A Saturday in Paris

This past Saturday I went to Paris for the first time. My day started at 4am, I had to get to  St. Pancras station by 5:30am to check in with my tour and board the Eurostar, a high speed train. The Eurostar trip over took just over 2 hours and went thru the Chunnel. Once we got off the train, I had to go find my tour bus. Unfortunately, that took a bit longer than anticipated. Yay language barrier. I finally found where I needed to be and grabbed the open air tour bus. Though, looking back an open air tour bus on a 30° Fahrenheit day was not one of my best ideas. It was freaking cold!!

I did get to see some neat sights on the bus tour. It was a hop on/hop off kind of tour, so we could get off, take pics, wander around, and get another bus. They also had headphones so you could plug in to the audio tour in the appropriate language, which explained not just the main sights, but other roads and things you saw along the way.

I got some fantastic shots of the Arc de Triomphe, Paris Opera House, the Eiffel Tower, exterior of the Louvre, and Notre Dame. Unfortunately, my camera disappeared somewhere on my Metro journey to Sacre Coeur. Very sad about that, but I’ve already ordered a new camera and I did get some pics with the iPhone. I guess I’ll just need to go to Paris again.  😉 Here are the best shots I got with the iPhone at Notre Dame de Paris.

Virgin and Child Statue on site dedicated to Notre Dame de Paris.

Stained Glass Window in Notre Dame de Paris

A drawing of Notre Dame de Paris from the Treasures of Notre Dame exhibit.

Closeup of Three Decorated Bibles and Prayerbooks in Treasures of Notre Dame exhibit.

Framed Illuminated Manuscript from the Treasures of Notre Dame exhibit.

Here is one section of cameos of the popes. They have cameos of all the pope here, really cool. It is in the Treasures of the Notre Dame exhibit.

Stained Glass from Notre Dame de Paris

After I left Notre Dame, I went on a quest for my husband. He wanted a photo of the plaque at the site where Jacques de Molay was burnt at the stake. For those who do not know, Jacques de Molay was the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar. Mark belonged to the Order of DeMolay named after this last Grand Master, and it is sponsored by the Freemasons. I had pretty decent directions to it, but was unable to find the exact plaque. I did find this sign however…

Since I couldn’t find the plaque, I snapped this memorial.

I guess we will have to go back one day and look for the other plaque.

After I took this, I took my ill-fated trip on the Metro, but I did make safely to Sacre Coeur.  BTW, the metro stop Abbesse has a ton of stairs going up. Wow. I now know why I didn’t see any out of shape Parisians. Since I got my stair climbing out of the way leaving the Metro, I took the Montmartre funicular up to Sacre Coeur. What a beautiful church! We were not allowed to take any pictures inside, but I highly recommend a trip there. If you go to Paris – I recommend this over Notre Dame. Notre Dame was beautiful, but it was a zoo, and totally packed. Not quiet or reverent at all. Sacre Coeur was much more quiet and reverential. I wish I would have had time to attend a service here.

Outside shot of Sacre Coeur. Beautiful.

Outside of Sacre Coeur, there was a place to take in a lovely view of Paris. Unfortunately, it was rather cloudy and you could not see as far as you would like. I did get a nice shot though.

View of Paris from Montmarte.

This is my last shot from Paris, by the way – it was snowing when I took this picture. After I took this, I went back down all those stairs at the Metro, and made my way back to the Gare du Nord to catch my train back to London.

All in all, it was a good day. I wish I had managed to keep a hold of my camera, but I still had a great time. I would like to go back when it is not so cold, and I would like to have some time for the Louvre next time.

Au revoir Paris.