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Our second last day in Paris kicks off with an early start at La Tour Eiffel. We arrive 15 mins prior to opening time and boy oh boy is there a line. Fortunately for us, we have already decided in advance that we would walk up the tower rather than take the elevator. This probably cuts the number of people in front of us by about 75% - the lazy buggers - which saves us a good 30-60 mins. We climb all 704 steps up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, because apparently all those steps we climbed in Italy were just not enough. The views were breathtaking and it was great fun monument spotting. But, nothing beats the view of the Eiffel Tower.
After making our way down the tower (we take the lift rather than the stairs this time we had worked out enough by now), it was time for some delicious but "tourist-priced" baguettes for lunch at a local cafe before we head off to the Notre Dame Cathedral! Another Discover Walks tip-supported tour! We cannot stress how much fun we have had on these walks and it is great that they are popping up all over the globe!
From the outside, Notre Dame is breathtakingly magnificent. It was one of the monuments I have been aching to see ever since arriving in Paris and as Tim would describe it, I was "pleasure delaying" leaving it close to the end of the trip. Our tour guide, Kevi, walks us around the Cathedral and its back streets. He points out interesting things on the cathedral's facade (St Denis makes another appearance - see our post on Montmarte for his story) and tells us stories of the past as we stroll past the home of Heloise and Abelard and love locks on bridges.
Unfortunately, Notre Dame doesn't seem to command the same level of reverence as do the churches and cathedrals of Rome and Florence. While the Rose windows do not fail to amaze, the brightly lit machines that spit out souvenir coins and the noise from the uncontrolled crowd numbers make the space feel more like a TAB than a cathedral and somewhat ruins the experience. We take some lackluster photos of the rose windows, which I won't even bother posting because you really had to be there, and pause in the pews for prayer.
While on our tour, we have asked Kevi where we can find the best ice cream in town so next stop, Berthillion Ice Creamery! Turn this corner, walk down here turn that corner, oh no! It's closed! :( But not all is lost, we go to a cafe a few doors down and settle in because they serve Berthillion ice cream. It is a treat, and a nice break before we head off to meet our next Discover Walks tour group - told you we loved them!
A year after this trip, and reviewing the photos we have taken, I honestly cannot remember what we learned on the tour. So, we are going to skip that story and press forward to dinner with David Slee at the Cafe des 2 moulins (Two Windmills Cafe) - nothing like catching up with Aussie friends across the globe. We cafe is in Montmarte and is most known for being the cafe in which the lead character from the movie, Amelie, worked. After dinner it is back to the hotel before our final day in Paris - or rather Versailles.
The most magnificent thing about Versailles? The Gardens. Words cannot describe the expansiveness and beauty of the gardens, which by far outshine the building itself. We decide that the Gardens and its secrets are a priority so we pay our entry into the 800 hectares of lush greenery. By comparison, the Melbourne Botanical Gardens are 38 hectares. As we enter the gardens, classical music plays through hidden speakers and we are transported to a whole new world. We observe some of the famous fountains - the Neptune, the Apollo, the Saturn. But my favourite by far was the Encelade, a sculpture taken from the myth of the Titans who were buried under the Rocks on Mt Olympus which they tried to climb in defiance of the prohibition of Jupiter. What made it so amazing, was that it had a soundtrack playing, creating an amazing atmosphere in the space. If you want to hear a snippet, check out the video below:
After some further exploration, we get intentionally lost in the maze of hedges to enjoy a picnic lunch of deli meats, cheese, baguettes and sweets we had picked up from our local store on our way to Versailles.
Eventually, we make our way into the Palace Versailles for a tour of some of its hidden spaces. Again, most of these stories have long since left my memory, but an interesting fact that has remained is that despite the building being as old as it is, some of the doors still utilise the original keys. On this tour, we also get a chance to visit L'Opéra of the Palace of Versailles. The theatre was build for private shows or could also be used for large functions. How would I describe the space - amazing. Unfortunately, once our tour guide left us to view the rest of the palace, we felt much like herded cattle. The guide books did not exaggerate the crowds in Versailles one bit, they may have in fact down played it!
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