Today, we woke up planning to go to Chateaux de Versailles. But the weather was dreary, the rain was going sideways and we weren’t much in the mood for daytripping. Instead, we stayed in Paris, unimpressed by the cold and the rain, and sort of ended up doing the same thing- a day trip of Paris, looping our way to the Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe and down the Champs Elysee to the Louvre.
The Notre Dame is an incredible, colossal cathedral- originally built in the 12 Century, you look up and the ceiling and can’t believe how they managed to construct it. The entrance is an intricate montage of faces, religious figures and gargoyles. The ceiling consists of multiple arches; it’s higher than you imagine and these pictures really don’t capture its size. In order to see the building in full, you need to stand back about 40 metres. And, once inside, you’re witness to the prettiest stained glass. When we visited, there was a mass taking place, and when the priest and the congregation sang, their voices echoed through the cathedral. Despite all the (hundreds of) tourists, it was a surreal experience. There are sculptures that depict Jesus’ life journey inside. From memory they were made in the 14th Century and have been restored (repainted) a number of times. Again, you wouldn’t find this stuff in Australia, and it actually boggles my mind, because who knew to preserve it way back in the 15th Century, so that we can view and talk about it today??
[The Notre Dame:]
[14th century sculptures depicting Jesus's life journey:]
[The super high ceilings:]
[Beautiful stained glass:]
[The front entrance:]
After Notre Dame, we battled the rain, and risked life and limb to take a photo on the median strip of a hectic Paris highway in front of the Arc de Triomphe. Again, it’s humungous- a lot bigger than you expect. As a result, according to Man from Mars, the median strip (which is about 20 metres from the Arc de Triomphe) is “the best place” to take a photo of it. So we do. So tourist. We climbed up heaps of steps, made it to the top and took the token “I made it to the top!” photo.
[Arc de Triomphe:]
[The "awesome" photo on the median strip:]
[The Arc de Triomphe up close:]
[View from the top of the Arc de Triomphe:]
In the theme of visiting Paris’ mandatory monuments, we then trotted down Champs Elysee, where I entered make-up heaven at Sephora. There, I got the reddest lipstain ever. I went a bit crazy and got four of the same (without trying it on first; I just dabbed it on the back of my hand. For future reference people, this is not a good way to determine whether a lip gloss will suit), and then when we got outside, I tried it on and realised it was a tad too vermillion red. Always supportive of the “you can go and change it right after you buy it” motto, Man from Mars reassured me that we could go straight back in and exchange the other ones. Nooo, it’s okay, I insisted. It was too embarrassing to exchange it straight away! (For the record, we went to another Sephora the next day and exchanged them).
We then wolfed down a crepe before marching to the Louvre. As Miss Tiny helpfully advised, when you go to the Louvre, you go in there with a plan and you stick to it. You go to the Mona Lisa, and then you get the hell out of the crowd. Unless you’re an arts fiend, you keep it short, sweet and snappy- otherwise, you’ll be in a confused world of hectic staircases. We did just that and, in contrast to the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame which were a lot bigger than I imagined, the Mona Lisa was much much smaller than I expected. It was flanked by a massive crowd and all I could think was “it’s the size of an A4 piece of paper!” Still, it’s one of those things you go to Paris for, right?
[The Louvre and my super red lip tint:]
[The Mona Lisa and The Crowd:]
[The Mona Lisa, protected by three layers of glass:]
Next stop, and marking the end of a colossal day of walking, was the Eiffel Tower by night. We waited in line for 2 hours for the lift to the top, and having been there and done that, is it wrong for me to say that you don’t need to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower to get the best view of Paris from above? You could go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe at night, and capture a sky line which includes the Eiffel Tower (which in my opinion makes the Parisian skyline). Or, you could also go up Montpanasse (officially known as Paris’s ugliest skyscraper) and see it all.
What a tiring and long day. We must have stood/walked for 13 hours!
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