By day 3 in Paris, all of us had discovered our own groove.
We all had our agenda’s for the day and pretty much followed them to the dot.
Harry wanted to go check out the Islamic Center, Zub wanted to go see the
Catacombes and I just wanted to take the city in…As a result, Harry and Zub set out to the South of Town
early in the morning (9am?!? Early for a Vacation, no?) Anyway, while I decided
to (yes, again!) sleep in till I possibly could.
Islamic Center of Paris
The Islamic Center is a small compound that’s probably out
shone by the more glitzier destinations that Paris has to offer, since the
chances of you actually putting it on the itinerary are slim unless you’re
specifically interested in the Islamic Architecture, I thought I’d share some
images that Harry took with you.
Islamic Center Tips: Dress modestly, pay a 3 Euro entry fee and walk about… pretty simple no qualms.
Catacombs
We had all decided to meet up at Nortredame by Noon
however, the Catacombs have more to offer than what Harry and Zub had
anticipated. As a consequence it took them a good 4 hours to get done with this
destination
Entrance to the catacombs is restricted. The portion of the catacombs open to the public is only a small part of an extensive network of underground tunnels, which spans more than 300km.
The use of the depleted quarries for the storage of bones was established in 1786 by the order of the Lieutenant General of Police, M Thiroux de Crosne and the Inspector General of Quarries, Charles Axel Guillaumot.
At the time, the Les Halles district in the middle of the City of Paris was suffering from disease, which was due to contamination caused by improper burials and mass graves in church graveyards, especially in the large Saints Innocents Cemetery. So it was decided to remove the bones discreetly and place them in the abandoned quarries.
At the time, the Les Halles district in the middle of the City of Paris was suffering from disease, which was due to contamination caused by improper burials and mass graves in church graveyards, especially in the large Saints Innocents Cemetery. So it was decided to remove the bones discreetly and place them in the abandoned quarries.
As a consequence bones from various cemetaries across Paris were moved to these Catabombs.
Catacombs Tips: Keep half a day easy for this destination. Is really NOT advisable if you’re claustrophobic (which is why I sat it out) and while from what I hear people had brought kids there, I wouldn’t personally take my kids to a ditch full of skulls… AND above everything, be ready for up to 2 hours of waiting in line during Summers
St Germaine and Latin Quarters
these guys stood in line to get into the Catacombs, I
wandered aimless in around in the Latin Quarter from what by my standards
turned out to be one of the most beautiful mornings I spent in Paris… Latin
Quarters is just another high street for those who just walk by and a treasure
trove for those seeking to find something. I hummed one of my favourite oldie songs as I walked the streets...
As I walked past Sorborne clicking
away on my lame little blackberry, I couldn’t be happier… would it be odd to
say that even the homeless in Paris have character?? I waddled around town as
Parisians lived up to their flirty reputation with instances such as ‘asking a
woman with a baby bump the size of a football for a light and offering to buy a
drink’. I parked myself eventually for a quite meal in one of the cafés on the
streets of St Germaine. I LOVE how Paris streets are lined with small
cafes… Enjoying the sun, the passerbys,
the food and the dear old waiters conversation who could barely talk in
English, I spent an hour there before taking on the task of walking around again…
It was then I discovered Shakespeare and
Company.
If you’re a book lover, missing this odd ball shop is
nothing short of Blasphemy. Boasting many an eclectic collection of books both
old and new, this shop seems like it’s been pulled out of an Enid Blyton book
and will just fly away…
Jardine du Palais Royale
After nearly passing the whole day, we finally converge from
all our various destinations at Jardine du Palais Royale…. Honestly, either we didn’t
get to the right place or it really wasn’t all that but I guess when you’re in
the holiday frame of mind you do end up enjoying everything… My foot which I
had twisted the day before (I don’t know how) had by now swollen to the size of
a little Balloon so it was decided the only way to get it back in shape is to
put it in cold water… and there it was this gorgeous fountain waiting for us to
douse our feet in.
Eiffel Tower
From here we headed to Trocadero to see what I till then had
thought was one of the wonders of the world (in my recent google search I found
out the Eiffel Tower is no longer featured on the top 7 list!!!) Having been
disappointed not to have found tickets to go up the Eiffel at short notice the
night before, we were destined to see it from a distance and Trocadero provides
JUST the right distance…
The first thing that hits you is that it is so much bigger
than you imagined and the second that umm it’s not the dull grey colour one is
accustomed to seeing in the pictures… It’s BRONZE!! Who would have thought…
While Zub decided to stick around the tower a bit longer
taking photographs, Harry and I called a break and headed back to the hotel to
Nurse my swollen foot.
Eiffel Tower Tips: if you want to go up the tower, book atleast 3-4 days in advance online. The line is excruciatingly long and as we found out, people who had been standing in the line for over 2 hours were nowhere close to their turn.
River Cruise
Our final destination for the night for the Port Neuf River Cruise… Yet another good thing that had come out of the Discover Walks Tour was
the little coupon we got for the River Cruise bringing down our per person
ticket cost from 13 Euros to 4 Euros!
Needless to say, you have a choice of a million different River Cruises
with meals without meal, with entertainment without entertainment, champagne
and the works… But we were interested in plain old Sight Seeing – Paris by
Night you may call it. So we took the
last boat which leaves the dock at 10pm (Summer Days are long so its still not
fully dark till 9pm) and spent a good hour going up and down River Sienne and
looking at all the iconic sites of Paris beautifully lit up at night… including
the disco glam (reminds me of the sparkly glitter miumiu shoes) Eiffel Tower.
Unfotunately,
I had forgotten to take my camera for the last haul so there is no photographic
record of the boat tour or our dinner in Latin Quarters (yes once again) later…
