Still so much to see and the weekend is almost over! We caught the Metro this morning, no problem. Quite easy to understand, even when you miss the stop and have to back track, which may have happened ...
This is where we were headed today - The Eiffel Tower.
But breakfast first ...
It didn't take too long to get tickets - a good time of the year to travel, especially when the weather plays along. I had seen the tower from the river previously but up close it's seriously impressive.
This is apparently the most visited (paid) monument in the world - almost 7 million visitors in 2015. It is 324 metres high and the concept was initially hated by the French. This is an exerpt from a petition in 1887. Ironic that the tower has become the iconic symbol of France.
'We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of
the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength,
with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against
the erection … of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower … To bring our
arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower
dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its
barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome
of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments
will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years … we shall
see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful
column of bolted sheet metal.'
These are glass floors, gulp!
But good to orientate youself, if you can bear to look down.
The view from the top!
And so, back down to earth. Tick that off the bucket list ✔️
A Seine cruise was next on the agenda - Batobus - hop on, hop off.
These make good bookmarks.
Lunch at a street cafe in St-Germain-des-Pres. Wine at any time of day, but never to excess.
and dessert from a local patisserie.
A stroll along the riverbank popping in to an unexpected sculpture exhibition at The 11 Conti - Monnaie de Paris - Thomas Schutte a well known modern German Sculptor
Onwards to Notre Dame - we were so lucky to see this beautiful cathedral before it was so badly burnt in April
That was the end of a very long day with so much visual input - it's exhausting. I find that it takes numerous visits to a place to get beyond the iconic sights and tourist attractions. You can only see and absorb so much in a weekend. This is a reason I enjoy this blog so much. I've seen the place, now I go back and look up and research the places. I will go back to Paris, we only scratched the surface. Thank goodness for Uber!
