Aside from visiting the great museums of Paris, we also visited some of the must-see sights of Paris. This included, of course, the Eiffel Tower, but also the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and Sacre-Coeur. Visiting these sights included plenty of walking both the horizontal and vertical kind.
Many of these sights offer great views of the city. The weather while we were visiting was a bit of a cornucopia so we didn't always have the best of views. For example, it was raining when we visited Sacre-Coeur so the views weren't the greatest but it had cleared up some by the time we got to the Arc de Triomphe.
I guess it's only right to start with the Eiffel Tower. Its presence is virtually impossible to escape when exploring the city center. There are elevators at the Eiffel Tower but the lines can be extremely long and it is more expensive. For a reduced price, you can opt to take the stairs up to the first and second levels, 200 feet high and 400 feet high respectively. It's 720 steps. We chose to take the stairs, which honestly wasn't a bad way to do it. You can only get to the third level by elevator but that level can often close with no notice due to high winds, which was the case when we made it up to the second level.
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| Contemplating our climb...we took the stairs |
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| Below the first level |
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| I think this is the second level |
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| Mom on top of Arc de Triomphe |
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| A couple blocks from our hotel |
We ventured out to see the Eiffel Tower lit up and we caught its hourly light show too.
The Arc de Triomphe was built between 1806 and 1836. The monument honors Napoleon's soldiers, who, despite being outnumbered, had victory against the Austrians at the Battle of Austerlitz.
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| Tomb of the Unknown Soldier |
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| Another climb to the top mezzanine - 284 steps |
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| It seems all roads lead to the Arc de Triomphe |
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| Took this photo by Cartier to scare Tom |
At 420 feet, Sacre-Coeur is Paris' highest point. The five-domed Roman-Byzantine-looking basilica took 44 years to build (1875-1919). We went into the cathedral but they don't let you take pictures inside.
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| View of Sacre-Coeur from Arc de Triomphe |
Our final site on our last day was Notre Dame. We got there early and went inside the cathedral and then we waited in an already long line to go inside. You can pay to go up to the bell towers and then all the way to the top, which of course means more stairs. Doing this self-guided tour can be a fairly lengthy process because there are many areas where guests can only head in one direction at a time. I'm glad we went but I was definitely ready to get out by the end.
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| Notre Dame casts a long shadow |
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| 17th century great bell known as Emmanuel |
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| Victor Hugo's 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' was published in 1831 |
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| Enjoying the view |
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| Notice the flying buttresses |
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| Something I first saw in Latvia...couples put locks on bridges |
Well that concludes my blogs on Paris. I'm so glad my mom came out for a second visit and we made it to Paris. I had prepared myself for the worst because of what many people had told me about their visits to Paris but we had a very pleasant visit and I would definitely go back.
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