October 2 - Paris

During second phase of our visit to Paris, we've decided to take the hop-on / hop-off bus tour of Paris to see some of the sites we've yet to visit.  The company is called L'Open Tours and it seems to have the most stops of the tour companies in Paris.  We bought the two day package.

We picked up the buses near Notre Dame Cathedral. It was very crowded in that area.

The Notre-Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress. The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave but after the construction began, the thinner walls grew ever higher and stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. In response, the cathedral's architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern.

Many small individually crafted statues were placed around the outside to serve as column supports and water spouts. Among these are the famous gargoyles, designed for water run-off. The cathedral has a 387 steps to the top of several spiral staircases where it is possible to view its most famous bell and its gargoyles in close quarters, as well as having a spectacular view across Paris when reaching the top.

Bastille

The first route we took went to the Bastille and Bercy areas of the city.  These former poorer industrial sections of the city have been redeveloped and modernized.  Some of the attractions we saw were the monument to the French revolution at the site of the Bastille, the new Bastile Opera House, the National Library and Paris's largest sports arena. The modern architecture seems out of place in the Paris we've grown accustom to seeing.

The Bastille was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the history of France and for most of its time it was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stormed by a crowd on 14 July 1789 in the French Revolution, becoming an important symbol for the French Republican movement and was later demolished. Its role in the kick-off to the French revolution makes this patch of Paris one of the most historic pieces of soil in the whole country. The spot is now a large roundabout that is usually choked with chaotic traffic. Thanks to the symbolism of 1789, Bastille is a political hotspot to this day.

The Bibliothèque nationale de France (National Library of France) is a major research and conservation library. Its origins date back to the Middle Ages, when the kings started developing and expanding their private collections. The current library contains more than 13 million books and 350,000 periodicals.

The second route went to Montparansse and St. Germain areas of Paris.  This is the student and artist sections of the city.  There are many cafes and restaurants that cater to the artistic community.

In the past Montparansse was the favourite gathering spot some the famous included Ernest Hemingway, Picasso, Josephine Baker, Henry Miller, Salvador Dali and Lenin.

Luxembourg Gardens

Included in the route were the Sorbonne, the Luxembourg gardens, the Latin Quarter and the Montparnasse office tower.























Marg met an Australian couple on board the bus, who gave her an Australian souvenir for helping them decipher the tour map.

For supper tonight we met John and Ellen at the Le Louis restaurant in Halles section of Paris.  It was a wonderful meal with good company.  We had lots of laughs as we caught up with our Australian friends who arrived from Athens yesterday following a Mediterranean cruise of the Greek Islands and Turkey.

There has been a very heavy presence of police and military in downtown Paris today.  It turns out that Russian President Putin is here to meet with the French President François Hollande about the Ukraine civil war.