Sacré Coeur. This was the first place we headed after dumping our bags at the hotel and this was my first view of it. (Well my first view this time round. I was there 8 years ago so everything felt like new.) This church just blows me away. Luckily the stairs weren't as bad as I remembered. And there are a LOT.
Me and Kez at the top of the stairs having a Kodak moment.
Kerry's first view of the Eiffel Tower. It looks teeny tiny from so far away but it's still pretty cool.
JJ(left) and Andy(right)having a beer while Kez and I poked around the art market behind Sacré Coeur. This was to be par for the course for the weekend- Kez and I would start out early in the morning and do stuff, the boys would sleep and we'd meet up around lunchtime to do something together and then they'd sit and have a beer while we went off and did more stuff. We were like tourist demons- we packed as much into the 3 days as Philip and I did in 5 last time around. And boy oh boy did we know about it. I think we climbed every stair in Paris.
Me working out where we need to go to get to the Metro to get us to Notre Damme. The nice thing about being in somewhere totally foreign was that I would whip my map out whenever I needed and I didn't care if people knew that I was a tourist. So what? They'd never see me again. I didn't care what they thought. I was like, "Hey look at me in my travel sandals, t-shirt and comfy pants- I'm a tourist. I take time-out to look at maps and I don't care what you think." It was quite liberating.
Me peering through a doorway that leads to be major-domo bell at Notre Damme. God knows how many stairs I climbed. Too freakin' many, that's for sure. I'm not a horribly unfit person but after walking back down those stairs, I was standing in the church itself and my calves were shaking. This was to become a familiar feeling...
One of the gargoyles at Notre Damme. They were amazing. I have a LOT of gargoyle snaps. The building is just incredible with all it's sweeping arches and amazing detail and I am totally in love with it. It looks totally different from every angle and there will always be something new to see there.
Kez, JJ and Andy standing outside Notre Damme. They were meant to be pretending to be gargoyles but Kez is the only one who truly embraced it.
JJ sleeping on the Metro on the way back to the hotel. Considering that he was home between 2-3am on Fri morn and packed (while still drunk) and then was up again at 4:50am (still drunk) and didn't sleep until we were on the train home at 6pm, he did pretty bloody well.
We also walked up the first two levels of the Eiffel Tower. 500 and something steps. Dude. This is the view from the second level (I think) looking up the rest of it. Looks a bit wobbly to me. Kez and Andy are both very not good at heights so it was a slight mission to drag them up as far s you could go. Taking the elevator down was a treat- not just for my legs but because you got to see the building shooting past you and you felt like you were floating down. It was awesome. I love the Eiffel Tower for everything that it is. It was only meant to be up for 2 weeks (I think it was that long, I'm too lazy to check my facts) as part of an exhibition in 1889but who could possibly contemplate taking something like that down? It's huge, it's mechanical, it's ugly and tacky and yet has this beauty to it as well. Seeing it lit up at night was about all I wanted from this trip and I got it (just no pics) but I'd go back to see it at night for longer as well.
View looking down from as high up at you can go.
Me outside the Louvre. Kez and I were getting all jiggy with it as the pools lent themselves to what we thought were incredibly witty photos. See how it looks like I'm walking in the water? Oh we are so clever.
This is the view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe looking down the Champ Elysees. Yet more stairs. Awesome views to be had though. The view of the Eiffel Tower from here at night is my next aim.
More arthouse/witty 'big-smalls' (as I like to call them.)
Yep. You feel pretty silly standing several meters in front of a fountain with your head tipped back as you pose. But hey- if you can't be silly with holiday happy snaps what's the point?
And that’s it from me. Not very eloquent I know but like I said, I’m tired. Sue me.
2 comments:
waaaaaaaaaayyyyy coolio!
what sort of price would a girl pay tp have a Paris weekend like this? travel? hotel?
You can get cheapy packages with Eurostar (soooooooo much better than the plane) which include train + accommodation. Then it's just a matter of sorting out when you want to travel and where you want to stay. You can get packages starting from £110 but around teh £150 mark should get you something decent.
Post a Comment