A Few Days in Paris: Part 2

 Morning, and my girlfriend and I headed for the palace at Versailles. The weather was incredibly hot and we decided not to look around inside but instead go directly into the gardens. Even though it felt like we were going to melt we wandered around looking at the ornate water fountains.

Versailles really isn’t for everyone and in my opinion it does lack in terms of general prettiness. The gardens are huge but they are mainly made of huge hedge rows, long stretches of grass and white gravel.

In the afternoon we headed back into Paris to take a cruise down the river. You will be fighting to get on a boat with hundreds of other people, but it's well worth doing as you get to see the city from a different viewpoint. Our short cruise over we headed out of the city for a few hours to wait for the sun to drop. Later that night we would be coming back into Paris to experience its wonderful lights.

By far the best place to go as the sun begins to set is to the top floor of the Montparnasse tower. It’s the tallest building in the city and on a clear day you can see for miles around giving you the perfect view of the sun set. Watching the sun gradually set behind the Eiffel Tower is something that I will remember for the rest of my life. It’s moments like this that give Paris its reputation for being such a magical place.

The sun set, we hurried back to the roof of the theater for the best view of the Eiffel Tower. The tower comes alive at night with lights but if you head over when it’s completely dark it has a surprise in store. Every hour, after darkness falls, a light display makes the tower sparkle. It’s an amazingly pretty sight to behold and something many people don't know about.

Suitably impressed, it was time to head back to the hotel and then home in the morning. I left Paris finally feeling like I had really seen what it had to offer. Paris is my favourite city and really is a stunning and unique place.

A Few Days in Paris: Part 1.

I've been to Paris a few times over the years. However, I have never really been able to spend more than a couple of hours in the city. With a spare weekend around the corner I decided that now was the time to really see what it had to offer.

My journey to Paris was incredibly long and took in the delights of Wimbledon, Slough, Kingston and Maidstone. Coaches are certainly not for the impatient but they are cheap. After my five hour tour of the suburbs of London I arrived at Dover and headed across the ocean to my waiting hotel were the morning would bring about extensive touring, wandering and marvelling.

Sun risen and temperature suitably warm, I headed into a remarkably calm and empty Paris to gaze upon the Arc de Triomphe. The structure has some amazing carvings and it's an incredibly piece of architecture.

The tour continued and next up was the iconic Eiffel Tower. The best view of the tower and grounds leading up to it are from the roof of the theatre nearby. There isn’t much you can say about one of the most well known landmarks in the world. It looked nice in the sun with the fountains and set against a blue sky but I was looking forward to returning at night to see the tower lit up.

My brief stop finished it was time to take in the glory of Napoleon’s Mausoleum. Amazingly the roof is made completely out of solid gold. I stopped for second to work out just how big a helicopter would be needed to steel it. There are wonders hidden all around Paris in unexpected places. For instance, next to the opera house is an apartment store. Look inside it and you will find ornate balconies leading up to an amazing glass ceiling.

Speaking of glass I decided it was time to start the long walk down to the legendary Notre Dame. The place is incredibly imposing and it’s easily one of the most impressive and dramatic cathedrals in Europe. Inside are the fabled glass windows. Their beauty and depth of colour can’t be accurately captured by any camera. Make sure you leave some time to see it for yourself as Notre Dame can be tricky to reach.

The sun falling, it was time to enter the Monmartre district of the city, famous for its artists and street performers. It’s a lively place in the evening and you can get portraits done, eat at one of the lively restaurants or check out the impressive Church of the Sacred Heart that overlooks Paris from a high viewpoint. The acoustics of the church are truly amazing.

It had been a long day and tomorrow would see me heading to the palace at Versailles before returning to the main part of the city to see Paris by night. It promised to be very special.