Paris - Day 2, Walkthrough

Salam..

Alhamdulillah, we managed to finish Day-2 of our Paris tour in one piece.. Despite the fact being disappointed several times during the day, I was still fulfilled by the achievements in the day..

Louvre - The Wait

We left the hotel early in an attempt to beat the similarly-eager tourists at the Louvre entrance.. When we got there, the shine was bright, the wind was cozy and the morning traffic was just about to pick up.. We stopped by at one of the bridges which connects the two banks of the Seine to snap a few pictures.. All of the pedestrian bridges are usually jam-packed with people, but we were lucky not much of a traffic was there so early in the morning..

We arrived at the front entrance of the Louvre - the famous home of Leonardo's Mona Lisa, the action scene of the movie The Da Vinci Code - with the big glass pyramid welcoming us.. The queue was not that long, probably just about 50 people in front of us.. We arrived around 8.00am and had pre-empted the long queue, so fifty was not bad.. And we knew the front door was to be open only at 9.00am.. Unfortunately, there was a delay in the administrations part that the opening time had to be postponed to 10.15am.. We were losing precious time! So we decided to leave the line and visit other places first, maybe come back to Louvre on Wednesday, again attempting the front line.. We also realised that the museum will be closed on Tuesday..



It was really disappointing that that happened.. I was excited to explore the three wings of the majestic building.. Our day-plan was disrupted..

And Ina was getting cranky!

So, we went off to find some other places to visit, unknowingly to us several more disappointments were waiting for us..

We arrived at the Palais Royal only to be welcomed by a construction/renovation site.. *Sigh*..

Then Ina wanted to see Galerie Vivienne, so we walked there, again only to find an empty corridor of what looked like an old bazaar.. I had to convince Ina that the lighting at the time of photography was the snatcher when we looked at the picture in the guidebook.. *Sigh, again*..

We then headed back to the compound of the Louvre, but rather to queue we walked in the Jardin de Tuileries, a beautiful and one of the oldest public garden in Paris.. It was a stroll, really, taking several pictures along the way, just to soothe the building disappointment that greeted us that morning.. We stopped at the two ponds and dove into relaxation, trying to re-arrange the day as we went along..

At the entrance of Jardin de Tuileries

We decided then to take the Siene river cruise, the Batobus, to continue our vacation.. We hopped on at Musee d'Orsay and went all the way to the Latin Quarter, hopping off at Notre Dame.. We went inside the old cathedral where Quasimodo had lived before, astonished at the lavishness of the interior.. We did not spend long in there as there was a mass going on at the time we arrived.. The long queue again stopped us from waiting in line for the tower climb..

We headed to the Conciergerie and then lunch across the river.. It was not that difficult to find a halal food shop, as we had thought before arriving in Paris.. After that, we were back to the building beside the Conciergerie, Sainte Chapelle.. The queue was long, made worse by the airport-like security checks.. By the time we got in, we did not spend time wandering around and zoomed straight to the chapel.. The two-storey lavish building was equipped with the most extravagant tainted glass collection I had seen so far..

Admiring the stained glasses of Sainte Chapelle

We passed the time there and after that continued back to Notre Dame, now in the queue for the tower tour.. At that stage, even somewhat late in the afternoon, tourists were coming by the dozens, making me wonder whether Monday was usually a holiday for Paris or was it just summer time vacation for people.. After the wait, we managed to climb the tower, and boy it was tough.. The staircase was steep and tight.. We were only allowed to enter by tens every ten minutes, to avoid the traffic.. The first level was not bad, then up to the upper level and then all the way up to the peak of the cathedral.. At that stage, Ina was gasping for breath, puffing and huffing all the way! We climbed down after just being allowed five minutes at the top..

In front of the Notre Dame of Paris

Bird feeding in front Notre Dame

We took the Batobus again and headed back to our hotel..

Day 1 was not as bad as I had painted here, but certainly the queuing was not helping and the fact that the Louvre was delayed and we subsequently postponed our planned visit to the museum made a bad start for the day..

We enjoyed being at the top of the Notre Dame, we were astonished by the greatness of architecture and art in Sainte Chapelle and Conciergerie, we had a nice walk through Jardin de Tuileries and we liked it a lot traveling on water in the Batobus.. It was not all bad at all..

We will undoubtedly keep you updated of our progress in Paris..

Salam..