"Paris" a Trois

Day three in Paris..

In two days.. we had seen a lot in Paris..we had covered almost everything..they keyword being "almost".Day three in Paris was as filled with activites and walking as our first two days there..yes, lovely Paris! so much to see and do...

Day Three began as usual - breakfast of croissants and coffee at our now favorite french patisserie then onboard the metro. Our first destination today was Sacre Cour.

Sacre Cour Cathedral dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is located at the top of Butte Montamarte, the highest point of the city. The cathedral is said to be built in honor of the people who died in the Franco-Prussian war - and the cathedral has many nationalist themes - like the statues of Joan of Arc and King Saint Louis IX on horses at the entrance to the cathedral - truly majestic!

From the station - there is a short walk to the cathedral and during the short walk - on both sides we saw rows and rows of souvenir shops! Aha - the girls knew what we were doing on the way back for sure!!

The first view of the sacre cour is breathtaking.. the cathedral a white majestic structure on top of a green hill. You have to climb quite a few steps to get up to the cathedral entrance - and you can see people enjoying the open green space as you climb up - taking pictures (like us)..or simply sitting and enjoying the sunshine with friends!

As you enter Sacre Cour - a Giant Mosaic of Jesus Christ with his arms wide open welcomes you. It felt like he was welcoming one and all to the quiet sancity of the cathedral.The painting is so majestic that it is really all you will remember of the place and so captivating that it will be some time before you can pull your eyes away and enjoy the rest of the cathedral.Photography is prohibited within the cathedral though we did take a couple of shots - and we sat and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere for a few minutes and paid our respects.

You could climb to the top of the tower to get a great view of Paris - however we had trouble with the machine getting tickets to go up the tower and we ran out of time so we skipped the tower climb much to our disappointment!

As we left Sacre Cour - we enjoyed the souvenir shopping on our way back to the metro station - with Ashu keeping the time check - since we had to get to our next destination on time after all!

After the Sacre Cour, we found ourselves back in the Louvre. This time, we wasted no time outside and went straight down to ensure we got a place on the English Guided Tour. Since we had time before the tour started - and since obviously the tour did not cover the entire museum - we decided to explore the museum by ourselves a little. After a little discussion - we settled on the Richelieu Wing.

The Richelieu wing has a collection of french sculptures. The ones which you see as you enter are that of Adonis- the god of love - with every muscle carved to perfection..and that of a slave trying to control a horse. What's interesting about this second sculpture is - it seems to be in motion..the artist has captured the flexing of muscles to perfection to depict the power of the horse and the strength needed by man to control it!

The other highlights of this section for me were the framed sclpture of christ and the napoleon apartments. The Napoleon III Apartments in this section of the Louvre are meant to give an insight into the grand life of Napoleon - and they do just that. From the Grand Salon to the dining rooms - the furnishing are lavish and plush.

After enjoying the Richlieu wing the best we could on our self guided tour - we made our way to where we were to meet in order to start our Engligh guided tour.

This tour is a must do for first time Louvre visitors who truly want to understand and appreciate the history and art that is the Louvre!

The tour began at the basement or the crypt - the Louvre before it became the museum that we know today - was a fortress in the medival ages..and the only part of that medival fortress still visible is in the crypt - imagine seeing 14th century stones..and the guide explaining the history o how the louvre evolved into the museum/public gallery that is today!

The tour is designed to take you through some of the most famous works of art in the Louvre for e.g. - Venus Di Milo, Hermaphrodite, The Winged Victory and of course the Mona Lisa! While each of these works of art alone is worth the visit to the Louvre..the other art you see is equally awe-inspiring. The sheer size and magnitude of some of these paintings is amazing and the perfection in each feature of each element/body in the paintings is worth admiring. No wonder they say the Louvre alone requires a week to truly appreciate its beauty!

As we finished our tour - we realized we were famished. And infact we did not have the strength to walk anywhere to find a decent meal - So we settled on the Louvre Cafe - had some much needed coffee and opened our own food from our backpack as lunch.

After this short break - we walked out of the Louvre and towards Place de la Concorde. On the way we crossed the Jardin des Tuileries - the most frequented gardens in Paris. We saw the Palais De Tuileries on one side and enjoyed the many fountains, ponds and sculptures scattered accross the park.

At this point - it was hot and we were tired - we decided another break was in order - especially as we saw an outdoor cafe featuring fresh juice and cold beer!
We stopped to rest our feet - enjoyed some cold drinks and the nice shade!

After our nice rest we headed out of the tuileries towards place de la concord.
Place De La Concorde is the largest square in Paris and the site that greets you is a large Obelisk. The Obelisk was gifted to the french king at the time by the Egyptians. It replaced the Guillotine which was placed there during the French Revolution - many famous people including Marie Antoinette were Guillotined in this very square!

Ok..that was a little creepy.. as you move north from the Place De La Concorde you move towards Champs Elysee. This famous street ends at the Arc De Triomphe our final destination of the day.

Champs Elysees is where the modern day military parades are held and also all major parisian celebrations. As you walk it - you pass the Grand and Petit Palaces (the Petit Palace being the residence of the French President) ..and various shops and outdoor cafes greet you. Also on this street is the world renowned Macaron shop Laudree!

We enjoyed the walk and all the shops and cafe's along the way looked very tempting. As we were walking it got dark and we saw the Arc De Triomphe light up in all its grandeur at the far end of the street.. truly a lovely sight!

We had dinner on one of the restaurants with outdoor seating - average food but decent wine and cramped space ..the hotel got a thumbs down but the outdoor seating and the ambience that champs elysees provided a definate two thumbs up!!

After dinner we walked towards the Arc De Triomphe - on seeing it up close we went quite crazy - read camera crazy - and a photo taking frenzy ensued.

The Arc commissioned by Napolean to mark one of his victories picture perfect when all lit up at night. It is engraved with names of generals who commanded armies during Napoleans reign and in the center under the arch is the grave of the unnamed soldiers from the first world war.

We spent so much time photographing the arch from accross the street that we reached its base too late to climb to the top. Apparently from the top you get a lovely view of Sacre Cour and place de la defence. So we spent some time under the arch and headed back.

At this point - most of us were exhausted. We had walked for what seemed like miles and miles and we were ready to head home. Ashish and Nidhi however wanted to head to the Eiffel Tower one last time to get some night shots (this being our last night in the city). So we parted ways - the Yajniks went to the Eiffel and the Shah's and the Heda's took the metro homeee..

Once home - Shweta had the brilliant idea of a spa nite!. We filled the bath tub with hot hot water and Shweta , Dharmen and I soaked our feet in the hot water..aahh.. i can still feel the relief I felt at that time..

While we were finishing up our "spa" nite and giving our sore feet some much needed pampering - Ashish/Nidhi were having their own fun as the metro's closed down while they were on their way back and they got stuck at the metro station :). Luckily they found the way out and took a cab home with funny stories of their time stuck on the station!

We were all home finally..and this was our last night in Paris..this ofcourse called for a celebration..Maggie Noodles!! Dharmen made these indian version of Ramen Noodles which we enjoyed as we talked late into the night about the great time we had in Paris...

P.S. - I'll end this post with snaps of "some" of the madness we displayed under Arc De Triomphe!