Return to Paris
Trip Start
Aug 23, 1996
1
451
561
Trip End
Ongoing
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Paris, Île-de-France, France
Friday, November 13, 2009
Day 1
Once off the train, we made our way over towards the Grand Mosque of Paris, but before we arrived we came across the Arenes de Lutece. It is an old Roman theatre discovered in the 1800's, but compared to most we have seen, it was not really comparable. On the plus side, at least it was there and not built over the top !!! Down the road was the Mosque, it was built in a kind of a mixture between Moorish and North African, and looking at the people who were frequenting the place, we could understand why it was this way. The other reason came down to the fact that we were not allowed into the prayer hall. This shits me because this could have been the day that I found Islam and these people, just would not let me see the light !!!
A short walk away was another reason for being in Paris, and this was the Cluny Museum. It is considered one of the best Middle Ages type museums, but getting in, all I could think of was Piss up, Brothel, Fuck, Brewery. The way they had the line to let people in was an absolute joke !!! However, once in, it was a different story. It is built on part of an old Roman bath, but it is a little hard to make out what it looked like with all the stuff around. The big thing here are the tapestries. There is one huge set which tells of a story about a lady and a unicorn. They are over 500 years old, and they are so life like, just like a painting, amazing.
Next stop was the Pantheon. A huge old church with various tombs and paintings inside. Maybe not as impressive as Rome's, but it was worth the visit. Down in the basement, there were tombs and buried below were Victor Hugo, Alexander Dumas and Marie Curie. This made the place special. Three names, three very famous names, and we were rubbing against their tombs !!!
After we finished, we found our hotel room, opened the window, and had a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower. We dumped the bags and watched the sun go down. The colours were great, but even better were all the illegal Indians selling baby Eiffels. We joked about with them asking how much in Hindi and giving them a price as well, but we quickly grew bored of it !!! Around the corner is the hospital for the Invalides, so we shot some pictures, before dinner and then sleep
Day 2
Up early, we made our way over to the Rodin museum. Walked past it loads of times, but had never been in before, so we broke our virginity and entered. Not knowing what to really expect, I was amazed to see the sculptures. Some were complete, just standing there, whilst others looked like they were bursting out of the marble. The most famous is The Thinker. When I saw it, I realised I actually knew one of his works !!! Realistically, the shape and form of the sculptures were very impressive, and hours past by so quickly, and as time was getting on, we hauled ass
We walked back over to Invalides as we had never been inside. Here is another famous tomb, this one being for Napoleon. We paid, we entered, we took the photos !!! Actually, it was pretty good. The way it was set up, it was as if he was almost god like !!! The ticket also included quite a few military museums, so being the Jew boy, we had a look around. There was some pretty impressive old stuff, including guns that shot around corners !!! But after a couple more hours, we grew bored and hit the road again.
We followed the Seine until we reached Notre Dame and for the first time, I could not see scaffold !!! Lucy and I had a discussion as to whether we had been inside before, and as I am sure that I haven't, and if I had said previously, I was full of shit, we entered. Inside, it is quite stark. It's kind of amazing how boring it is considering it is one of those must see sites !!! Yes from the outside, magnificent, but inside, well........
And then it was time to go.
And Finally
Lets be realistic, how can you ever get bored of Paris? I love the place so much, we are already talking about what to see on our next visit !!!
