Tag: Cities

Today we visited two places I like most in Paris – Montmartre and Père-Lachaise cemetary. Montmartre is just marvelous. Although it is very touristic nowadays, you can still feel the spirit of the past Boheme. Dali, Mondrian, Picasso, van Gogh – all of them lived and painted at Montmartre. The Sacré Cœur Basilica majestically reigns over Paris – being the prettiest in whole city, with its white stone and beautiful mosaics inside. Narrow streets, cafes, art galleries, various museums… And you don’t need to wander off far to leave the noisy tourists behind your back and find yourself at the heart of Paris. Truly remarkable place.

 After having a cup of coffee and grabbing a crêpe, we headed down from Montmartre – to Moulin Rouge and the red district.

The last plan for today was Père-Lachaise cementary. We visited this place 5 years ago and were enchanted by its grave and deep atmosphere so Radek insisted to see it again. I was too tired, so I stayed in a cafe while the other three went for a walk past the forgotten tombs and family vaults.

It was the last the of our museum pass, so we first went to Musée des Arts et Métiers – museum of Arts and Industry. It was pretty interesting, not crowded and educational. At its doorstep we encountered one of many Statues of Liberty situated all over Paris.

After visiting the museum we went to see the tomb of Napoleon. Wow, that’s a big coffin for one person. Before that, guys went to see the museum of arms, and girls just rested in shade.In general, we decided this day would be less action-packed, because we needed a pause from the hectic Paris.

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 🙂

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.

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…

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.

This week we have guests – Radek’s brother and his friend are visiting us. So for the weekend we set out to Annecy, a lovely village close to Geneva. There was Les Noctibules festival ongoing, although to be frank, we didn’t benefit at all from that, because we didn’s stay long enough to go and see the concerts.
Our first destination was Annecy beach. The place is situated on the shore of the Annecy lake, so with the recent heat waves we had to take advantage of that and refresh ourselves in a chilly water. We also passed by the Annecy cathedral where we parked our car, went pastAnnecy chateau and had a look over small but lovely marina.

Properly chilled by the water we went on to see the old town of Annecy. Narrow allays, colorful buildings, blooming bridges – that’s the spirit of Annecy. The town is well known for its beauty and many people choose to live there over Geneva. We strolled a bit through the lovely passages, grabbed an ice cream and moved on to the promanade – yet another treat for tourists.

The promanade is situated along Lac Annecy shore and is simply beautiful. One can stroll slowly admiring the lake and water leisure activities with a perfect surrounding of mountains. The place is always full of life, winter or summer, and never stops to amaze.

 
We continued on down the promenade, to the less touristic place of Annecy and headed back to our car. It was still early so Radek decided to take our guests to Le Reculet (see another post).