You may think it’s about the lights that illuminate the city at nightfall. The city is lit up with a thousand lights. It’s beautiful strolling along Paris at night as the city looks so different.
But to be historically correct, the city of lights owes its nickname to the so-called Age of Enlightenment. Paris was the centre of an intellectual and philosophical movement that became the foundation of modern western political and intellectual culture.
I hope you enjoy these pictures of some Paris lights!
How can I blog about Paris without mentioning the food? We didn’t go into the Michelin fine dining experience while there – for one thing, the suitable wardrobe didn’t fit in my small suitcase – but nevertheless, we had some fabulous meals and snacks! Have a look!
Our first coffee break – at La Bossue in MontmartreA great find – Al Caratello in Montmartre – so good we went back again!Picking up a morning pastry at Boulangerie Alexine, Montmartre
We visited the Sain Boulangerie near Canal Saint-Martin. This award winning bakery was amazing – you can see them making the bread through the windows at the corner and the lovely lady working in the bakery took the time to tell us all about the baking process and the source of their ingredients. It was a great experience – not to mention how much we enjoyed the things we purchased!
The round flat items are tornades – a crunchy puff pastry with carmelized sugar – absolutely addictive!!
More coffee and pastries!
Pizza and wine in the sunshine!
So what can I tell you about French tacos – google them! Who knew – they were actually somewhat tasty, although I’m really not sure about the french fries in them! 🤔
Dinner at Chez Marie on Rue Lepic was so good!!
We enjoyed wine, baguette and cheese while watching the Eiffel Tower come to life with lights one night – a truly magical experience!
Must have a crêpe when in Paris!
There were many more delicious pastries and meals! Paris is really a gastronomic delight – and although it is known for expensive, fine dining, we found that there are multitudes of affordable eats & treats when one ventures off the main tourist areas! Explore – look for the hand-written menus at the small restaurants and boulangeries!
Just wandering the streets of Paris is a joy! We had intended to use the metro system, which we hear is great, but we found there was always something new to see just by taking a slightly different walking route.
We stayed at the Terrass Hotel in the Montmartre area. We would highly recommend both the hotel and the area. The staff, large rooms and amenities at the Terrass were great. Montmartre is somewhat away from the central tourists and is an trendy area with everything you could want nearby.
The view from our balcony at the Terrass Hotel
Passing by the many shops, peeking in or just taking in the window displays is an activity that delights all of the senses!
The view from the top floor of the Printemps department story is great – just take the elevator up for a free view!
Paris is full of parks and green spaces where the locals and tourists both enjoy the outdoors. One interesting fact – the Parisians do not sit on the grass – there are plentiful benches and chairs for that purpose.
Luxembourg Garden
Le Jardin des Plantes
Palais Royale
Tuileries Garden
The covered passages of Paris were constructed in the 18th and 19th centuries as shopping arcades filled with bookstores, independent boutiques, and eateries. A few still survive and we would recommend searching them out. It’s fun to stroll through and explore a few of the shops.
Around every corner, there is another delightful scene to enjoy. We would encourage you to wander.
We hope you enjoyed our stroll through the street of Paris. We will be back soon with the treats of Paris!
Paris is famous for its monuments and great buildings. I previously talked about the many churches we visited and now, I’d like to share some of monuments and buildings we saw.
The 165 foot high Arc de Triomphe was built between 1809 and 1840 to honour Napoleon’s soldiers. Sitting at the top of the Champs-Élysées, today it is dedicated to the glory of all French armies. You can go to the top of the Arc, but we passed on that, having done it on a trip many, many years ago.
The Deportation Memorial remembers the 200,000 French victims of the Nazi concentration camps. It leads you into a space where your only glimpse of freedom is a view of the sky and a tiny glimpse of the river. A hallway is filled with 200,000 lighted crystals and you are reminded as you leave – Forgive, but never forget.
The Grand Palais was built for the Universal Exhibition in 1900 and dedicated “by the French Republic to the glory of French art”. Designated as a historic monument in 2000, it is currently under renovation and will be reopened for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
The Petit Palais is a free museum with a broad collection of paintings and sculptures. As I mention later, art is not our thing but we did enjoy some time in this beautiful building.
Place de la Concorde was Place de la Révolution during the the French Revolution and was the site of multitudes of beheadings during the Reign of Terror – including the beheadings of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette.
The Place is centred around a 3300 year old, 72 foot, 220 ton obelisk – brought here from Egypt in the 1930s. The Place also features the two Fontaines de la Concorde. On the day of our visit, one was spouting green water and the other was dry.
The Louvre Palace is of course the home to some of the world’s most famous art, with over 30,000 works from the ancient world to 1850. We visited the Louvre on our previous visit (and saw the underwhelming Mona Lisa), and we did not feel interested in braving the enormous line-ups to enter on this trip. It was however interesting to the view the Pyramid that has been added since our 1983 visit.
The Pompidou Center houses the Musée National d’Art Moderne. It is an exo-skeletal building with its functional parts on the outside – and color-coded. Interesting to look at….
L’Hôtel de Ville, Paris’ city hall, stands on the spot of city government since 1357. The Renaissance-style building was constructed from 1533-1628 and is currently looking forward to the 2024 Olympics.
Wherever you look in Paris, there are great statues. Here are just a few.
And hey, did I forget a monument? Oh yes, the one that symbolizes Paris like no other – La Tour Eiffel!
We arrived at the Tower in the late afternoon and watched as it came to life with sparkling lights! It was truly magical! In a later blog, I will tell you about the fun way we waited.
You will note that our tours are notably missing images of the inside of the many wonderful art and history museums. We do not profess to be art lovers or historians, and prefer to spend our time exploring the streets. If interested, you will be able to find multitudes of information in other online and hard copy resources.
We hope you enjoyed this look at some of the monuments and buildings of Paris! More to come on the City of Lights – and great food!
Paris has close to 200 churches. On our recent time in the city, we visited about a dozen of them. I find the architecture and art in each of these churches fascinating and I would like to share a few facts and pictures about some of them!
Notre-Dame Cathedral is packed with history and is the most famous religious building in Paris. The world watched in horror on April 15, 2019 when a fire ignited and quickly the blaze grew. More than 400 firefighters battled the flames for 9 hours and were able to save the building from total destruction. The 13th century roof and the 19th century spire were destroyed and the interior was littered and damaged from falling debris. Almost immediately, rescue and restoration work began and the French have vowed that the Cathedral will reopen in 2024 prior to the Paris Summer Olympics.
Looking at the building at this time, it is hard to believe that they will meet that deadline but they remain steadfast in the commitment. If you are interested in more detail on the cathedral, the fire and the restoration, the February 2022 National Geographic has excellent information.
At the other end of the Ile de la Cité is Sainte-Chapelle. This 13th century gothic chapel is a cathedral of stained glass. The 15 separate stained glass panels depict more than 1100 scenes. The chapel and altar were built to house and honour the Crown of Thorns. This prized relic was eventually moved to Notre-Dame (where it did survive the fire).
Today, no regular masses are held at St Chapelle. You require a ticket to visit (€11.50 at the time of our 2022 visit). To skip the ticket line, you can buy your tickets on-line: pick a time early in the day and one where there are lots of tickets available and hopefully, you will beat the crowds.
Église Saint-Eustache was built between 1532 and 1632. It is a similar size to Notre-Dame with a Gothic exterior and Gothic-Renaissance interior. It leaves one with a sense of grandeur with its vast interior and tall granite columns.
The Sacré-Cœur Basilica sits at the top of Montmartre at Paris’ highest natural point (430 feet). The exterior of the five-domed basilica is covered with white gypsum from the mines below it and thus, whitens as it ages. It was built on a foundation of 83 pillars from 1875 to 1919.
We visited Sacré-Cœur at mid-morning and found it over-run with tourists, waiting in a long line to enter and we left promptly. Our hotel was located in Montmartre so we returned after dinner one evening and found it beautifully lit and relatively free of people. We were pleasantly surprised to find it open as we had read that in October it closed earlier. There were no line-ups to enter and we found it had a hauntingly beautiful aura in the evening lighting.
Sacré-Cœur is free to enter; there is a charge if you wish to climb the dome, which is not open in the evening.
From the plaza in front of the Basilica, there is a beautiful view of Paris spread below you.
Église Saint-Séverin hardly garners a mention in the Paris guidebooks and we just came across it while wandering. What a wonderful discovery – it is possibly my favourite Paris church!
It was originally built beginning in 1230 and was rebuilt and enlarged in the 15th to 17th centuries in the Flamboyant Gothic style. The upper walls are lined with deeply-coloured 14th century stained glass windows.
The Abbey of Saint Germaine des Prés is Paris’ oldest church, dating from the 11th century. It again was a wonderful find, with it’s Romanesque arches, beautiful stained glass and colourful interior.
The Church of Saint-Germain L’Auxerrois sits directly across from the Louvre Palace. Built in the 13th, 15th & 16th centuries, it again is filled with ornate columns and beautiful stained glass.
Saint-Sulpice Church was modelled after London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral and features a Neoclassical facade with two round towers.
Construction of the Gothic-style Église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles de Paris began in 1235 with many renovations over the centuries. It is especially noted for paying particular attention to the homeless of its neighbourhood.
Here are images of a few of the other great churches we visited.
Not a church but a great place to visit was the Montmartre Cemetery, officially known as the Cimetière du Nord. I love a good cemetery and serendipitously, this one was located directly across the street from our hotel. It opened in 1825 and is the third largest in Paris. Interestingly, it has a bridge that passes over it.
Paris is a city of beautiful churches and I’m sure you could find your favourite while wandering the streets. I hope you enjoyed seeing some of mine. Stay tuned for more blogs about this wonderful city!
A Long and Winding Journey 