Day 2: Paris

This morning we went out for breakfast (crêpes!), then we walked around the neighbourhood Saint-Germain-des-Prés. We found this polish bookstore!

This is the church Saint-Germain-des-Prés, which is the oldest church in Paris (6th century according to our guide book).

Saint-Germain-des-Prés

We then walked to the Musée d'Orsay. We had to wait in line for a long time to get into the museum, but fortunately it had stopped raining by then. Once inside, we saw a lot of beautiful artwork. The museum houses artwork dating from 1848-1914. We particularly liked the galleries with Naturalism style paintings. We weren't able to take any pictures inside the galleries, but the building that houses the museum is also very impressive. It is an old train station, that has been converted to a museum. There are two large clocks on the outside and a large ornate clock inside (seen below, behind Kuba)

Interior of Musée d'Orsay

View of Sacré Coeur basilica from behind the clock in the Musée d'Orsay

Exterior of Musée d'Orsay, Isabel very pleased with baguette sandwich

We then took the metro to l'Arc de Triomphe, and crossed underneath the road to get a close view of the arch. There was a ceremony taking place beneath the arch at the time. L'Arc was commissioned by Napoleon to celebrate his army's victory in 1806. It is the largest triumphal arch in the world.

Ceremony beneath l'Arc de Triomphe

We walked back from the Arc along avenue des Champs Élysées. There was a lot to look at here... we forgot to take pictures! But there were a lot of famous chain stores. Along our walk, we saw le Grand Palais, which currently holds art exhibitions. 

We reached the Place de la Concorde, which is where the Jardin des Tuileries start. This is also where the Obélisque stands - it is originally from Egypt! We also had a beautiful view of the Eiffel Towel, back across the Seine. From there we walked through the gardens, to the Louvre.

View of Eiffel Tower from Place de la Concorde

Entrance to the Jardin des Tuileries

View of l'Arc de Tromphe and l'Obélisque along Champs Élysées

We continued to the river, to take another boat tour - at night this time. We saw this little rat running around beside the river!

The pictures did not work very well at night, but the view from the boat was very nice. The bridges especially look impressive when lit up. This is the view of the Eifflel Tower from the boat.

Soon we will be posting about our last day in Paris...it went by so quickly!