Day 272 : Paris – City of Love

They don’t call Paris the City of Love for nothing – Looking out of the window as I woke up this morning, I saw this love note on the floor, and it brought a smile to my face.  Ahh…. how sweet and romantic!

Off to explore more sights! 

Jardine du Luxembourg

Located near the Latin Quarter, it’s one of the more popular park in Paris.  It also contain the Palais du Luxembourg, though the building currently houses the French Senate.

 

Pantheon

Located in the Latin Quarter, it was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve and to house the reliquary chasse containing her relics but, after many changes, now functions as a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens.  Beautiful architecture though!

Jardines des Plantes

Literally translated as Garden of Plants, this is the main botanical garden in France, and it was certainly filled with a number of flowers, even though it was still the tail end of winter. 

And lots of beautiful tulips, a favourite of mine!

Notre Dame de Paris

Next stop, Notre Dame – I am reminded of the musical, which I truly also love, and was even more keen on visiting this cathedral. 

While enroute to the cathedral, I came across a gelateria, Berthillon, which had an extremely long queue.  Being a typical Singaporean, I decided to queue too, and to see what the fuss was about!  Probably took me about 30 mins before it got to my turn and it was certainly refreshing to an already refreshing crisp day in Paris!

Back to Notre Dame, the cathedral is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture, and is among the largest and most well-known church buildings in the world. The naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture.

Eiffel Tower

After 4 days in Paris, I finally made it to the Eiffel Tower.  The Motor Rally of classic cars happened to be held next to the Eiffel Tower, and many interesting nostalgic cars lined the street. 

That distracted me for quite a while, as I admired many of the beautiful vehicles which I had never seen before.

As I approached the Eiffel Tower, that was when I noticed the snaking queue at the base of the tower, and then I was told that the queue to go up the Eiffel Tower is a >2hr wait. 

I decided to give up the notion of going up the Eiffel Tower, and just spent the next couple hours taking shots of the Eiffel Tower in different angles.

 

Oh well, something to leave for another trip, and a sign to come back again!