Travel: Central Paris

If you read my Disneyland blog post a few days ago you will know that I took a trip to Paris a couple of weeks ago.

On the second day of our trip we took a ride into central Paris. Normally I do heaps of research before I travel, however this time I went in pretty much blind. I had no itinerary,  and had no idea how to get to certain attractions.

We left the train station and came out at this huge grand building that everyone seemed to be taking pictures of. I still to this day have no idea what building it was, some form of gallery possibly, but I took a photo anyway! It has got a name of the front of the building if you look closely...

If any of you know what is inside here let me know!

 After this we bought a map, stopped in a Parisian bakery shop for a pastry (its gotta be done when you're in Paris!) and Mike studied the map and got his bearings on where we had to head.

Our next stop was the Arc de Truimph. It wasn't as big as I'd imagined from photos, plus it had an unsightly bit of scaffolding on it so it wasnt fantastic for photos.  By this point it was so warm and my feet were hurting so we had yet another sit down!

We trekked some more and came across the eiffel tower. We didn't go up it because of time restraints but we got some lunch and found a bench in a pretty green park, shaded with trees overhead. Peeking through the trees stood the eiffel tower so it was a pretty good place to sit! I could have sat there all day...

We grabbed a pistachio and chocolate ice cream (yum!) before we headed on our way again to The Louvre. More walking and bench stops and we finally made it. The grounds were gorgeous. A lake with people sat around the edge on hired wooden deck chairs, with books in hand enjoying the sun.  Large grass areas with pretty flowers, it was nice.

Through a few arches came The Louvre. This wasn't how I imagined.  There were 2 glass pyramids, one a lot larger than the other. You could walk between the two and they wrere surrounded by boundaries that were full of flowing water and fountains. I dipped my hands in a few times, just to cool down!

We went inside the louvre and as you can imagine with any glass building, it was pretty hot. Luckily that was the top of the building, so you go down the escalators were all the art galleries are, including the Mona Lisa. Thankfully it was a lot cooler down here! We stopped for a drink but by the time we went to view the Mona Lisa, the gallery had shut because it was tea time. I was secretly thankful because my feet were in absolute agony and nothing else mattered except getting back to the hotel. I actually just wanted to cry (Note to self - I really need to get to a chiropodist to sort my foot arches out!). After this Mike wanted to see the Notre Damn but he showed me how far we'd have to walk on the map and I knew I wouldn't make it, so he felt a bit let down. Shortly after this we took a walk back to a (closer!) train station and got a train back to the hotel. I had a rest (I actually did not want to move but was hungry) so we took a short 2 minute train ride back to the Disney Village and ate at Planet Hollywood.

My overall impression of Paris? It was good - next time I'd stay in central Paris so I could spend more time there and not have to worry about getting back to the hotel. I'd also advise more than 1 day is needed for sight-seeing! It's unfortunate that my feet prevented me from seeing more, but whatever will be will be! I didn't even get chance to sample some proper Parisian cuisine in one of the many on street cafes there. We ate in Disney Village each night we were there so this would be another thing on my to do list should I visit again!

Have you ever been to Paris? What did you think of it?