Culture Trip
This tour of Paris was focused on getting in touch with our more artistic / cultural side and spending a day each at the Louvre, and also the Palace of Versailles. Our last trip had been a bit rushed and we had skipped all the museums in favour of ticking off the big items - Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur etc.
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| Statue of St Michel, we stayed near the station of the same name |
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| Eiffel Tower, a long way from where we stayed this time |
Lessons Learnt
On this trip we were more specific about the food we wanted to eat, ie. more snails, foie gras and steak tartare; knowledgeable about the metro system and more wary of the gypsies that gather around the train stations trying to pickpocket tourists.
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| Ham and cheese omelette - bargain prices compared to Mont St Michel |
Eurostar Trip
This trip started with a fairly early departure time of 6am. And when it came to trying to coordinate Night Bus timetables at 4am to make it to St Pancras in time, it was all too hard. We called up our faithful mini-cab company and at £16 for the 20 min ride we took the easy option. Our train arrived at Paris Gare du Nord shortly after 10 local time due to a delay at the Channel tunnel, and headed straight to our hotel to check in, which was an easy RER train ride away.
Latin Quarter
Our hotel was located a couple of streets off the main esplanade facing Notre Dame, and the side-streets were buzzing with people eating out at the local cafes and doing what Parisians do best - people-watching. The central location also made it easy for us to walk past the two islands on the Seine and head north-west towards the Louvre.
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| Concierge, part of old Palais de la Cite |
Louvre
After reading an extensive number of TripAdvisor reviews, we thought we had a plan in place to beat the queues at the 'Da Vinci Code' pyramid entrance to the museum. Sadly, we didn't have much luck finding that 'secret' archway into the ticketing area that bypasses the lengthy security check. Once you have finished queuing outside for the security door, you are then faced with another long queue - either to the DIY ticket machines; or to one of the four desks. The electronic guides made the experience worthwhile, as it came in the form of a Nintendo DS and specific pieces of artwork are projected in 3D from the map, allowing visitors to take a virtual tour of the artifact from 100 metres away.
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| The pyramid entrance to the Louvre |
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| A model of the Louvre in medieval times |
Venus de Milo
The next exhibit focused on ancient Greek marble sculpture and there were some fascinating artifacts including the Venus de Milo and other dedications to various gods and goddesses.
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| Venus de Milo |
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| Roman victory sculpture |
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| Tomb artwork |
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| Marble fisherman |
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| Outdoor sculptures |
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| Mythology captured in marble |
And whilst we were admiring the antique objects at floor level, in this former royal palace we noted that the ceilings were also covered with beautiful artwork - so a tip for future visitors: Look up!
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| Ceiling artwork |
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| The highest ceiling in the Louvre |
Mona Lisa
The next exhibit focused on great paintings including Napoleon's coronation - and naturally we steered ourselves towards the Mona Lisa. From the six-deep crowd of tourists, we managed to capture her smiling.
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| Mona Lisa - look at her smile |
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| Coronation of Napoleon |
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| Four seasons painting of foliage and fruit |
Napoleon Apartments
Other corridors of the Louvre revealed treasures of French artwork and those that had been collected by Napoleon's armies; including the stunning Napoleon apartments - never seen so much opulence over the space of a few rooms. A lot of objects held at the Louvre had to be bought back to France post-Revolution as the aristocrats had tried to smuggle them out as they escaped the angry hordes of peasants.
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| Napoleon Apartments |
After the fourth hour, we were truly spent of energy and pretty 'galleried out'. We skipped through a lot of the medieval and Egyptian galleries as we had seen a fair share in the British Museum and the castles of Europe.
Paris at sunset
From the Louvre, we walked back to the St Germain area and looked for somewhere for dinner. The allure of a suckling pig on a spit caught our eye and we tucked into a range of French specialties. Then with full stomachs, we took a walk towards Jardin du Luxembourg (one of the famous public parks in Paris), however it was closed but we managed to get a great photo of the Pantheon at sunset.
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| Pantheon, burial place of Marie Curie |
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| Sculpture in the Jardin du Luxembourg |
Walking back towards our hotel, we took a detour along the Seine embankments and watched street performers entertain the crowd at Notre Dame (and fat sewer rats emerging from the catacombs) before calling into a gelati stall for dessert and ending the night with a sugar rush.
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| Notre Dame at twilight, close to 11:00pm local time |
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| Notre Dame at night - enchantingly beautiful |
Palace of Versailles
Our second day started slowly as we were relishing the feeling of sleeping in before we took the train out to the Palace of Versailles - about 20 minutes from central Paris. On reaching the front gate, we soon appreciated why the website recommended arriving as soon as the gates opened! The queue to the security gate (luckily we had bought tickets online) ran for 200 metres x 5 loops in the courtyard. Discouraged, we decided to check out the gardens instead, opting for the mini-train instead of a rental golf buggy.
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| The queue at the Palace of Versailles |
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| Statue of Louis XIV - the Sun King |
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| The gardens of Versailles are dotted with sculptures |
Grand Trianon
First stop on the train was the Grand Trianon, a palace built for Louis XIV as his private hideaway. The rooms had been restored quite recently and one the halls has its place in history for the Treaty that decided the fate of Hungary at the end of World War I.
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| Apartment in the Grand Trianon |
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| King's bed-chamber |
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| Hall where the Treaty of Trianon was signed |
Petit Trianon
Next door and at the next train stop, is the Petit Trianon - given by Louis XVI of France to his Queen Marie Antoinette as her pleasure house and where she set up a small village where she could escape from court life. Inside it was a relatively small and modest apartment, although most of the furnishings had been long ago removed.
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| Petit Trianon |
As both the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon are on the furthest extent of Versailles to the Palace, we had to catch the mini train back to the main canal area where cafes and boat rides could be taken around the park.
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| The mini-train |
Fountain Show
On certain days, the fountains are set against music and the experience is quite magical. There are also night-time tours where the combination of fountains, music and fireworks can be quite entertaining.
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| Fountains |
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| Admiring the fountains at the Colonnade |
The highlight of our trip was the Mirror Fountain - see below for a video of the show:
Afterwards, we headed back to the main courtyard to see if the line had diminished. Unfortunately, it was still the same length and we spent 45 minutes in the French summer sun waiting for our opportunity to see the most 'beautiful' Palace in the world. On entry, the first thing that is noticeable is the crowd of tourist groups that block the entrance to the rooms. The entire experience of walking through the corridors is interrupted by pushing from behind, so much that you don't get an opportunity to read a lot of the sign-age. Our recommendation: start early and go on a weekday.
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| Richly decorated rooms |
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| King's bedchamber |
The highlight of the visit was the Hall of Mirrors, the central gallery of the Palace and one of the most famous rooms in the world. This was the place where the Treaty of Versailles was signed at the conclusion of World War I.
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| Hall of Mirrors |
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| Not as opulent when it is jam packed with tourists |
Leaving Paris
We left Versailles soon after and arrived back in central Paris with time to spare to enjoy one further meal (steak tartare) near our hotel. At this point we thought that allowing 1.5 hours to travel back to Gare du Nord would be sufficient for clearing security and immigration. However, we soon realised that whilst it is fairly easy to leave the UK; it can be a painfully drawn-out experience trying to re-enter on a Sunday night.
Clearing the first (EU) checkpoint was quick as they were happy to stamp you out. Walking a further 1 minute to the UK checkpoint is where the queue deepened and our hearts sank with every minute that passed nearing the train departure time. We ended up with less than 10 minutes to spare before we got our stamp, threw our luggage onto the security conveyor belt, and sprinted for the train with less than 5 minutes lee-way. And we were not alone in the panicked stampede to the train platform, with the few empty seats on the train most likely an indication that a few other passengers were still stuck in the border control queue - at least they will have a few more 'hours' to enjoy Paris.
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