Paris. The capital of France, The city of love, The capital of fashion, and everything to love!
A city everyone dreams about and makes sure of it being in their bucket list of places to see. I am one of those people and Luckily, it wasn't too far from Germany, so we decided to pay a visit for our spring long weekend.
Through Mango Tours, we took a 4-day trip package, where they gave us a scheduled plan of the entire trip. We didn't think a schedule could give us complete satisfaction in the trip, so, we decided to go off on our own until the last day.
We didn't get to see the entire city of Paris, but we didn't miss out on the main attractions! Wanna catch up? Keep scrolling!
Mission 1: The Eiffel Tower
A trip to Paris is incomplete if the Eiffel Tower isn't visited. You can practically see it from almost anywhere in the city!
Being 324 meters tall, this Wrought iron lattice tower contains three floors to where you can take the elevator to. The first two floors have easy access tickets but have HUGE queues to get past, being in demand.
The third floor, however, is extremely difficult to gain access to, as you need a special booking done months prior to the visit or you must have the influence to take you up.
The tower is named after the engineer, Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. The construction started in 1887 and ended in 1889, and the tower was opened on 31st March 1889, in celebration of the centennial of the French Revolution.
Every night, the tower is lit in variant ways and thousands of tourists watch in awe at the strike of midnight.
Since taking, and posting pictures taken of the Eiffel Tower at night is ILLEGAL without permission, I decided not to post it here.
Mission 2: Tour Montparnasse
This tower situated in the center of Paris is little known by tourists.
We chose not to go up the Eiffel tower since it'll only give a view of Paris and not the tower itself. Hence, we visited the Tower of Montparnasse, where we can have a full view of Paris, as well as the Eiffel Tower.
This 210-meter tower has 58 floors, including the 59th-floor terrace, that has a full view of the city of Paris, including interactive monitors on the 56th floor explaining a brief history of every monument in view.
The elevator of this tower is designed in such a way that it can take 10 people up to the 56th floor within 30-35 seconds. The 56th floor, completely surrounded by glass pane windows, has a gift shop, interactive monitors, and a cafe to just sit, relax and have a snack with a full view of the beautiful city.
To get to the 59th floor, you are guided from the 56th floor with a set of stairs that have a panoramic glass view of the city as you climb up to the terrace. The terrace is childproofed with two glass walls up to 4 feet high, 1 foot apart, and is completely open aired from there.
There are paid binoculars that you can look through to see the city's structures up close. Since it is not so famous among tourists, we managed to get tickets from our tour guide in advance, entered and reached the terrace within 15 minutes, as there isn't much of a crowd.
But trust me, this is the place you would want to surely go to if you want a great view of the city.
Mission 3: Mona Lisa
Are you an art fan? Do you admire great old priceless paintings and statues? Do you know who Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci is? (No, not Micheal Jordan or Leonardo DiCaprio! I mean the artists.).
Then Louvre the world's largest museum in Paris is the place for you!
Approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 72,735 square meters. If you're not a fan of art or paintings, I'm sure you must have an idea about a famous painting of the Mona Lisa.
Well, that painting is situated right here, and we had the golden opportunity to see it up close!
It is placed in a gas-sensitive glass chamber in one of the rooms of the Louvre. Tourists flood in to take selfies and pictures of the famous painting, making it the most visited painting in the largest museum in the world. It is so crowded that, it took us one hour to get a full view of the painting. It was smaller than I imagined it to be, but it was truly beautiful to see it.
I decided to be fair and not post a clear picture of the painting. Just to respect the artist and its priceless factor.
Did You know?
-The Mona Lisa is one of the most valuable paintings in the world. Painted by the great painter, sculptor, architect, mathematician, engineer, literate, anatomist, geologist, botanist, writer, astronomer, musician, and scientist Leonardo Da Vinci. (Wow, that's a lot...!)
- The probable painting of Lisa Gherardini was approximately estimated to be painted between 1503-1517.
-It holds the Guinness World Record for the highest known insurance valuation in history at $100 million in 1962, which made it to $800 million in the year 2017.
Mission 4: The Statue of Liberty
Okay, now you might be confused. What is the monument situated in New York City, USA doing in Paris?
Well, here is the story behind that.
France gifted the USA the statue of liberty which is in New York, for the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the American Independence (1776).
Before the original monument was built, the French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, built a few small version models of the monument before beginning the construction of the original.
Those models are situated around France and in Paris, and this is one of those models.
Its 22 meters high, (The original monument is 93 meters) and stands in Ile Aux Cygnes a small island on the river Seine in Paris.
This stunning bronze replica is a gift of the American community of Paris to the city of Paris on the occasion of the commemoration of the centenary of the French Revolution.
Mission 5: The Arc de Triomphe
Also known as, The Triumphal Arc of the Star, it is one of the most famous monuments in Paris.
The "Arc de Triomphe" honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces.
Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of soldiers from World War I.
Although it rained and was too cold to walk around so much, we managed to cover most of the mesmerizing places in Paris.
It was hard saying goodbye since I fell in LOVE with the city. I hope to visit again and experience every bit of magic it has all over again! Je t'aime Paris!
Wanna check out the food blog from Paris? Click Here