A great way to introduce Paris is by the pic of most viewed visited loved landmark in the world. So going to Paris was a priority in our mind and we started planning almost 3 weeks before. We planned our travel from Stuttgart airport Germany on good friday. Our flight was by Air France and run by Hop Air which is a budget airline. Fares are much less than regular flights which makes it attractive option than train journey. My base at Germany was Friedrichshafen and the travel time is about 2.30 hours to reach Stuttgart airport. We had to change train in between at Ulm to catch our train to Stuttgart. The German landscape is a treat to watch with greenery and agricultural crops. One of the main produce is grapes which is cultivated extensively. The trains are neat and well maintained and it goes right up to the airport which saves time and further expense. This is one feature which we can find in entire Europe and very convenient for the traveller We reached Stuttgart Airport well before our checkin time. The security check was quite elaborate like removal of boots and holding arms and feet apart at a designated place to scan each and every traveller, thanks to terrorist activities perpetrated by some misguided persons. We went to the airport lounge and took our seats near to gate for our Air France flight.
STUTTGART AIRPORT LOUNGE
AIR FRANCE CHECKIN
STUTTGART AIRPORT RUNWAY
As usual Air France staff came 20 minutes before and we were ushered through the gate to the aeroplane. The aircraft was of a smaller version with a capacity of around 80 persons and each row having 4 seats. We were served with a light snacks and coffee/juice and the flight duration was around 2 hours. We landed at Charles De Gaulle airport at 5.30 p.m. I found the airport a huge one having runways and sprawled in an entire area and connected with flyovers and roads to reach each gate inside the airport. One runway has a underground road which was quite a new experience to me. The airport bus took us from the landing gate to the terminal where taxis and buses and trains are available. We immediately engaged a taxi and the taxi driver immediately quoted the fare to our destination. Our destination was quite far off from the city centre and CDG was one side of Paris and our apartment on the other. So we had to cross the city centre to reach our place of stay, Puteaux. On the route we crossed La Defense and also saw the huge stadium on our way namely Paris La Defense Arena. The traffic in Paris is a snarl and the taxi driver showed his prowess in driving through this to reach our destination. He googled our apartment area and took us to the exact spot where our apartment was situated. The land lady was waiting at the junction for us as we had contacted her on our arrival. She came with us to show her apartment around. The apartment was indeed spacious with two double bedrooms set apart and a living room cum dining in between. A good music system Denon with CDs of english pop music hits and a shelf full of books and 40 inch TV was there in the living room. The french has a style of art and decor. The house has a typical look of a place having a large amount of glassware and we had a feeling that it was set on a theme. Walls were adorned with paintings which also had a class of its own. We went out to get some snacks milk butter cheese fruit juice from a nearby store. This store was run by Sri Lankans which we came to know on enquiry and they were not friendly as we expected. An Indian restaurant was also nearby and we went there for having our night food. It was run by a lady from Goa and having very little space. The food was good and not so cheap as we expected.
Next morning we had already taken skip the line entrance ticket to Louvre museum. But to our surprise, we found ourselves stranded near a Metro station as trains were not plying as also buses. We tried UBER and ended up paying a fee in google and the car did not turn up. We went to a nearby bus stop and started waiting there. On enquiry we came to know that the day being saturday, there was a strike called by the yellow shirts, the labour force against the ruling government for certain new rules framed in the system. This strike is going on for the last two years. After skipping one or two buses, we finally got into a bus that came and it was quite full. The system is to get inside the bus through the front door and take tickets from the driver. The driver when we approached for tickets was least bothered in issuing and he said something in french which we did not understand. This bus route is to Louvre and after driving around for half an hour, the driver stopped the bus and said that the bus will not go further as he is on strike. So it was a way of protesting by not issuing tickets and driving the bus to a certain distance and not running upto its terminal. The trip was free for all and we got down in a junction and started searching for a taxi. We saw one taxi coming to a parkway and we proceeded to its driver who got out of the car and was going to a cafe nearby. He told me in french and half english that he will take us to Louvre right after taking a cup of coffee from the cafe. We waited near his car and he came as promised and took us upto the end of Champs Elysees and dropped us off there. He also directed us the route to be taken by us walking as the yellow vests were holding a strike in that junction. It was a short walk and we reached the entrance to Louvre museum which is indeed a grand place with a spacious courtyard.
Our slot for entrance to Louvre was 12.30 p m and we were just on time.
Louvre museum courtyard
Glass pyramid entrance to Louvre museum
Immediately we proceeded to the entrance to meet the deadline of the time slot. But the security staff just checked our tickets and allowed us entry to the museum. On entering the museum the first sculpture you encounter is Winged victory of Samothrace an imposing structure kept right at the entranceof the museum.
It made me thinking that art is always incomplete and goes on taking new turns as the ingenuinity lies with the artist who creates it and shall evolve new patterns according to the imagination of its creator. So art is never dying as It creates and procreates new master pieces which will be more exquisite. That is why art takes on new shapes and becomes a feast to the eyes of a connoisseur. The wings also suggest that the ultimate is yet to take off. Stepping inside made me awestruck seeing sculptures of various ages with exquisite finish of the artists whose creation has made them immortal in the minds of the viewer.
Hall of sculptures
Halls of sculptures and baths
These halls contain hundreds of statues of Roman emperors and gods and godesses of Greek mythology which will take at least half a day to cover the entire collection. So a few collections which I could capture in my camera is nothing but a look around .
Throne of fertility
Roman Governor's throne
We moved on to the next section where paintings of all sizes and frescoes having unique position in the art world are depicted. The most famed Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) is the pride exhibit of Louvre and most viewed painting in the entire world. The ceilings of the museum is painted with frescoes and a feast to an ardent lover of art. I shall post some paintings which attracted my attention here.
Angel searching for bust of Venus
Some paintings depicts
Famous painting of palm reader
The museum is a paradise for an art lover and I now knew why the Louvre is considered among the best museums of the world. The paintings and ceiling frescoes are innumerable and done by world famous artists. Many had to be left out as my camera and phone was both getting exhausted in its battery storage. But the real prized possession of Louvre cannot be missed and has to be captured for my collection.
Mona Lisa (La Giaconda)
This famous painting drawn by Leonardo Da Vinci needs no mention as it is the most copied studied portrait and stolen, recovered and restored in its original position. So it is a never miss category. When we entered the hall a huge crowd was standing in front of that masterpiece and everybody wanted to take as many snaps as they can. Around 4 policemen is deployed there to control and front area cordoned off limiting close access to the painting. Here some tourists were behaving like insane people by taking selfies and not allowing others who were patiently waiting their turn. The selfie sticks are not allowed here as a deterrent as it may cause damage to the picture by accident
Egyptian tablet
. The hall is a large one and the opposite wall has a huge fresco. After spending half an hour there, we moved on to visit other rooms. One section was entirely reserved for Egypt and its Pharoahs and their collections. The famed Egyptian mummy and the embalmed body of Pharoah is displayed there. The language of that ancient Egyptian civilisation which is engraved in tablets and walls and scrolls is also on display. Different vases of various sizes, Egyptian murals of their kings and queens are all displayed here.
Egyptian mummy
Egyptian pots
Accompaniment to Eqyptian tombs
These pieces of furniture was found inside the pyramid of Pharoah which contained precious jewels, gold and ornaments, amulets which was used by the royalty.
Statue of Sphinx
We covered only half of Louvre museum and other sections like Arab culture, African culture and many other sections had to be skipped as we were exhausted and we headed for the exit which is a inverted glass pyramid in tandem to the entrance which is another French creation and this area leads to a shopping complex inside Louvre complex.
Inverted glass pyramid
We came outside to have some snacks at one cafe inside museum and came out to the Louvre courtyard.
Pool and fountains
We rested for a while and headed outside to find a transport to get back to our residence. No buses, trains were plying. We waited in the parking area meant for taxies. Finally one taxi turned up and asked our place of residence. He told us 60 euros which was way too high and we had to agree as no other mode of transport was available on that day. Again the driver set up our destination in his mobile by using google maps and reached the exact spot. We went to a nearby Indian restaurant and had our food. Next morning our trip was to Palace of Versailles museum which was in the suburb and far from the city centre. As our place of stay was Puteaux, the distance was hardly 10 kms by trains from there.
Next morning we took the tickets to Versailles and had to wait for half an hour as trains are not that frequent to that side. Finally we got into the train and we reached Versailles at around 8.30 am.
Versailles railway station
A victorian building on the way
Farmers market on sunday at Versailles
We had to walk for about 15 minutes to reach Palace of Versailles. On the way there was a striking building of Victorian era and I captured in my camera and moving further forward, there was a farmers market through which the farmers can sell their produce direct to the consumers. This is a regular feature conducted on sunday at the market square where some hotels and restaurants are also situated. On the way we also saw King's horse stables. We further moved forward and reached the junction at which we had to take the road towards right. This road leads straight to the Palace of Versailles. We finally reached the courtyards of the Palace of Versailles. We were greeted by a life size bronze statue of King Loius XIV on a pedestal.
There was a huge crowd all waiting to gain entry to the museum. We had to purchase our tickets from the counters. The building on the left side provides for ticket counters and there was a moderate rush to buy tickets. We purchased our tickets and went outside to take our position in the queue. The queue was quite long and in serpentine fashion. There was no guards to monitor and the people themselves formed the queue which was very systematic. As the tourists are from all around the world, there was no problem whatsoever in forming the queue. We were in the 8th rung of the queue and it took almost 2 hours to reach the entrance. The sun was beating down on us and it was quite a hot day. We took out our umbrellas to protect us from the heat. All the Europeans were wearing hats and hence they felt comfortable in the heat.
Finally we entered the entrance gate and we proceeded to the museum. It was my first visit to a palace of such grandeur and every room has a theme according to the needs of the royalty.
Statue in front of Versailles museum
Courtyard of Versailles museum
Hall of mirrors and chandeliers
We entered the museum expecting a collection of artefacts typical of such institutions. But on the contrary this museum lived up to its name of a palace. Each room is exquisite and has a touch of extravaganza. It is an example of the splendor that the french royalty lived with during their reign. I shall share photos of each room and one will be able to experience the life the royal family led during their rule.
Hercules room
Hercules room ceiling fresco
Each room is named after Greek gods and has a theme of its own. The kings chambers, queens chambers, offices have been kept as they lived during that period.
Royal chambers of queen
Grand fresco at Hercules room
Another fresco at Hercules room
Furniture at Royal chambers
It is better to show what is in store than myself elaborating on the grandeur of the french royalty. Seeing these exquisite decorations and tapestries and carpets, one can imagine the life these kings and their families lived during the reign. I was wonderstruck seeing these rooms and went on clicking pictures so that I can share it with others. So I shall post a few more as that would prove my observations are correct.
King's royal bedroom chamber and its rich tapestry
Royal queen's bed chambers
There are a lot more and I refrain to put more pics as it would make my write up look like a picture album. For Napoleon Bonaparte a separate section is provided here and one cannot miss that area. Hence I shall post a few pics of that area to my satisfaction.
Royal King's bedroom chambers
Portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte
Plaque of King Louis XIV
Bass relief painting
Portrait of King Louis XIV
Hercules Room
Posting photos of the museum is an untiring job for me as I have a stock of around 200 pics in my gallery. Each room, each depict in these museum are all masterpieces of art, grandeur of that era is a feast for art lovers. I recommend each and everyone to visit these two museums without fail as these two destinations are never to be missed. Finally we came out of the Versailles museum at around 3.00 p m. We went to Mc Donalds restaurant and had burgers as our next destination was Eiffel Tower. We took the train to Champ De Mars which is the nearest station to Eiffel. We got out and had to walk around 10 minutes to reach the tower. It is an astounding construction of French engineering.
The area is well maintained and having a vacant space with grass. A huge number of tourists were present there and we had to wait to take nice pics. We could not take the entrance ticket to go up the Eiffel tower as there was a very long queue. It would take at least 2 to 3 hours to enter the premises. We rested there for 1 hour and took a stroll at the entire area. There were many local vendors who were selling trinkets of small replicas of eiffel tower, key chains, badges, stickers. Some were engaged in selling wine and liquors which is illegal. Suddenly we saw some French policemen doing their rounds and these vendors selling liquors started to vanish from the area. They are having a well connected network and they just vacated the premises on seeing police approaching the area. It made me think that the immigrants influx has created this as they had no job or expertise to acquire one. Then we moved on to the banks of River Siene where cruise boats were waiting to take the tourists on a tour down the river.
After spending a half an hour there we returned to our place of stay. We also saw the Arc De Triomphe, a war memorial built by Napoleon Bonaparte on his victory over Spain.
This is at one end of the Champs De Elysses right in the centre of a junction surrounded by roads. One has to take the underground passage from the footpaths of approaching roads which will take one beneath the roads to reach this memorial. We went past the monument and returned to our place of stay Puteaux. I took a pic from the Puteaux Station of the road going down and also got a distant view of Eiffel Tower so that you may be able to understand the distance of our stay from city centre.
We went to a local pizza store and purchased some for the night and also bread and bananas for the morning. We started packing immediately as our flight was at 9.45 a m. We had to reach the airport at least 2 hours before the flight for check in. As our flat had to be handed over we started cleaning each room and tidied the kitchen as it is the custom of AIRBNB rentals to be adhered to. This is a benchmark of the tourists to be maintained and each one of us has to treat the house, apartment as ones own and leave it spic and span.
Next morning we got up at 6.00 a m and took the metro to La Defense and from there another metro which goes directly to Charles De Gaulle airport station. We reached well before time and the airport bus was waiting there to take us to the terminal. Our terminal was B52 and the bus took us to that terminal. We found our way to check in and we proceeded to our gate. Finally we boarded the plane back to Stuttgart. We reached Stuttgart around 12.30 p.m. We checked out and went to wash rooms to relieve ourselves and we proceded to the exit to catch the train to our place of stay. At the exit a police officer stopped us and wanted to see our papers. He checked our passports and found everything in order and allowed us to exit the airport.
Tips for travellers to Paris
From my experience, I did face some difficulties while travelling in France which I wish to share so that those planning to make a visit there would be better placed.
1. Pick an apartment in 8th, 9th 10th 11th or 5th or 6th Arrondissments as these areas are having proximity to the monuments. The AIRBNB has various types of accomodation and one can choose considering the cost factor.
2. You need not stay near CDG as it is quite far off and is needed only for the purpose for arrival and departure.
3. For sight seeing in and around Paris, it is better to have minimum 4 days stay which will allow one to cover the major monuments. Some of the major monuments include Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame Cathedral, La Concordia, Rodin museum, Disneyland Paris, Moulin Rouge, Paris by night trip etc. One day go for a Hop in Hop out bus trip right from the morning till night which will allow you to see and understand how these monuments can be accessed and judge for yourself which one to be seen in a detailed fashion according to your choices. This will cost you a bit more than the normal , but it will be worthwhile to spend it as in the end you will have of satisfaction of having seen the most of Paris.
4. Make use of electronic media to understand beforehand each monument and that way you will be able to have great satisfaction.
5. Take maximum snaps of each place of visit from different angles for your collection.
Go through blogs of various travellers who have shared their experiences which would be very useful to you.
Finally I would suggest that one should explore by oneself and not by any travel group as one would have ones own leisure and pace to enjoy the entire trip. A bit of french would go a long way in France as they wear their language in love for their country. Always use public transport as it is both cheap and the entire Paris is connected by trains in three modes, i.e. surface, overhead and underground. In addition buses also ply to various destinations. There are 1 2 3 day tickets which is combined to the modes of rail transport and can travel in and around the city with it.
Comments