Hayley and I were looking to take a big trip in 2018 again. We had discussed many possible places we wanted to visit but Rome, Italy was always at the top of the list. A few months before our October trip, we had decided that Rome was going to be our destination. But wait, isn’t this a blog post about Paris? Yes! Yes it is! To figure out why we ended up in Paris, keep reading. Oh, and if you are interested in the Rome trip, make sure you subscribe by entering your email to the right. When that post goes up, you’ll be one of the first to know! Also, this is Part I….Part II will soon follow and focus on our only night in Paris as well.
In late August, Hayley & I had decided when we would be going to Rome. We would go in mid-October, after one of her cousin’s weddings and be back in time for my sister’s birthday. With that plan in place, we began planning out our trip. As the date of departure approached though, our flight options were pretty limited. We started having discussions of what else we could do besides flying just directly to Rome. That, of course, was always still an option, but we talked about possibly spending a day somewhere else and then flying on to Rome. Paris, naturally, was an option. Hayley loved the thought of going to Paris. I had thrown Nice out as well, figuring we could fly in to there and spend a day in Monaco, which isn’t too far away. I had almost just said we would just go directly to Rome, but then Hayley stated she did want us to go to Paris together. So, that was the pick. We were to fly to Paris and spend October 8th there before flying on to Rome on October 9th.
October 7th rolled around and we departed our local airport to connect in Detroit. We had time to grab a quick dinner at the airport, as well as exchange currency, before we boarded Delta Flight 98 with service from DTW to CDG (Charles De Gaulle Airport) in Paris. The flight departed at 18:09 (6:09 PM EDT) and we were to fly overnight, with a scheduled arrival time of 08:05 (8:05 AM) at CDG….roughly a 7 hour and 51 minute flight. I was super amped for the trip, so I figured I would have a hard time falling asleep anyway. But, it was still early, so I decided to watch a movie. The choice, of course, was “TOP GUN”, because…well…I’m me! Hayley tried falling asleep to no avail at first. She did eventually end up dozing off, but it took me awhile to do so. Each time she did wake up while I was still awake, she’d stare at me like it was my fault she couldn’t sleep. I thought this trip was a mutual decision? All jokes aside, I turned on some sleep music on Delta’s InFlight Studio and did manage to get a bit of sleep. I had woken up about an hour before they served breakfast and I knew I would definitely need a coffee to get me through the day. As we ate, the cards for Border/Immigration Control were handed out. Hayley & I quickly filled ours out and the descent into France soon began. We landed and it was still fairly dark out. It wasn’t until we pulled into the gate that we realized that our flight made good time into Paris. Actually, really good time! We arrived at 07:04 local time (7:04 AM CEST), an hour and one minute early. There was an upside and a downside to this. The upside, we’d have more time to spend in Paris. The downside, we would have to wait longer to check-in to our hotel. We were already running low on sleep, and now jet lag was added in.
At any rate, we deplaned and grabbed the shuttle to border control. I used a bit of the time to catch up on some emails for some of the air shows I am involved with. I had received some quotes from some performers and wanted to make sure the information was sent on to the rest in the decision making tree. As we arrived and waited in line at the “border”, I decided to message a family member back home to let them know we had arrived (despite it being 3 AM back home). Once through, we made our way to the Rideshare area and got an Uber to take us to our hotel. Our Uber driver, Brice, was extremely nice and we had some great conversations. He even recommended some places for us to check out when we made it to Rome. As we pulled out of the airport, we passed by an Air France Concorde on display. Being an aviation nerd, I had to snap a few photos (though they didn’t turn out great, but, either way, here they are!)
As we pulled into Paris, we got a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower for the first time this trip, the sun was glistening on it as it continued to rise. What a beautiful way to start the day. We got a great deal at the Mercure Paris Centre Eiffel Tower Hotel, a 4-Star hotel located just a stones throw away from the Eiffel Tower. In addition, this hotel had many great amenities and their service there was simply amazing. We dropped our bags off at the front desk so we could go out and explore. We still had many hours before we could check-in.
We walked out of the hotel and the day began. As you can see by the photo above , we really are close to the Eiffel Tower (photo taken right from in front of the hotel). We would make our way over that way soon, but we were on a mission first. Our mission…..sustenance. We turned down Avenue du Suffren and started looking at all of the cafe’s that lined this avenue, which sits just one block from the Eiffel Tower. Our choice? Castel Cafe! This is a quaint cafe that had terrific service (our server was really funny and personable) and the food was just absolutely delicious! We ordered our food and I just needed to get some coffee in me, so cappuccino it was (which would become a theme for our trip). Hayley ordered a chocolat chaud (Hot Chocolate) and we enjoyed our drinks in an area towards the front of the cafe just adjacent to the outdoor seating (we had a heat lamp nearby, so we never felt cold), but the warm drinks were simply because it was still a chilly morning in Paris (well, mine was because I needed caffeine).
Our food soon arrived and I ordered one of my favorites…Croque Monsieur. For those that don’t know, this is a hot sandwich made with ham & cheese. This version came with an egg on top of the outer layer of cheese. It also came with fries (cue the french fries joke) and a salad (with a terrific tasting dressing that I cannot describe. Just yum). Hayley had a Nutella crepe, which she gave a thumbs up to!
Once we finished our food, we headed out of the cafe and turned back down Avenue Octave Greard. This gave us some great views as we approached the Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel). We enjoyed the view of the Tower briefly, but we knew we would spend some time around it at night (after all, it was right by our hotel). We continued to walk down along the Quai Branley before cutting over to Avenue de La Bourdonnais to cross the pedestrian bridge across the Seine.
Once across the bridge, we turned right and headed down Avenue de New York. It’s on this Avenue, down near Voie Georges Pompidou, just before the Pont de I’Alma that the Flame of Liberty Memorial sits. This is an exact replica of the torch/flame of the Statue of Liberty that has become a symbol for the US. Of course, it was France that gave Lady Liberty to the United States as a gift. The Flame of Liberty has been sitting in Paris since may of 1989. Since 1997, it has become an unofficial memorial for Diana, Princess of Wales. The tunnel where her accident occurred sits just beneath the nearby Pont de l’Alma. After our visit in 2018, the square where the memorial sits is now called “Place Diana” (officially as of 2019).
Walking straight down from there, we ended up in one of the most beautiful areas of Paris, Promenade du Cours Albert 1er. This park is affectionately known as “Promenade by the Seine” as it runs right along the river. There is lots to see in this park, but we had to keep moving to keep pace. You do get a beautiful view of the Grand Palais and Eiffel Tower from this promenade. Other features of this beautiful area include the Statue of King Albert 1er (which I do not have a photo of).
After crossing the road that leads to the Pont des Invalides, we entered another park…Cours-la-Reine. This park features the Memorial to Simon Bolivar, a military and political Latin American leader (see photo below). There is also a memorial sculpture for Polish poet Adam Miciewicz (designed by Antoine Bourdelle). Jutting out through this park is also Pont Alexandre III, what is known as one of the most beautiful and decorated bridges in Paris, which sits between the Invalides (Napoleon’s final resting place) and Grand Palais, running right over the Pont des Champs Elysees & Seine. This bridge is named after Alexander III, the Russian Czar that played a major role in the signing of the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1892. The bridge has corner pillars that shows golden Pegasi (plural for Pegasus) being restrained by representations of sciences, art, business & industry. Another famous statue (also pictured below) by the bridge is called “Lion a l’Enfant” which translates to Lion & Child. It was sculpted in 1897 by Georges Gardet.
We continued along the Seine as we headed towards the Louvre, getting a quick look up the street at Place de la Concorde, the largest public square in Paris. While we didn’t venture too far inside, we did walk along and through parts of the Jardin des Tuileries (Tuileries Garden). This is a really beautiful area of the city that leads from the Place de la Concorde right to another historic monument that happens to be one of the most famous art museums in the world (as well as the largest), the Louvre.
Now, the Louvre is where many famous paintings, including Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, reside. The museum opened way back in 1793. We, sadly, did not have enough time to explore the museum on this visit, but I did snap some photos and take some videos while near it. The historic architecture (it is a 12th century palace, afte rall) along with the futuristic designs of other parts of the museum impressed me. Alas, we had to continue on.
Our next stop? Notre Dame Cathedrale, but we had to cross the Seine first. We crossed on one of the most famous bridges in Paris, Pont des Arts. This pedestrian bridge is featured in many movies and TV shows and used to be known as “Love Lock Bridge” because couples would put padlocks on the bridge and throw away the key, symbolizing their love. The love locks are a memory now, as the city has replaced the railings, as you can see in the photo below.
As we continued down towards Notre Dame on the other side of the river, I couldn’t help but notice a pub called “The Great Canadian Pub”. Honestly, this is an entirely pointless part of the post as I did not visit this pub. However, I liked the name and snapped a photo of it, so it is included here.
Finally, we had arrived at Notre-Dame de Paris The line to get through security to enter was rather short, so we hopped right in after I snapped a few photos/videos from the outside. This is, obviously, the most famous cathedral in Paris and one of the most famous in the entire world. With history dating back to 1163 when construction began and opening in 1345 (taking just shy of 200 years to complete construction), this building is a symbolic masterpiece. I’ll let the photos below do their own talking as I may choose to focus a later post on the cathedral. Seeing as this is still a place of worship (though you’ll see more tourists than anything), I didn’t take a large amount of photos and I made sure I followed all rules while there (remember people, no flash and no noise…and try not to take any photos if a service is presently being held). Unfortunately, as you all know, the cathedral caught fire last April, destroying a large section of the oak roof beams that I had admired. Despite the collapse of the spire, many historic sections of the cathedral remained intact, such as the towers, buttresses, stained glass windows and The Great Organ (though it was water damaged). I was glad that I got to see the cathedral before the fire, and I hope that it continues to see great days ahead post-fire.
After we left the cathedral, I stood out front just to admire the history once again. We soon found ourselves on the way back to the hotel as it was almost time to check-in (with that long walk we made, it would take awhile to get back and we were just hoping on an early check-in). But, we decided to make a quick stop at an M&S (Marks & Spencer) on Bd Saint-Michel. The main reason we went there is because Hayley really wanted to stop, she loves M&S. I decided to get an M&S Vanilla Bean, Maple Syrup & Yogurt smoothie while I was there and it was darn good, if I do say so myself!
As we continued to walk back toward the hotel, we passed by Palais-Bourbon. This Palace was originally built in 1722 and was to be used as a living space for Louise Francoise de Bourbon, the duchesse de Bourbon (the daughter of Louis XIV and Marquise de Montespan). Today, it serves as a meeting place of the French National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French government. It happens to be located right across the Pont de la Concorde from the Place de la Concorde.
Back closer to the hotel after traversing the other side of the river from our route earlier, we walked past the Eiffel Tower again. This time, with an afternoon sky as the backdrop. I snapped a few more photos as we passed before we entered our hotel lobby.
As luck would have it, we could check in. We went to our room to relax and take a quick nap. And that is where this post ends! (well, minus the video embedded below)
But wait! There’s MORE!!! There is a Part II coming your way next where I will discuss our Night in Paris. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss out on that OR photos/videos of the Eiffel Tower at night.
Until next time, bon voyage!
Adventure Brett
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