The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round... All Through Paris

The best way to see Paris, we decided, was a double-decker open bus that took several narrated tours around Paris.  We had taken a similar bus when we had been in London for a day, and it was a great way to get a feel for the city and how it is laid out, and a chance to at least see all the landmarks.

Again, a little higher view of the train station that houses the Musee d'Orsay.

And the great station clock windows that we could look out from inside the museum.

From up here we could see a lot that you can't see so easily from the street.

The road that go right through the Louvre.

The streets of Paris are just beautiful with the grand old facades and the height limit for the buildings. 
I like seeing eye to eye with this chap.

At the Place de la Concorde.  This Obelisque was erected in the place where Marie Antionette was beheaded.

The Eiffel tower peeking its head above the turning trees of the square.

The lamp posts in the Place de la Concorde reminded me of gilded saguaros.  In the background is the gold dome of the Hotel des Invalides.

The Champs-Elysees, the grandest Boulevard of Paris, is lined with trees and the priciest shops anywhere.  At one end the the Place de la Concorde, and at the other, the Arc de Triumphe.  And between here and there is a whole lot going on.

It was raining while we were up here, but if we went down, we'd miss the view.  Dennis came prepared.  Wearing an umbrella hat on the Champs-Elysées.  Classy, Hun.

We had to get off the bus and stroll up the famous boulevard for a bit.  I made Dennis take off his umbrella hat first.

The Louis Vuitton flagship is here too.  It is huge!  Dad ventured into a Mont Blanc store to look at some pricey pens.  And there are some other, not-so-French stores like Gap and Quicksilver. (Same stuff we have here at the mall, only much higher prices!)

There was also a McDonalds there, of course.  I think that is where French fries were invented (just kidding.)

There were some very fancy stores.  This Peugeot store was showing off it's futuristic concept car.  Cool!

But my interests lay elsewhere.  As much as I begged, Dennis wouldn't get me that brilliant necklace and earrings at Cartier.  I would have happily settled for the watch.  (Nearly 17 thousand Euros is well over $25 grand!  Yikes!!!!  Who shops here?)

Happy that the credit card is safely in his pocket, Dennis heads off to the Arc.  The roundabout circling the arch is a traffic nightmare.  The only way to get there is through an underground tunnel. (At least it is out of the rain!)

The Arc de Triomphe is massive!  Began in 1809 to celebrate Napoleon and his armies, the Arc is now dedicated to the glory of all French armies.  The columns and pavement beneath bear the names of all French victories since the Revolution, and the names of the victorious generals.

Only 284 grueling steps to the top of the Arc.  Oh my!  There is a long bench at the top of  the stairs where you can catch your breath (and we needed it!)

But it was worth all the effort!  The wide tree-lined grand avenues of Paris radiate from the Arc like spokes of a wheel, and there is a symmetry of all the corner houses around the circle that makes the entire 360 degree view just beautiful.

This is the Champs-Elysees from above.

And further down the Place de la Concorde, the Tuileries Gardens, and the Louvre.  I love the rectangular trees.
On the other side the boulevard continues all the way to the square Grande Arche de la Defense amid the modern skyscrapers in the mini-Manhattan of Paris

And of course, the Eiffel Tower looms over the rest of the city.

I think this picture gives you a good idea of just how massive the tower is.  Remember, those buildings around it are about 7 stories high.

It was so wet and windy when we were up there, but we didn't care, because we were in Paris!  PARIS!!!

We decided to walk back down the Champs-Elysées on the other side. The street and sidewalks were so WIDE, quite different from the crazy narrow roads in the rest of the city.

Here we watched a very angry man argue with the cops who just put a parking ticket on his van.  We didn't have to know French to know exactly what he was yelling as he pulled out his cell phone to take pictures of the cops, threatening to report them.  They smiled for the pictures.  Then the man tore up his ticket into tiny pieces and threw them into the street in a mad rage.  The cops smiled and walked away.  Ah, people-watching is so good in France!

I loved this busy place with the canopied cafes on the sidewalk.  This one was decorated with copper pots.

The Etoile, or the roundabout around the Arche is completely insane!  INSANE!  Twelve streets all rush headlong into the circle which has approximately  7 lanes going around.  I say approximately, because there are no lane lines - that would be pointless.   The city was designed with all these roundabouts with monuments in the center, and all these streets, at crazy angels, intersect like a spiderweb.  The result is beautiful, but utter chaos to try to drive around in.  The whole thing was planned, obviously, for horses and carriages, not automobiles.  To make things worse, the Etoile is the only roundabout in France where the entering cars have the right of way.  What?

We were standing under the arch all of 20 minutes before we saw an accident right in front of us!  A car moved to avoid a bus and hit another car, broken tail lights and bent fenders.  Not surprising.  Apparently the insurance companies, tired of arguing, split all blame for all accidents here 50/50.  Dennis found that pretty interesting.

Mom was amazed at how these people drive full speed into the circle, knowing they putting their lives at risk, like it was no big deal.  Dennis did it a few times.  My man is SO brave!

Under the arch is the tomb of the unknown soldier.  When we were there it was so stormy that the wind had knocked over the flower arrangements and the flame was out.

I love the colorful flags and the flower boxes under the windows.

A view of the tower across the river from the Trocadero.

The Trocadero is a collection of museums that we never got to.  Can't do everything in just a few days.

Under the arches of the great tower.  A lively place.

More cheery flower boxes and awnings.  They make me happy!

From the Champs le Mars.

We didn't make it to the Hotel des Invadales either.  We got there just as it was closing.  It was the hospital that our good pal, King Louis XIV built for the the French war veterans.  We were glad that he used some of that money he leached off the poor peasants to make a gold domed mansion for his injured troops.  What a guy!

It now houses the Army Museum and tomb of Napoleon.  We would have loved to see that.  Next time, definitely!

The glimmering dome glows in the brooding skies.

Yep, yet another pic of the tower.  I just can't NOT take pictures of it.

Gold statues on pillars on the bridge Pont Alexander III.

A lovely view of the Seine.

I have fallen in love with Parisian lampposts!

How pretty is this place?  I love the girl giving her little brother a boost up to the lion.

No, I didn't take a picture of EVERY lamp post in Paris.  Sometimes the bus was just moving too fast.

I love the buildings!  This one had great blue ironwork which was terrific, but the color didn't come across as well in the photograph.  Oh how I wish the sun was shining!  We would have had some better pictures to look at.

And then we came to this magical place.  Any guesses?

It is Paris' famous Garnier Opera House (you know, the residence of the talented, debonair, yet mentally unbalanced masked Phantom.)

This was just so EXCITING to me!  I love the book, I love the movie, and the musical is pure magic!  And here we were! 

Inside was a round foyer of all mirrors.

Fancy schmancy!

But that was all we got to see because they were closed due to a rehearsal.  I was SO EXTREMELY bummed!  I have been fascinated with the opera house and was really looking forward to seeing it inside.  We thought we'd come back when it was open, but we never got there.

Still, the outside was pretty terrific!  That is one wicked looking lamp post!

The entire facade was decorated with musical and theatrical motifs.  Notice the masks on the roofline?

Words like "Choreography" and "Lyrics" were spelled out in big gold letters.

There were also gold busts of the great composers.

It was really something!  I can just imagine the elite of the day, pulling up to these great steps in their carriages, to see and be seen by all of Paris.

Golden lyres, flutes, and horns held high above Paris.

Another delicious lamppost.  I have a problem, I admit it.

Me and my own handsome Raul.  "Say you'll stay with me, one love, one lifetime...  Love me, that's all I ask of you!"  Music from the Phantom of the Opera was in my head for the rest of the day! (And that is a good thing!)

The Avenue de l'Opera is the only grand avenue in Paris that has no trees.  Garnier, the architect, thought that trees would detract from the glamor of the street (and would obstruct the view of his masterpiece.)

Another terrific typical Parisian roof.  I love the red chimney-pots all over the city.

From the fancy Opera house we rode on to another entertainment establishment with a somewhat different clientele - the famous (infamous?) Moulin Rouge, the night club famous for pretty girls kicking up their long gartered fish-net-stockinged legs in the Can Can.  Ooh la la!

The Montmartre neighborhood had a very different feel from the upscale city center  with tons of souvenir shops, cheap clothing and bolts of bargain fabric.

This hill used to be a gypsum mine (where plaster of Paris originated) and today it is a tourist trap with a carnival-like atmosphere.

I used a slower shutter speed to capture the turning carousel.  Kinda fun.

Very colorful with he crepe myrtle.

Atop the hill is the Sacre-Coeur church, looking like a stack of white onions.  There were a million steps up there.  Mom and Dad opted out.  But I never want to miss a thing, so I drug Dennis up with me.

The church was pretty inside, with a huge mosaic of Jesus Christ going up the wall behind the alter and over the ceiling.  His arms are outstretched in love for all, and his huge gold heart is aflame with that love.  I thought is was fantastic to see a church where a living, loving Christ was actually the focal point!  No cameras allowed though.  Sorry.

But the church wasn't the only reason to climb up here.  The view was terrific (not just of the city, but of the people.  This is THE place for people watching!)  It was a crazy place.  People everywhere were just plopped on the steps.  It reminded me so much of the Spanish Steps in Rome (only in a seedier neighborhood.)

Sharing a crepe on the bottom of the hill before getting some souvenirs for the boys.

Back on the bus.  The bus was great in many ways, but it was also making me crazy that I couldn't stop where I wanted to an take pictures of what I wanted!  Take that covered market there.  I wanted to see that place SO BAD!  The covered markets of Paris are kind of legendary

but all I could do was take a quick snapshot and move on.  Darn bus!

An old train station.

And we saw the Hard Rock Cafe... in passing.

I loved the flags in front of this hotel next to the Louvre.

Our bus was stuck in traffic for a while here waiting to go through the tunnel under the Louvre, so I got a few pictures.  Nothing better to do.

The backside of the Louvre.

And the front side.

And I end this post with yet another lamp post.  What can I say?

And that completes our bus tour of Paris.  I really wish the sun had been shining, and that I could have stopped to take a few more (hundred) pictures, and got off at every stop to tour every site, but what we did see and do was wonderful.

I love this town!