Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Paris, the walkable city

May 2, 2006

"Paris is the most walkable city in Europe."

I had heard it before but on this day we put it to the test. After a quick breakfast my StatCan colleague Daniel and I headed out on a tour of the city. We started by headed up to Trocadero Square. This spot is home to the most spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower by far.

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From here we walked down to the Eiffel Tower itself and following the river to Pont Alexandre. This bridge crosses the river Seine with the Grand Palais on the right bank and Place Des Invalides on the other.



Rather than cross the bridge we headed south to Les Invalides and Napoleon's Tomb.





Our pass to the Tomb included entrance to the Musée de l'Armée too so we strolled through this area as well.



After a couple of hours of admiring Napoleon's glorified burial place we headed off in the direction of the Latin Quarter. My first stop in this area was Saint-Germain des Pres followed by Saint Serverin. Of the two I prefered Saint Serverin with its gothic architecture and numerous gargoyles.

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From there we hit the infamous Notre Dame de Paris cathedral. Amazing. This church is massive.



And the detail in the archetecture is incredible.



Check out the flying buttresses.



Time for a quick lunch in the Latin Quarter.

Spring time in Paris

And a pit-stop at the one of the free public use toilets. These things are wild folks - a definite must see. Before entering you hit a button which is followed by the sound of water flushing and spraying inside the pod-like contraption. Then the door opens to reveal a clean but tiny little area complete with toilet, running water to wash your hands, a mirror, and of course toilet paper and paper towel. I'm gonna email the mayor, we need these things in Barrhaven.

Toilette

Our bellies full we headed back to Notre Dame for the inside tour. It was equally as spectacular as the outside architecture.



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Too be cont'd...

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