Wow - what a way to spend Chris' birthday. We got ourselves to the Hard Rock Cafe to collect our Paris Passes. Then away we went on our Paris adventure. Our first stop was at Notre Dame. Difficult to put into words or capture in photos the grandeur of this Cathedral, unless you have seen it. Work began in 1163 and took over 80 years to complete.
Off
to the Eiffel Tower. Bernie has gathered gobs of statics that you are all going
to have to read ... 320 m (1050 ft) high; 7,300 of steel and 10,000 tons en
masse; 7.1 million visitors / year; works out to about 20,000 per day; 2010
& had its 250 millionth visitor in 2010; looked like most of Moose Jaw was
around / on it today; the first stage is ringed by 72 names of great
scientists, engineers & industrialists (not one of them a woman!!).
This was followed by an one hour Seine River cruise - had a taste of Paris history and glances of sites as we travelled along the river.
Found our way to the Musee du Rodin. You know the artist for the Thinker? What an amazing collection of his works. Got to know about Honere Balzac, a French novelist and playwrite.
In our travels we happened across the Hotel Des Invalides. What a spectalar facade and dome.
Our last stop was Les Champs des Elysees where we also saw le Grande et Petite Palais and the Alexander Bridge.
Out for supper at the Le Cadran du Voltaire - Bernie had rumsteak and Chris had swordfish began with escargot as an appetizer.
What a day ... we'd have to say that London presented as a rather grim, care worn, historic place - Paris was sparkle and gold with lots of history, too.
More to follow ...
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