Paris (2007)
In 2007 I traveled to Paris with a friend and his family. My friend’s mother grew up in Paris as a child and loved to occasionally go back to relive memories; on this trip, she brought her daughter, granddaughter, son, and myself; oh, let’s not forget the husband.
The trip was in January and the weather there was extremely cold, but no snow or rain so we bundled ourselves up and got out. It was my first time in Paris and so many people gave it high praise as the most beautiful city in the world so I had a lot of anticipation, but for me, it was about history. Where did Louis get his head chopped off? I have to say, it didn’t disappoint. I can see why people think it is the most beautiful city and even though the revolution destroyed a lot of Paris, there was still a tremendous amount to see and experience.
One note, if you can go at another time of year I would suggest it. January can be very drab and I would have liked to be there in the spring to see the flowers in bloom.
The pictures are in no particular order but grouped them so they made sense as you view them.
From inside Napoleons Tomb
Montmartre
Our hotel was very near the Eiffel Tower so every morning we’d walk out faced with seeing it, I never got tired of it.
The next set of photos was taken on the island where Notre Dame is located.
I think this is the oldest part of Paris and, for me, one of the more interesting areas to visit; too bad the Bastille wasn’t still standing, those pesky revolutions.
We climbed up the bell tower and luckily the skies were clearer so you can get great views of the city.
Some pictures of the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe and more walking around.
I swear I saw the Monalisa. I think gremlins deleted some of my pics from the Louvre, or we weren’t allowed to take photos.
There were days I just wanted to take the sights in not from behind a camera. I get in the moment of seeing what’s in front of me and forget to take a photo, to me it’s a balancing act between wanting to be in the moment and making sure I capture what I’m seeing and feeling.
Versailles
The day we went to Versailles was the coldest of the trip so we didn’t spend a lot of time outside, thus my comment in the beginning about visiting Paris in springtime.
Louis and Antoinette had separate “get-a-way” palaces on the grounds of Versailles, Petit Trianon was for Antoinette to get away from court life.
There was no heat in this palace so we went through it pretty fast; no official tour guides. We wanted to go see the farm Marie created, but like I said the cold kept us from staying outside longer than necessary so we missed a lot of the grounds during our visit.
The last night in Paris we did a riverboat tour. The skies were clear and the city sparkled, a great way to end the trip. The camera I had at the time wasn’t great in low-light, but I was able to salvage some of the shots.
We were only there for five days so we concentrated on Paris. There was so much to see just by walking around and visiting museums that we probably couldn’t have fit more excursions outside.
If you’re heading over, give yourself more time to see other parts of France, but also don’t book too much you don’t experience being in France.