- Louvre Museum Main attractions – Meet Mona Lisa
- Explore Paris – Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Saint Chappelle
- Visit Eiffel Tower – Keep Calm and Love Eiffel
- Sacre-coeur – Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.Susan Sontag
Explore Paris – Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Saint Chappelle
After our quick and very satisfying visit to the Louvre (Read more), we made our way to the Notre Dame Cathedral using the very reliable Paris Metro. As with most of the places, we prefer using the public transport for very obvious reasons – quick, cheap and you actually see real life in motion.
Notre Dame is a fine example of French gothic architecture and is one of the largest and most well-known medieval Catholic Church buildings in the world.
- Opening Times: 8AM – 6:45PM
- Address: 6 Parvis Notre-Dame – Pl. Jean-Paul II, 75004 Paris – France
- Train line: St-Michel Notre Dame – RER B Train Line (blue), St-Michel Notre Dame – RER C Train Line (yellow), Cité – Line 4 (fuschia) (Explore Paris Metro)
- Free Entry
Just a 10 minutes walk from Notre Dame is the Saint Chappelle. One of the finest gems of Gothic architecture, this Chappelle was intended to house precious Christian relics including Christ’s crown of thorns and was built in flat seven years. Having these sacred relics in his possession, made the already powerful monarch head of western Christianity.
The stunned stained glass arranged across 15 windows, each 15 metres high, the stained glass panes depict 1,113 scenes from the Old and New Testaments recounting the history of the world until the arrival of the relics in Paris.
- Opening Times: 9AM – 5PM
- Address: 6 Parvis Notre-Dame – Pl. Jean-Paul II, 75004 Paris – France
- Train line: Metro: line 4 – cite stop (Explore Paris Metro)
- Tickets: 8.50Euro – Buy at the counter
No trip to the city of love is complete without visiting the Iconic Eiffel Tower.
By now, we made up our mind not to see any more museums for the day. So, we made our way to Musee d’Orsay. We wanted to enjoy Paris – the way it is – so what best than explore it on foot. So we took the metro again – Line 12 to Soleferino and finally arrived at Musee d’Orsay on the left bank of River Seine.
We then crossed the river over one of its many bridges (they had this love locks – though not the famous one where the locks have now been removed) and strolled further down to reach Place de la Concorde. This is one of the major public squares in Paris, France. Measuring 8.64 hectares (21.3 acres) in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. As we had arrived in Paris after the aftermath of the sad terrorist attacks, this place was heavily guarded with prying eyes everywhere. Maybe I am just skeptical but that didn’t stop me from sitting for few minutes and watching the surrounding and all the hustle bustle of this enigmatic city.
We had arrived in Paris during the Christmas season of 2015 and what better to enjoy Europe than its Christmas markets. So we decided to walk all the way from Place de la Concorde to Arc de Triomphe/Champe Elysees. The first half of this straight road was jotted on both side with the Christmas markets and this involved quite few breaks along the way. The second half of this road was all about the modern day Paris – lined with designer shops and big brands. Finally, we arrived at Arc de Triomphe.
The Arc de Triomphe honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault, lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. This is quite a busy area with fast moving traffic – so please be careful when you click pictures here.
We navigated Paris using the Metro and on foot – if you need more information on using the Paris Metro – Click here
Read our Paris Exploration – Click here
If you need any additional info, please leave a comment on this post and I will get back to at the earliest.
This is Aldrin and my partner Amoli. We bring you "Earths Pilgrim" - a unique insight into our travel escapades while leaving life in a cubicle. If you are looking for some inspiration to break the shackles of a regular life, then you are the right place. Read more about us- Click here.