Hannah Holliday's Paris blog day 2

Hannah Holliday's Paris blog day 2

The Luxembourg Gardens aren’t at their most beautiful in late autumn but they still make a great place to stop and rest for a while.  The Luxembourg Palace is a lovely backdrop to the beautifully manicured lawns and flower beds which were being replanted for Spring during our visit, and it’s easy to see why this park is so popular with Parisians.  From our apartment in rue St Sulpice it was an easy five minute walk to the gardens. 

 

We then wandered via the Pantheon, a huge neoclassical abbey-cum-mausoleum commissioned by Louis XV, through the Latin Quarter to St Michel where we caught the Batobus.  A Batobus hop-on hop-off cruise along the Seine is a great way to get from one attraction to the other. With eight stops on the route, you can hop on and off as you please.  Our 2 day pass cost only A$27.50 each (pre-purchased in Australia before we left home) and was a handy way to get around on the cold, drizzly Parisian days.  With stops at convenient locations like St Germain des Pres, Notre Dame, Hotel de Ville, Champs Elysees and the Eiffel Tower, the Batobus is a very relaxing way to travel between Paris’s major sights and offers great views of Paris from the Seine.

 

The magnificent Avenue de Champs Elysees never fails to impress with the imposing Arc de Triomphe at one end and the Place de la Concorde at the other.  At this time of year, Christmas stalls are set up selling all sorts of festive fare including the very popular Vin Chaud (hot wine).  Piping hot crepes with apple sauce, and hot chocolate, tempted our taste buds and were delicious.  The Champs Elysees really comes alive at this time of year with the trees lining the avenue all decorated with sparkling fairy lights.  It’s a magical scene at night time looking down from the Arc de Triomphe.

The Arc itself is an impressive structure.  Completed in 1836 it commemorates France’s victorious battles and stands proudly at the most famous roundabout in Paris, a 12-road junction which is not for the faint-hearted driver.  Visitors can climb the Arc’s 284 steps for 360 degree views of Paris and down the Champs Elysees.  At 50 metres high and 45 metres wide, the Arc is also the final resting place of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, with a flame lit each evening at 6.30pm.

The more energetic tourist can hit the pavement and walk to the Eiffel Tower.  We wandered down rue Kleber to the huge Palais de Chaillot and nothing can prepare you for the first glimpse you have of the Tower standing right in front of you.  Its sheer size is amazing.  Now 125 years old, the Eiffel Tower was originally built for the 1889 World Exposition and was to be a temporary structure. It caused great debate amongst Parisians of the time but was eventually allowed to remain and today it is probably France’s most iconic attraction.
We’d been up the Eiffel Tower on a previous visit to Paris and, as the day was quite overcast this time, we decided to miss the day time queues and save our Eiffel Tower views until the evening. We had pre-booked and pre-paid for dinner at 58 Tour Eiffel restaurant before we left Australia so on arrival at the Tower, all we had to do was head to the separate ’58 Tour Eiffel’ booth and purchase our discounted lift tickets (4.50 euros each). We then had fast access to the lift up to the first level of the tower. Our 3-course meal consisted of a choice of three entrees, mains and desserts and was accompanied by a glass of champagne. The service was impeccable, the views of an illuminated Paris from our table next to the window, superb.  It was money well spent and definitely an experience we’ll always remember.

Hannah