Paris

After another train ride, a short metro ride and a short walk and we were at our Paris apartment.  We were two floors up on a street that once was known for garment, textile and fashion accessories.  Above the narrow fronted shops there were many apartments and at street level many shops were crammed with nothing but large rolls of fabric.  Looking out our window into an apartment across the street we could see sewing machines.  There was a daily rubbish collection and when we walked along the street we saw many bins with fabric scraps in them.  As you might expect there were people checking the discards for lengths of fabric that might be useful.

 As there is a lot to see we had three busy days in Paris  We had planned to climb the tower at Notre Dame but by the time we got there the queue was huge.  We didn't have the time, or the inclination, to wait so settled for a look inside.  Like the many other cathedrals we have visited it's size and construction is impressive. We checked the queue again a couple hours later, it was still long and a lady told us she had been waiting two hours and while close she still wasn't at the front.  

The Sainte-Chapelle chapel, built 1242 to 1248 was a surprise.  First we went into the lower chapel, which was the church for the palace staff.  It is smaller and beautifully painted.

The upper chapel was used by the King, his family and close friends.  The 15 stained glass windows have 115 scenes telling the story from Genesis to Christ’s  resurrection, they are stunning.

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 Sometimes in large buildings you are so taken by the windows and the towering roof you forget to look down.  The Sainte-Chapelle floor had some lovely mosaics.

We visited the Concierge a former prison. It was part of the former royal palace, which consisted of the Conciergerie, Palais de Justice and the Sainte-Chapelle. Today the law courts use part of the building.  During the French Revolution hundreds of prisoners were taken from the Conciergerie to be executed on the guillotine.  The prisoners quality of life was based mainly on how much they could pay.  Queen Marie Antoinette was held here before her trial and execution.

Where guards and other staff gathered 

Womens cell block at the front, palace at the back 

The Eiffel Tower is an impressive structure.  Although we have seen many photos of it, it wasn't until we got close that we realised just how big it is.  The width of the base and the height of the tower are both massive.

At all the attractions we have gone through security, ranging from a simple bag check to bag x-ray.  At the Eiffel tower it was the tightest.  At the entrance we walked through a scanner (like at the airport) then just before we started climbing, after buying our tickets, our bags were x-rayed, we walked through a scanner and had a wand scan too.  We climbed 115 metres (689 steps) to get to the second level where we had a good views over the city.

As we were in the area we decided to visit the Pantheon, which was built in 1790 as a Basilica but a year later, because of the French revolution, it was converted to a national Pantheon (burial place or containing memorials to the famous). Twice during the 19th century it reverted to a church but eventually assumed its lasting role as a mausoleum.  Victor Hugo was buried here in 1885 and he shares a space with Emile Zola (died 1902) and Alexandre Dumas (died 1870 & in 2002 he was reburied here, 132 years after his death).

Saw this on the way to the crypts and thought it had a humorous touch 

The Pantheon is beautiful with polished stone floors, large domes and paintings on the ceilings and the walls.  Outside it is fronted with corinthian columns.

Looking up when standing by the columns

The Versailles palace was an 'over the top' visual experience with an overabundance of painted ceilings and gold paint.  The palace started life in 1623 as a hunting lodge for Louis XIII (reigned 1610-1643).  

In 1661 Louis XIV (reigned 1643-1715) started enlarging it into a royal palace and it continued growing with new wings and administration blocks.  

Louis XV (reigned 1715-1774), his changes included a chapel and opera house.
Louis XVI (reigned 1774-1792) made some changes too.

The chapel 

Louis XV daughter Victoire's apartment - bedroom 

And daughter Adelaide's drawing room 

During the French Revolution, in 1789, the royal family was forced to move to Paris and the Versailles palace fell into disrepair.   Some restoration work was undertaken by Napoleon in 1810 and Louis XVIII in 1820, but the main effort to restore Versailles was in 1883 by Louis-Philippe (reigned 1830-1848).

The Sacre Coeur Basilica is visible from many places in Paris as it stands on a hill. 

 From the metro station in Montmartre as we made our way along the streets we had about 250 steps to climb to get us to the hilltop.  The Basilica, built 1875-1914, is a lovely white building and has a nice open feeling inside as the glass dome lets in lots of light.

As we left the Basilica we heard music and went and sat on some steps to listen to a guy singing and playing the guitar. 

Montmartre is known as an artists area and as we made our way back to the metro station we passed by artists painting pictures and many were drawing portraits.

I think my favourite view point over Paris was from the Arc de Triomphe.  This sits in the middle of a busy roundabout and was built from 1806 to 1836 as a monument to honour those who fought and died for France. 

 Aroumd the top of the monument is a series of sculptures depicting a number of battles.  Above is the battle of Arcole in 1796.

The battle of Abukir - 1799

'The monument is large and we climbed up inside one of the legs, 283 steps, to be rewarded with lovely views down the many streets that radiate away from the roundabout.  Watching the cars using the roundabout was interesting, there are no lane markings and how you know who gives way is beyond me.

Just to prove we were there 

The Orsay museum, built 1898 to 1900, is housed in an old railway station that is almost an attraction in itself.  

As far as art goes I either like it or I don't so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this gallery.  As we entered we walked through a gallery of lovely statues then the amazing collection of paintings had such variety that even with my limited taste I was kept interested.  

Fortunately the Louvre had a late night opening so we had a few hours left to spend there.  The Louvre building was the palace of Louis XVI before he moved to Versailles and in places there was a resemblance with painted ceilings and gold paint in the décor.  

The collections we visited were 
  Egyptian antiques - mainly statues
  Decorative arts - glassware, dinnerware, jewellery and reconstructed room interiors
 Italian painting - most had a religious theme and Mona Lisa had quite a crowd around her.  

There was much more to see but the days hours are limited and we could only take so much in so at 8:30pm we decided we had seen as much of Paris as we could.

At the Louvre, reminiscent of Versailles