Pauline and Jane are in Paris!!

Bonjour de Paris!
Temps pour un autre blog.
Pauline and I have been in lovely Paris for four days and we have seen everything a tourist should see. In fact we have been ticking the sites off our list as we have been ticking the menu items off a corresponding list.

As soon as we arrived at the Waldorf Madeleine we headed up the Boulevard Malesherbes to our first bistro for Champagne cocktails, pâté de foie gras, omlette and quiche. Tick tick tick!

Day One

Our first day saw us walking to the Place de la Concorde then to the Eiffel Tower and finally a walk up the Champs de Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. Tick tick tick!  We wanted lunch at the Eiffel Tower, but there was very little information around so we found a nice little bistro - and there are millions of them. Today's choice from the food list was Croque Monsieur and Croque Madame!! The first thing that struck me in Paris was that information was so hard to come by - I had to google every night to discover the history of a lot of the places. The other thing that struck me was the Eiffel Tower is very ordinary, by contrast the Arc de Triomphe is stunning.  One of the facts I discovered through googling is that the Nazi's head quarters in WWII where in the PLace de la Concorde.

Day Two

To maximise our sight-seeing and coverage of the city and to get more information we decided to buy a two day ticket on the hop on/hop off bus. Great idea - but it's bloody cold on those open top buses in the winter.  We had four routes to choose from; our first choice took us up around Montmartre (Sacre Coeur and Moulin Rouge); our second around the main city, but we only went as far as Notre Dame before we had to jump off. Amazing place!! I have always wanted to see this Cathedral since I studied French at school and I have to report it delivered.  A nice bistro near the cathedral also delivered something amazing, French Onion Soup and Choclolate Mousse!  We continued our bus tour with a tour around the Bastille region - again my thirst for historic knowledge was left wanting, but some of the sites were simply breathtaking.  

Day Three

Our bus trip continued as our list of sight seeing and food experiences continued to shrink! Croissants for breakfast! Magnifique! Firstly we finished the tour of the main city sights which didn't add much from our day one walking tour, but it was nice to see them from a different angle and to learn a bit more.  There is a separate lift for the restaurants in the Eiffel Tower! Now we know!! The main city tour was followed by our fourth and final tour around Montparnasse and we rounded the day out at the Louvre. OMG!!! It is the biggest friggin' building I have ever seen - I would need at least three days to see it, but then I could stop whingeing about the lack of knowledge around the place!!! If you look at the photo that I have included on the left you can just see Pauline in the entrance and if you look at the photo on the right you can see the size of the glass dome to the rest of the ancient palace. 

Day Four

The final day was by far the best day - Sacre Coeur. The most peaceful and beautiful cathedral ever. I could have just sat there and soaked in the waves of serenity forever, but I didn't.  Instead we walked up 291 steps to the top of the Dome. Something both Pauline and I observed - the old monks can't possibly have eaten croissants!!!  What a climb, but what a reward at the end.  And as an additional reward as we sat at he top of this dome staring out at the spread of Paris in the gorgeous sunlight we heard a busker singing "One Love, One Voice, We have to carry each other..." Bono would be proud.

The day finished perfectly with Grand Marnier Crepes and Cognac. Back to London tomorrow where we have hired a car to start adventure number three!! 

Au Revoir!