Saturday I took the train to Paris and spent 7 hours in the city. I had two stops that I absolutely had to make, Notre Dame and Père Lachaise. After that, I spent the rest of the day power walking all over the city and racing to catch the metro. My hamstrings still hate me and I'm pretty sure I have shin splints. Love, love getting old. :P
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| Walking out of the metro at 9 am to the beautiful morning rays coming up behind Notre Dame Cathedral |
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| Looking up the river Seine opposite Notre Dame. |
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| When I got to Notre Dame there was a huge temporary stage set up to celebrate the cathedral's 850 year anniversary. |
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| I took this picture from the stage seats in front of the cathedral. |
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| Mini Alex Ninja Captain Photo Bomb 1 (: |
A few shots inside the Gothic style cathedral and one of the many stain glass rosace.
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| See the café on the corner next to Notre Dame? That was my next stop. |
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| "Un café for me and mini ninja." |
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| A noisette (cup of espresso with milk) at the café Aux Tours Notre Dame, cost me €3.40. At that price, not only did I drink the espresso, but I dumped the rest of my sugar in the milk and drank that too! |
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After coffee, I headed to l' Hôtel de Ville (City Hall).
Every year an ice rink is built in front of City Hall.
This is them putting it in place right now, so unfortunately
I couldn't get any closer.
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| Holiday lights and decoration could be seen on many buildings. Unfortunately, they didn't look like much during the day. |
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| Street shot |
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| Street shot near centre Pompidou |
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| Quick shot of the Centre Pompidou |
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| Cemetery Père Lachaise |
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| The tomb of Oscar Wilde |
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| Tomb of Oscar Wilde |
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| Père Lachaise |
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| Père Lachaise |
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| Street shot |
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| Street shot |
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For Mark.
Guinness Tavern on Rue des Lombards
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| Ninja photo bomb 2 (: |
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| And what do ya know? Directly across the street from the Guinness Tavern is yet another Irish pub and a tattoo parlor. Wonder where they get all their clients from? I would have gone in, but they were closed on Saturdays. :P |
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| Band playing in the streets near the Louvre. |
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I didn't go into the Louvre, but I did manage this shot
by pressing my camera against the acrylic glass
walls that look down into the museum's
entrance hall.
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Louvre Pyramids in the Napoleon Courtyard at the
Palais du Louvre
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| Louvre |
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Exiting the Napoleon Courtyard and what do I see?
The Eiffel Tower! (:
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| Star Wars display in a fancy shop window on the rue Rivoli. |
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| Street shot |
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Very fancy English shirtmakers shop Hilditch & Key.
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| "Excuse me, is my room ready?" |
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| Took a stroll in the Tuileries gardens next to the Louvre, but it was a bit disappointing on a gloomy day in winter. Um... am I allowed to be disappointed in Paris? |
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| In the Tuileries gardens, every tree had these cloth bags hanging from the branches and it's driving me crazy not knowing what's in them or what they are being used for. |
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Place de la Concorde with Eiffel Tower in background.
♫ Cue French accordion music ♫
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| The Great Ferris Wheel on Place de la Concorde. |
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Coming up out of the metro at Charles de Gaulle – Étoile to see
l'Arc de Triomphe.
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| Ninja photo bomb 3 :P |
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| The Sphere of Hell which doesn't look that bad at all. And then I remembered, it was lunch time and everyone was probably eating baguette sandwiches and drinking wine, no doubt. (: |
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| Yes, that does say Cartier on the building next door. |
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| Les Champs-Elysées looking down towards Place de la Concorde. Why am I standing in the middle of the famous boulevard you ask? So I can bring you this uneventful photograph, of course.(; |
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| Walkling along les Champs-Elysées. |
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| Small neighborhood theater |
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The basilica of the Sacré Coeur at Montmatre.
Sorry wuff, this was the closest I could get to the artsy stuff. I just didn't have enough time.
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| Street shot in Montmatre |
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And just a stones throw away from the Roman Catholic basilica,
is the sex district. Brilliant. (o_O)
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| It took me only a few minutes to walk from the foot of the Sacre Coeur to the famous, Moulin Rouge. Not what you had imagined, right? |
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| Back on the metro for one final shot from the left bank before heading to the train station. |
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| But I couldn't leave without taking a picture of my favorite museum, the Musée d'Orsay. *sigh* |
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| Last shot of the Grand Ferris Wheel from the left bank. |
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| And one last Ninja photo bomb (-': |
So, when are you coming over for a visit?
(:
