26/6/26 Eiffel Tower , Grand Palais , Louvre

 

   Today we headed back into the city for a look at the Eiffel Tower - you can't go to Paris and not see it can you ?? It was back on the Metro again , back to the Arc and then onto a bus into the city . We got the bus , but got the one on the wrong side of the road - we realised quickly and got off one stop down the road , crossed the street and waited for the appropriate one . While we waited I snapped this chef having a break in between jobs .

We arrived near the Trocadero , and got the bus one more stop near the River Seine . There's a beautiful park with a section of pools and fountains in the middle . We sat on the recently watered grass and enjoyed the coolness , as well as the view .

Just across the river is the Eiffel Tower , and we had a better view from further away . As with most things here , the size of the attractions is on another level completely !!

Yes , we made it .

Biting the bullet , we made our way across the bridge over the River Seinne . There were cruise boats tied up everywhere , running tours up & down the river .

 This is looking back at the fountains and park from the other side of the river .

We found ourselves a patch of grass under a tree to sit and have our lunch beside the tower . It was approaching 40 degrees , so movement was limited , and a decision was made not to queue for 2 hours to get a ticket to go up to the first & second levels of the tower . We looked at it from about 100m away . This is the elevator that takes you up & down - unless you feel like climbing the stairs that lead you upwards !!

 This is the first level you can get to , the stairs are in the right hand legs of the tower .

This is Level 2 - you can make out some people looking over the railings .

And the peak of the tower of course - available at extra cost and needing to be booked weeks ago - we didn't know we were going to Paris 2 weeks ago 🤣

Just some of the people over the perspex fence below the tower - that would have been nice , there wasn't much breeze , but they wouldn't have been getting that either . Notice the sign - the tower was closing at 4pm due to the extreme heat , so last entry was 12:15pm !!

 We crossed the river again and got a bus that was heading toward The Louvre . We had a ticket that let us get on & off whenever we wanted , so we spotted an impressive bridge , so we got off . Gold coated sculptures of horses & soldiers were on either side of the bridge roadway , with a couple of lions beside it . 

Here they are

Across the road in the opposite direction we discovered the Grand Palais , with another small statue .

 The streetlights are huge here as well - taller than the tower 🤔😆

Across the bridge is an equally impressive building - Napoleons Tomb and the Hotel de Invalids - a French history museum .

Another mural spotted as we drove past in the bus - cleverly done .

Then there's the entrance to The Louvre , we mentioned before about things being on the grander scale size wise , well this takes that to another level completely !! We crossed the road and decided to have a look . First job was to buy 2 bottles of water from one of the street hawkers - it was cheaper than in the shops !! 

Sitting in the shade we tried to absorb what we were seeing in front of us , to the sides of us , and behind us , let alone what was going on below us . Intricately decorated buildings rising into the air , streetlights stretching off into the distance and people just sitting and doing what we were - totally blown away !!

 The buildings are amazing , huge and go off to the left and right , then crossing and meeting up with more that go left & right as well .

The famous glass pyramids stand in the courtyard - there are 4 of them , but the largest is also the entry into The Louvre . We were in awe of the size of this place , and there was too much to see outside , let alone what must be inside !

 Another angle 

We wandered slowly to try & absorb what we were seeing . We went through a building and popped out into another courtyard area being set up for an outdoor concert performance .

This is one of the gates to close the courtyard area off - they certainly don't want anyone to climb it !!

Just outside those gates was a fenced garden & law with massive buildings lining the street outside .

The buildings stretch into the distance , the scale of this place needs to be seen to be believed - not sure that we still do !

While waiting for a bus home , this door was beside the stop .

   The heat has certainly slowed down our visit and limited what we've seen , but what we have seen has been amazing , nothing like we'd imagined . Back to UK tomorrow via Eurorail fast train again . Here's map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1cIXWVmMsMXrMkpU6oV7VXjCLY89j6JY&usp=sharing

25/6/26 Arc de Triumphe

 

    Making our way into the city early to beat some of the heat , we came across this mural - probably from the olympics 2 years ago .

 The Arc de Triumphs was our destination . We got the Metro again , and ended up emerging beside today's target . The traffic was horrendous - there's 6 or 7 lanes on this roundabout , and it has 12 street entries/exits , so it funnels traffic in from everywhere . Unbeknownst to us till later , there had been an accident - there were several buses covering it from our view . It blocked the whole roundabout , horns were blowing , people were getting out of cars & vans trying to get across multiple lanes of traffic to exit . Motorbikes & scooters were driving onto the footpaths to escape the chaos . We found our way to the pedestrian tunnel below .

 Here's the tunnel 

The size of the Arc is amazing - certainly not small and insignificant , it's huge and wow !

This is the Champs Élysées from the Arc

By the time we'd had lunch in the shade of the Arc , the traffic had smoothed out and you could actually see the streets& avenues that branch on & off .

   There were hundreds of people there having a look same as us , so as the heat was building again we headed back to apartment - our day was done .

24/6/26 Sacre Coure Basilica Paris

 

    Back again , travelled from Lyon to Paris via another fast train - air conditioned fortunately , as the weather hasn't backed off yet , and doesn't look like it . Arriving in Paris , we made our way to the Metro to go to our accomodation . We got off the Metro and out onto the streets and found we were smack bang in the middle of a West African section . They gave us curious looks as we made our way to the apartment, more cultures merged with us and turned into a more cosmopolitan setting . Shopping for food was easy , there was a small supermarket just across the road from us , along with many bars & restaurants. 

    Next day we decided to limit ourselves to morning or evening activities , as the weather was getting to between 38 and 42 for the duration of our stay . So decision was made to go to the Sacre Coure Basilica , which was only a walk away - no other transport involved . We are staying in a hilly suburb of Paris as can be seen in this photo .

    To get to the Basilica , we had to go about 400m then turn right and go to the end of the street - that's when we found the first lot of stairs to climb - yes that's them in between the buildings !!

 Here's the view back down them

                                             At the top of the stairs was a child care centre .

     Our first view of the Basilica , impressive !

No money in religion is there ???

 A wrought iron fence kept people from falling into the lower floors of the basilica .

     And the locals always seem to have a hotel , bar , or in this case an Irish Pub beside the basilica .

The front of the basilica is rather large as well .

This is one of the fences down the front at the basilica - padlocks hanging off it everywhere - it's a wonder the fence is still standing with all that extra weight !!

There are views over Paris from the front .

 Inside the basilica was very ornate , with queues of people streaming in . The large dome at the front and a lot of other images around the inside are actually made of mosaic tiles no bigger than a 5 cent coin - a lot of work involved in that !!

Another good money spinner were these candles and other smaller ones - these were 30 Euro's each - these were the ones that have to be removed from the stands , so new candles can be placed .

     We looked around and left before the crowds got too big , finding a different way back , we found the walkway covered in grape vines and about 10 degrees cooler than being out in the sunshine .

    As we came up all those stairs coming here , we had to go back down the hill . Google assisted ,finding an alternate route back to the apartment - yes more stairs !

And at the bottom of those stairs we found apartment buildings everywhere lining the streets & avenues .

 Then some more steps .

 There was a mural on the side of one apartment on the way down the steps - looks like the render is falling off and some mystical creature is emerging .

 The view back up the stairs 

We headed back to the apartment and it's air conditioning - it wasn't turned off at any time during our stay in Paris !! Later that evening we went out for a walk , just to get out - it was still 34 degrees at 9:30pm !!

 Found another mural while we were out .

    And that was it for our day , too hot to do much , so we limited our searching and just did a few things .

I'll do a map on the last day of Paris .