France
Paris on a Budget: Day 3
We're on our 3rd day in the City of Lights. How would you spend your last day? Imagine waking up to a bright sunny morning, all set. A visit to Paris is never complete without seeing the Louvre.
Be an early bird to stop by Hotel de Ville on the way. It's not really a hotel. It's the municipal building where the Mayor of Paris serves. The City Hall in french renaissance style looks radiant at night.
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| Hotel du Ville |
After a short stop, head straight to the Louvre Museum before it opens. This would give you some time to enjoy and admire the harmony of IM Pei's Glass Pyramid and the three original wings of the Louvre namely, Richelieu, Sully and Denon. The famous museum, much described in Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code houses Mona Lisa.
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| Louvre Lobby |
One full day is not enough inside the Louvre. However, if it is your last day in Paris, reserve the other half of the day visiting the other adjacent landmarks.
As soon as you exit Musée du Louvre, walk towards the Tuileries Garden (Jardin des Tuileries). Reminisce like lovers and kiss under the trees of Paris' public central park.
Click the map. Continue walking and at the end of the park, you'll find Place de la Concorde where you'll see an obelisk at the largest square in Paris.
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| At Place de la Concorde |
Here you have two choices, either walk for 2 kilometers along Champs Elysées from Place de la Concorde that stretches down to the location of the triumphal arch. Or to take the Concorde metro station at the right, taking the train bound for Charles De Gaulle Etoile if you're exhausted. As soon as you come out of the station, long behold the Arc de Triomphe!
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| At Place de l'Etoile (Place Charles de Gaulle) |
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| Glide gracefully at Champs Elysees |
Have a fabulous lunch in one of the fine restaurants along Champs Elysees! Our meals were usually simple, but we splurged on this one.
After checking out all the big designer brands and enjoying a cup of coffee with delightful pastries for dessert at the cafe's of Paris' prestigious avenue, grab a quick tour to the Palais Garnier, Paris Opera House (Opéra de Paris).
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| Charles Garnier's Paris Opera House |
We had very limited time after our stop here. We were supposed to catch a train to Nantes that evening. Unfortunately, someone stole our digital camera, so we extended another day in order to re-visit some of the sites to re-capture the pictures once more. On the brighter side, I got to see most of the places twice!
I was lucky to have had a Day 4 and it ended next to Tour Montparnasse before boarding the TGV at Gare Montparnasse.
2 comments
thanks for sharing your Paris trips & tips... I will definitely come back to Paris, knowing we could also do it on a budget. I can reminisce all the walking I did... You visited a lot of places just for 3 days... too bad though your camera was stolen:( I will surely go to Versailles and Disney as well:) Merci beaucoup!
ReplyDeletethanks a lot for this post! :)
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