Tag: France

Paris day 4: Sainte-Chapelle, Notre Dame, Branly

Another exciting day in Paris… We started the day from visiting Sainte-Chapelle (yet another thing we didn’t see 5 years ago). It’s a beautiful, medieval, Gothic-style chapel with breathtaking stained glass windows.

Then we went to visit the Notre Dame cathedral. Quick tour inside and then climb up the stairs up to the tower (I didn’t dare and waited for the rest of the guys outside, at a doorstep of the church in a nice shade).

We still had some free time and a museum pass to be used up, so we headed to  musée du quai Branly, which  features indigenous art, cultures and civilizations from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas.

Fewer and fewer must-see spots left in Paris for us 🙂

Paris day 3: Pompidou, Panthéon, Cluny, Notre Dame, Batobus

Day three of Paris trip passed under the sign of museums. First on – Pompidou – museum of contemporary art. It was a very interesting experience for us – people rather down to earth. I cannot deny – we had some laugh, but all in all it made us think about art as such and I consider the time spent there as valuable and enjoyable.

After Pompidou we went to a cafe for some crêpes and milkshakes and then headed to Panthéon – earlier a church, now a mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens – Skłodowska – Curie being the most prominent one in my opinion.

Next we decided to go for dinner, but on our way to a restaurant quarter we saw a nice museum of Middle Ages – Cluny, so we decided to pass by. Since we were not planning to visit Louvre, it was a nice alternative – small and private in a sense, with only a few tourists.

After dining out we still had some powers left to do something downtown, so we decided to take a Batobus ride. Batobus is like a bus, except it’s on water. Round trip around Paris takes 8 stops and lasts more than an hour. We thought it would be nice and not tiring way of seeing Paris from a different perspective. The stop was situated close to the Notre Dame cathedral, so first we had a look at its facades and took some photos.

Paris day 2: Versaille and Paris at night

On day two we went to Château de Versailles. Five years ago we saw only the gardens around the castle, we didn’t dare to queue to see le Château. So this time we did the other part – only the castle – without the gardens. After visiting the royal chambers I have a feeling of relief I’m not a queen. But the ornaments were stunning – no doubt about that.

In the evening (after taking some rest) we went to see Paris at night. L’arc de Triomph makes a perfect view point for that. So romantic…

Paris day 1: Discovering the city

An exciting week in Paris ahead of us. We decided to revisit the city of love, which was our destination 5 years ago for our honeymoon. This time we went with a pair of friends who have never visited the city, so we did a couple of must-sees as well as some not obvious choices for tourists. But of course, the first day was devoted only to grasping the spirit of the city by walking to and fro. Because of my condition, I sometimes had to pass on certain attractions and stay in countless cafes or parks while the rest went sightseeing, but that was fine too – I had a possibility to have a look at the details.
Our first spot to see was l’Arc de Triomph, from where we took Avenue des Champs-Élysées to reach the centre of Paris with Louvre and numerous palaces (there were so many of them I somehow lost track – anyway – we didn’t pass by all of them).

 

 

When we reached Roue de Paris we didn’t think long. Five minutes later we could marvel at the roofs of Paris from a comfy Paris eye.

After the ride we found ourselves just in front of the Louvre square from where we moved to the Pont des Arts which is also known as a Love Bridge full of emblems of infinite bond and happiness – padlocks with names of the lovers.

It was already a bit late so we headed to a restaurant to try some cuisses de grenouilles (frog legs). After that I was a bit too tired to continue, so I let Radek and friends see the Eiffel Tower and watched photos later. Lovely as usual.

Fort l’Ecluse

Today we went to see Fort l’Ecluse that was built somewhere in the 17th century. Now it sits by the Swiss border (but still on the French side) and is open to tourists and climbers. In fact, it seemed like yesterday there were more of the second kind, people with ropes climbed the via ferrata that goes up the rock to the top. Well, although it looks pretty awesome, we chose the stairs 🙂 And there were 820 of them! But before reaching the terrace, we made a tour round the low-level chambers filled with art exhibitions.

From the terrace we had a nice view on the surrounding Swiss and French valleys. There was also a nice breeze, so we stayed for a longer while to cool down after a long stairs climb.

Le téléphérique du Salève

We decided not to wait for the perfect air clarity in order to go to a téléphérique du Salève, which is a cable car that goes on the top of Salève mountain, known as the balcony of Geneva. Indeed, one can see the whole city from the station, as well as a good deal of Lac Leman shore.
A cable car ride is fun of its own, it goes very quickly and steeply. When we reached the top we headed staright to a view point on Mont Blanc, which was situated 15 minutes away walking from the main station. The mountain was a bit covered by the clouds, we tried to wait for the wind to blow them away, but it didn’t look like that, so we came back to the station site to watch para-gliders and Geneva.

Le Reculet challenge

There was a nice event organised by our group leader – Le Reculet challenge. One could take part in a race to the top, but there were only a few daredevils. The rest hiked in their own pace and waited for the contstants at the top. After everyone reached the cross, we took a photo and went on to a mountain hut for some yummy raclette and jolly singing. Some stayed for a night, others went down in the darkness. Fun evening indeed.

Pointe d’Andey (1 877 m)

Today I went for a brief hike in Plateau de Solaison. I chose this destination because I was intrigued by a Saint Marry statue on the top. Also, it was said to be a very fast and easy hike -exactly what I need. I started from Plateau de Solaison, already pretty high up, and followed a narrow and pretty steep footway staright to the top. There were no spectacular views on the way up, maybe except a lot of wildlife.

From the top there was a nice view on the valley with Bonnevillle (Prettytown) and the surrounding mountains. I stayed for quite some time there before descending, having a bite of a sandwich and enjoying mild breeze. It’s a pity that the clarity of air was not perfect, because normally I could see the Alps far far away. Maybe the next time.

Lac et Pointe d’Arvouin (2021 m)

Today I went to see Lac d’Arvouin and to climb Pointe d’Arvouin (2021 m) towering above the lake. I chose this route because it was a relatively fast one and lakes are always cool. Pointe d’Arvouin (2021 m) is a peak in Cornettes de Bise mountains which make up a natural border between Switzerland and France. The climbing path is on the French side though.
I started already from the hight of ~1600 m and it took 30 minutes on a mostly flat terrain to get to the lake. I admired already nice views and blossoming slopes of the surrounding mountains.

There were quite a few people picnicing by the lake. The mood around was party-like, people laughed and chatted quite loudly (especially by the chalets – mountain huts), dogs swam in the lake, children dipped their toes in a stream, etc. I sat by the lake for a while to gather strengths before climbing higher. It was really hot, so any piece of shadow was appreciated.

Since there was no official trail to Point d’Arvouin, frankly speaking I didn’t know exactly which way to chose. I could go right through col de Savalenaz or left through col de Serpentin. I chose the latter and proceeded up a moderately steep slope. When I reached the col I had some nice view both, on the lake valley and on the Cornettes de Bise mountains.

From col de Serpentin I followed a wild trail up the mountains (there were no signs whatsoever that that was a trail, but I could see people walking down that little path from the top, so I hoped it was a good sign). I thought it would be possible to go on the mountain tops to reach Pointe d’Arvouin. The higher up the wilder the footway became. In the end it really looked like a goat trail or something, but it was not really long, so I proceeded up. I was hoping to reach to a better path on the top. Well, vein hopes… Instead, what I found at the top was… a chasm! It was pretty scary, with no protection from falling whatsoever. There was also no trail to the actual Pointe d’Arvouin which was situated just ~100 m away and ~80 m up. So, yet again, although I was very close, I didn’t reach the actual top I was aiming for. But the view was nice anyway, so I spent some time in a safe distance from the chasm and looked over and back to French and Swiss side. At this height it was already nice and cool, so I took my time before following the same route to the car.

 Chasm:

Medieval town of Yvoire

With the weather pampering us for the past weeks, we do trips every weekend. This time we went to Yvoire, small town at the south shore of Geneva Lake, well-known for  its medieval town and Garden of Five Senses. Having entered inner area encircled by an old wall, we headed straight to the Jardin des Cinq Sens (the garden). We haven’t seen it yet so I was pretty curious what will await us inside.
In principle, the garden is design in a labyrinth-like manner with different „garden chambers”. There are: alpine garden, undergrowth, maze, meditation place, garden of taste, garden of smell, garden of touch, garden of sight, garden of hearing. The last ones are the most interesting. In garden of taste you can find edible plants, in garden of smell one should rub the leaves of the plants to sense different smells, in garden of touch one will find funny texture plants (like with spikes, silky smooth, sticky etc.), garden of sight is a treat for our eyes, since it’s all colored in blue, velvet and rose and the garden of hearing is basically a fountain. All in all, I enjoyed all of them.

After a visit in the garden we did a tour – by the medieval castle, to the lake side and through the quaint village. Surprisingly, there were no so awfully lots of tourists, so we enjoyed strolling down the little lanes covered with flowers.