, we almost
hopped on the train all the way to CDG airport without our passports!.
Fortunately Nikki’s managed to remember before the train journey began
*whew* We used the same route to CDG airport as when we arrived (RER B via
Denfert Rochereau) and soon we were sitting at the airport waiting for our
flight. If you want to do some shopping or eating you should stick to the
centre of the airport. Our “satellite” (no. 7) departure gate only had a
hole in the wall coffee shop and a duty free shop slightly larger than our
Paris hotel room!
Conclusion
I’m sure that I will get a few questions about why we didn’t visit this or
that. When we went to Paris the last time we did visit places like La
Défense, the Dôme church and Napoleons tomb, the Pantheon church, Cité de
Science, Jardin de Luxembourg etc so I feel that we have been able to cover
quite a lot of Paris during our two trips :-)
So
was it magical being Paris again? I could have wished for better weather but
apart from that I have to say that Paris still has a special place in my
heart. Yes, there is an excessive amount of dog poop on the pavements all
over the city; you might get hassled by overzealous beggars around the main
attractions; you might have to pay a bit more than you’d like to to get into
different main attractions; and you might have to queue up for a while to
get into the most famous places. But I still think that Paris is an amazing
city that can offer a lot when it comes to sights, well stocked museums,
monuments, beautiful bridges. When we went to
Rome last year I compared the
two cities and I guess I came to the conclusion that Rome is my favorite
European city. I think I will stick by the conclusion as Rome has better
food, as it is smaller so it is easier to cover the place on foot and
because I like the warm Rome weather better :-) But both cities are amazing
and should not be missed if you have the chance of visiting.
On our last night in Paris, as we were walking back to the hotel, we walked past Parc du Champs de Mars with an amazing view to the flashing Eiffel tower. And when we saw a man get down on his knee to propose to his girlfriend - the night was complete, for Nikki at least. I guess Paris is the city of love.
I hope that you found this trip report useful please give me feedback if you have comments or questions or I have made factual mistakes or if. I can be reached on gardkarlsen@hotmail.com. Please move to the next page and read about eating and drinking in Paris. Below are some useful tips.
Some “useful” tips
So what do you need to bring to Paris? And how do you plan a trip to Paris?
Here are some useful tips:
- A pair of good walking shoes: I guess this goes without saying but there is a lot to see in Paris and a lot of ground to cover so bring comfortable shoes.
- Wondering about the weather in Paris? Check out weatherbase.com to get some weather stats so you know what to expect. And check the weather forecast right before you go so that you know how cold/warm it could be.
- Are you staying for a week and planning to get around a lot? I would suggest that you get a Carte Orange so that you can use the metro as much as you want. Remember to bring along a passport sized photo for the metro pass.
- A good guidebook: yes, you can find a lot of useful info on the internet. But get a good guidebook with a comprehensive street map and a metro map. Which one to buy is up to you :-)
- Which forums to ask questions: Try TripAdvisor, Fodor’s, SlowTalk and Frommer’s
- Are you bringing a laptop? We did and it was great to use this to check out attractions and opening times, maps etc. There are wireless connections where you can buy surf time.
- Do you wonder how far it is from one place to another in Paris? Why not use Google Earth to measure? I find this to be a great tool.
- A pair of good eyes: I guess there is not much that can be done to improve this point…but you need your eyes to look at all the beautiful sights…and to spot and avoid all the dog poop on the pavements around town
- Here is a map where I have highlighted some of the places that we went to
- Would you like to print this report? Try to print this PDF file for a better result.
Paris is divided into 20 different neighbourhoods called arrondissements. Here is a map with the different arrondissements.