Tag Archives: Paris

France

A Few Days in Paris

We enjoyed a nice relaxing day in Paris exploring some of the sites. It was a beautiful day and we took a nice stroll through some of the streets of Paris. Shortly after leaving our hotel we came to a small statue of Liberty near a shopping center.

Shelley standing with the Statue of Liberty near the shopping center.

We didn’t realize why the statue was located there but found out a short time later when we arrived at the Grenelle Bridge.  We walked across the Grenelle bridge which crosses the Seine River. Near the center of the bridge on the Ile aux Cygnes is a Statue of Liberty. It is 11.5 meters high. (37 feet 9 inches) and is a scaled replica of the Statue of Liberty in the United States of America.

Statue of Liberty on the Île aux Cygnes, River Seine in Paris.

This Statue of Liberty was given to France in 1889 as a gift from the United States to celebrate the French Revolution.

We then walked along the Seine River enjoying the views and we could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. We walked towards the Eiffel Tower and found a beautiful location to admire the Tower and wait for the sun to set in order to see the Eiffel Tower under the lights.

We waited until the sun set and saw the sparkling lights on the Eiffel Tower. The tower was a gold colour and was beautiful to see lit up.

Eiffel Tower lit up at night
Ray and Shelley in Paris

The following day we went back to the Eiffel Tower and took the elevator to the second level. From there we could see almost all of Paris.

View of the Champ de Mars from the Eiffel Tower

The views were truly spectacular and breathtaking. We walked around the entire Tower looking at the 360-degree view of Paris.

View of Paris from the second level of the Eiffel Tower
View of Paris from the second level of the Eiffel Tower

We felt secure the entire time we were in Paris. It was common to see police or military walking around the areas.

Military presence at the Eiffel Tower

We enjoyed our time and finished our time in Paris with a selfie photo in front of the Military Museum before heading on to our next adventure.

Shelley and Ray in front of the Military Museum in Paris

“Au revoir et passe une bonne journée”

 

France

Driving in Paris

We saw first hand just how intense and dangerous it can be to drive in Paris.  We were on the Hop-on bus touring the city of Paris and watched how the drivers navigated the streets.  The traffic is heavy and there are numerous scooters and motorcycles on the roads.

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Heavy traffic in downtown Paris

Some of the streets are multi-lane up to four or five lanes wide.

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The motorcycles and scooters swerve through traffic sometimes in very dangerous maneuvers.

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Motorcycles passing on the right of the bus and cutting off pedestrians crossing the road in Paris.

In order to demonstrate the intense traffic and dangerous driving of some motorist in Paris, we made a short YouTube video. The video is quickened to not be too long but you will get a good sense of the driving there. Take a look at the YouTube video and let us know what you think.

https://youtu.be/oeW-iZl1dhE

“Au revoir et bonne journée”

 

France

A few days in Paris

We went to Paris which is the most populated city in France with over 2.2 million people. The city is the capital of France and a major centre for tourism, art and fashion. We decided to take the hop on bus in order to explore as much of the city as we could. The weather was very cool around 15 or 16 degrees celsius. We bundled up and found good seats on the top row of the bus.

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Louise and Brad on the Hop on Bus in Paris

We travelled throughout the day on the bus looking at all the popular sites.

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Eiffel tower in Paris
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The National Assembly in Paris

We spent approximately eight hours on the bus seeing the different areas of Paris. We travelled to the new area of the city with modern buildings and architecture. This was a contrast to what most people imagine when they think of Paris. The modern buildings were very impressive.

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AccorHotels Arena in Paris
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Bibliotheque National de France in Paris
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Unique cubed style building in Paris
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mk2 Bibliotheque in Paris

After touring the city on the bus, we decided to walk along some of the old sections of Paris.

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The walk was very enjoyable and we were able to see some of the quaint stores, cafes and restaurants. Although the day was cool, we had a very good time.

“Au revoir et bonne journée”