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| Even in the rain, Paris is the most romantic place to be. |
You can take a little lift to the top - if you're not a fan of walking or wouldn't manage the stairs. But if you can take the stairs - do it. The walk up is fantastic, as the views will blow your mind, as well as the beautiful little passages up to the top of the church. I felt romantic even in the rain here!
As you can see, its a scene that is out of this world. From the top we could see the Panthéon, the Notre Dame and all across Paris! What could be better? At this point, it was raining the hardest it did all day, but we weren't unhappy at all. How could you be with these scenes?!?!
Going into the church was free and was really impressive. After the Vatican church, I would say this is one of the most incredible churches to look around in, even if you're non-religious, it's a sight to see! Vanessa lit a candle and I managed to get a lovely postcard. The descent down was also a pleasant one, capturing more photos of the city I'm now crazy about.
The next stop on our day around Paris was the Panthéon, a very historical place I'd learnt about a lot in University. En bref, it holds a lot of France's most famous kings/queens/princes/army lieutenants/writers/philosophers in its underground tombs. It's a giant place for art too, as you'll soon see!
The Panthéon is right next to the famous University of Law, Paris (see below) a building that was also fantastic to see. All of this is built in the Latin quartier of Paris, now one of my favourite places in Paris!!!!
Inside the Panthéon, we were allowed in free, as we were still citizens "part of Europe". If you went when Brexit takes its cause, it would cost you between 7 euros for students and 9 euros for adults. Unless you have a "pass d'éducation". It's really sad to think that we will miss out on such FREE opportunities in the future! The Panthéon was spectacular.
We managed to discover this pendulum in the centre, described as being used by famous philosophers to prove that the earth rotates. I found it really interesting!
My favourite section of all the art shown in the Panthéon, was of course Joan of Arc - or Jeanne d'Arc if you want to be really clever. I say of course, because in first year I was taught at University about these famous paintings, their symbolisms, their exaggerations, their history (Thanks to Richard at Uni!) So I was overwhelmed, after only seeing these paintings on Powerpoint slides, to see them in real life. They were phenomenal!
We then took some stairs down into the tombs - what we thought were the toilets...oops - and found a lot of France's most famous people! Including Voltaire, Victor Hugo and Zola (they've wrote some of the finest of things!) I went a little crazy after this in the gift shop, buying postcards to remember them all by!
Our next stop was the Jardin de Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Palais! At this point, the rain had stopped, but the temperature had dramatically dropped! The gardens were very impressive, but I was sad the weather wasn't good enough to stop and sit down and admire it all further. I'm extremely jealous of all my friends living in Paris for this, I think it would be the perfect place to eat/read/chat/paint?!
As important as I've always found reading, the last place I was expecting to find literary inspiration was down a little track in the park...but all great ideas have to come from somewhere. This was in the form of a head...on what looked like a stick. I cried "OH MY GOD I THINK I KNOW HIM!" And left Vanessa standing way up there^ whilst I ran towards a famous face- or head. Gustave Flaubert is one of the nineteenth centuries most famous literary geniuses in my eyes, and there was his head, attached to a cute little bench, just waiting for me to find!
The gardens of the palace of course, lead to the palace! We were both very excited to see this, but felt a little disappointed. The palace is spectacular, but we felt the weather, the stormy winds and the British grey clouds really did it no favours. It's a trip we definitely need to do in summer. Despite this, what a fantastic view. I would really recommend going to visit it...maybe just with better weather!
The gardens are huge, but a really lovely walk, even despite the weather. I'd struggle to find a more romantic walk than through these gardens, opposite expensive French flats and beautiful fountains. The constant sentence to Vanessa was "I'd live there I would!"
Now I have to say a huge thank you to Vanessa, not only for coming with me, a fantastic day and for being a damn good friend, but for putting up with a cimetière, or cemetery. After speaking to some friends from uni, I was desperate to visit a hero buried not far from the jardins. The Cimetière du Montparnasse was apparently smaller than Père Lachais in the east of Paris - but equally still a huge place to go to. The walk was pleasant despite the weather, seeing the beautiful buildings of Paris and one of the most iconic métro stops!
The cemetery was a maze...which required me to print off a map! This was the best way to see everyone you wanted to, quickly and easily. SO WHY A CEMETERY!? Montparnasse, like Père Lachais is known for its beauty as well as its famous graves. Again, something to see in summer, but they're iconic places for Parisians to go too, beautiful in their own rights. OK a little strange and maybe I won't be rushing back, but I'm so happy I managed to find a few famous graves, including Baudelaire. Without writing a dedication to the man, it was incredible to see a literary hero, even if he is no longer living! (This is the part where you tell me I'm crazy and need to stop reading so much).
Baudelaire I'll be forever a fan! Let's be honest, a grave where your body pops out at the top of it as a really cool spirit - I was impressed. OK so not EVERYONE is a literary lover/obsessed geek like me, but the beauty of Paris clearly does stem away from the classic Paris Tour Eiffel et Arc de Triomphe! That is to say I do love these monuments, but doing something different was definitely a plus plus plus :)
Our next stop took us to the most beautiful bookshop in St.Germain, with the most wonderful upstairs that just continued to go on for forever. What a find! St. Germain is also ideal for bookshops, as well as the roads leading up to the Panthéon - bookshop after bookshop after bookshop. OK we didn't stop at them all, but it was heaven to see.
I'd been recommended by a friend at university to visit Café de Flore, for an expensive, yet best hot chocolate of my life. Café de Flore is classed as a "tourist trap" as EVERYONE goes there. But this is due to it's history. Many of France's famous writers and philosophers would meet, chat, gain inspiration, so the place isn't a "café" as such, it's an institution. Me being me, I was DYING to see this, and for a sit down of course!
So this is probably the most expensive cake and hot chocolate I'd ever have in my life, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't worth it. I feel like we had a good rest too and it was the best damn hot chocolate going, so thank you to Ewa's recommendations.
Another exciting thing about this café is the "café inside a café". An artist created a miniature replication of the café inside a box - something to look out for if you go. The picture below is from the replication - it's tiny! It even has it's own copy of Le Monde under a chair - I LOVE IT!
So we saw a lot of famous dead people, some fantastic views, some fantastic monuments and still had time for a sit down and some cake. It wasn't a typically touristy day in ways, but it was definitely one of my favourites. I'm excited to go back to Paris maybe next month to do more of the city that I love so much. Despite the fear that is now associated with such place, it is a shame to miss out on so much culture, art and of course literature. A huge thank you again to Vanessa, there's not a lot of people that would have walked as far as we did!
JR
xxxxxx
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