Our original plan was to grab a baguette at the Eiffel Tower, then head to the Arc de Triomphe (since it's fairly close) and work our way down to Notre Dame and the Luxembourg Gardens. But our dinner reservations were closer to the Arc, so we did the whole plan in reverse.
We thought there would be shops and cafes right by the Tower, but it was more quick bite stands. We got a hot dog, and ham & cheese, both on baguettes. They were still quite tasty. We thought about climbing the Eiffel Tower (just to the bottom level), then thought against it.
I was glad to see plenty of police around to combat the rash of pickpockets we'd read about. There were also plenty of hucksters selling mini Eiffel Towers and such. And I was approached by a woman with a clip board who asked if I spoke English, one of the pickpocket methods I'd read about. I just said no in French.
We goofed a bit on not taking the Metro to Luxembourg Gardens. That was a really long walk, but Marsha and Madison really enjoyed looking at all the shop windows in Saint-Germaine.
When we finally Luxembourg Gardens,we found much of it to be a public park. The gardens in front of the Palace (now the French Senate) are very lovely. Our favorite feature, though, was the Medici Fountain, which was built in 1630 by Marie de Medici.
Worn out from the long walk, we finally took the Metro, but it was just one stop to Notre Dame. It's just incredible inside. It reminded me a little of Westminster Abbey, but better organized. There's the main sanctuary with parallel halls and little alcoves with stained-glass windows. Each had its own purpose, such as a giant crucifix and a confessional.
I was really intrigued by a series of panels that told the history of the cathedral. There were churches there for many years until construction began in 1163. It wasn't completed until 1345. It was built in sections, and with later additions (such as the towers and the spire in the middle), so it didn't go unused all that time. We couldn't help singing "The Bells of Notre Dame" from the Disney animated movie while we were there.
From there we walked short distance to Sainte-Chapelle, which Madison had specifically requested. It was built from 1239 to 1248. I was surprised when we first walked in. It was small and full of gift and information booths (reminded me of Christ and the moneylenders, but I wasn't about to do what he did), but then I realized we weren't in the actual chapel. We walked up a tiny, circular staircase (flashback to Cardiff Castle) in the back and found the upper chapel, which was truly breathtaking.Marsha even let out a gasp when she reached the top first.
Then we passed by the Pont des Arts bridge, where people used to put locks symbolizing their eternal love until recently when the city took most of them down because the added weight was damaging the bridge's structural integrity
There's still quite a few on the side railings which aren't on the actual bridge. Of course, there's still guys out there selling locks. Marsha couldn't resist and bought one for John and Katie. We're giving them the keys as part of their wedding present. Hopefully, it will get to stay awhile.
Our next brief stop was the Louvre, but we're saving that for tomorrow when we have more time. We did manage to grab a few pictures, of course.
We walked on to the the Tuileries Gardens, where Marsha was "underwhelmed" with the Arc de Triomphe until I told her that wasn't it.
We continued on to the Petit Palais (now an art museum) and the Grand Palais, which sit side-by-side. The Grand Palais was built for the Universal Exposition of 1900 and is like three museums in one
but it was closed, probably for the day.
Once we got past the garden part, Marsha realized what people were talking about regarding the Champs-Élysées. It really is one of the best streets in Paris. The view down to the actual Arc is awesome.
This is where we had our second star sighting of the trip: Harry Hamlin (L.A. Law and Mad Men) and wife Lisa Rinna walked right past us. Marsha and I both recognized them right at the same time, though we had to tell Madison who they were.
We stopped at Laduree for some macarons. The inside was a little crazy. We had a hard time getting someone to help us. After multiple attempts, Marsha finally got someone's attention. They were amazingly good. I was expecting them to be crunchy, but they were chewy and just delicious. We only got three, but will definitely go back for more.
The actual Arc de Triomphe was very impressive to Marsha, much more of what she was expecting. It was much, much bigger than the smaller arch we saw.
We were getting close to dinner, so we hopped on the metro and went to Le Wagon Bleu. Marsha found this one and we were very excited about it. It was built out of a 1920s railroad car from the Orient Express. I wanted to eat there just for the location alone. It's right by some railroad tracks, so the periodic trains that went by just added to the effect.
The place was pretty empty when we arrived (a little early for dining in France), but was packed by the time we left. They only had two menus in English (Marsha and I had to share) and our server spoke very good English. Both the food and the service were excellent.
It was still light out (sun comes up early and goes down late here), so we did a little more sight-seeing as long as we were in the area. Marsha saw a building that looked like the Taj Mahal off in the distance, but when we walked towards it, we couldn't find it.
We went by the Montmartre Cemetery,
then circled the block to the Cafe de 2 Moulins (Cafe of the Two Windmills), made famous by the movie Amelie
still have a big framed poster of her in the back.
Our final stop was the famous Moulin Rouge (The Red Windmill, and one of the two Moulins for which the Amelie cafe is named). We'd thought about going there, but it's rather pricey and might be a little uncomfortable to go with our teenage daughter.
A great first day in Paris. We got to see everything on our list today. Paris made an excellent first impression. We're loving it here.
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